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nissaraṇadassāvī

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

1. seeing the escape; aware of the exit

Built from

• nis — prefix · out, away from
  Spatial prefix meaning 'out of' or 'away from'; related to English nether and German nieder. Conveys the sense of transcendence or exit from a state.
• saraṇa — stem · escape, refuge, outlet
  From √sr 'to go, flow', cognate with Sanskrit sármaṇa and Greek rheîn 'flow'. In Buddhist contexts, saraṇa denotes the Three Refuges and paths of liberation.
• dassāvī — stem · seeing, perceiving
  Verbal adjective from √das 'to see', cognate with Latin docēre 'teach' (both from PIE *deḱ- 'show, see'). The suffix -āvī marks one who habitually performs the action.

Analysis. nis-saraṇa-dassāvī: compound of nis-saraṇa (escape, way out: nis 'out of' + √sr 'go') and dassāvī (seeing, perceiving: one who sees; from √das 'see'). The compound denotes one who perceives or is conscious of the path of escape from saṃsāra.

Etymology. The prefix nis- (out, away from) derives from Indo-European *ne-s (negation + ablative sense); related to English nether and German nieder. The root saraṇa ('escape, refuge', from √sr 'flow, go') is cognate with Sanskrit sármaṇa and Greek rheîn 'to flow'. Dassāvī is a verbal adjective from √das ('to see'), cognate with Latin docēre 'to teach' (both from PIE *deḱ- 'to show, see'); -āvī is an agent suffix. The compound expresses spiritual perception in Buddhist canonical language.

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

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