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nirodhānupassī

masc nom sg of nirodhānupassī (adj); masc nom pl of nirodhānupassī (adj); fem nom sg of nirodhānupassī (adj); nt nom pl of nirodhānupassī (adj); …

1. observing cessation; watching ending; contemplating finishing

Built from

• ni — prefix · down, into
  Spatial prefix marking descent or closure. Cognates: English nether, German nieder. Here it intensifies the sense of cessation—things shutting down.
• rodh — root · check, stop, shut
  Root meaning to obstruct or bring to a halt; related to Sanskrit rudh-. Forms nirodha (cessation, Pali term for Nirvana's absence of craving and suffering).
• a — ending · abstract noun marker
  Nominalized suffix creating the abstract noun nirodha (cessation, the state or event of stopping).
• anu — prefix · along, after, following
  Spatial prefix marking motion along a track or in sequence. Cognates: Greek ana- (along, up through). Here it suggests close observation in time—watching as things unfold.
• pass — root · see, perceive, observe
  Root meaning to look, see, or perceive; cognate with Sanskrit paś- and Latin pascere (to feed, perceive). Carries the sense of direct witnessing.
• ī — ending · agent, one who
  Feminine nominalized agent suffix (used as adjective for all genders in nom. sg and pl). Marks the one performing the action of observation.

Analysis. A compound of nirodha (cessation, stopping) and anupassī (one who observes, watches closely). The second element is derived from anu- (following along) + passati (sees), so literally "one who sees along with, observes in sequence". Together: one who contemplates the cessation of phenomena, a key meditative practice in the four foundations of mindfulness (cattāro satipaṭṭhānā).

Etymology. nirodha from ni- (down, into) + √rudh (to check, stop), giving "a shutting down"; anupassī from anu- (along, after) + √pass (to see, cognate with Sanskrit paś- and Latin pascere in the sense of "perceive"). The word is canonical, particularly in the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10), where the practitioner observes the arising and passing away of the five aggregates and sense-bases.

Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.

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