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nissaraṇaṁ

nissaraṇa

neuter accusative singular

1. escape, outlet
2. deliverance from saṁsāra
3. the Deathless (Nibbāna)

Built from

• nis — prefix · out, away from
  Negation by reversal: the fire blown out (nibbāna), escape from what flows around us. Related to Sanskrit nis.
• sara — stem · flowing, current
  From √sr̥ 'to flow'. The stream of saṁsāra; what pulls one along in cyclical existence.
• ṇa — ending · (nominalizer)
  Forms an abstract noun meaning the state or act of flowing out; here, masculine -a stem, accusative -ṁ marks the object.

Analysis. nis- (out, away from) + saraṇa (flowing, current); 'flowing out', hence escape from the stream of existence.

Etymology. nis- (prefix meaning 'out, away from') + √sr̥ 'flow' (Sanskrit sṛ); cognate with English 'serum' (that which flows). The prefix nis- reverses the sense from entrapment in the current to emergence from it.

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

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