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nivāraye

nivāraya

masc acc pl of nivāraya (adj); nt acc pl of nivāraya (adj); masc loc sg of nivāraya (adj); nt loc sg of nivāraya (adj); …

1. nivāraya (adj): restraining; holding back; holding in check
2. nivārayati (pr): restrains; blocks; prevents; obstructs; reigns in (from)

Built from

• ni — prefix · down, into
  Pressing down; cognate with English nether and German nieder. Here it intensifies the sense of forcible restraint or suppression.
• vār — root · cover, obstruct
  Sanskrit vṛnoti 'covers, closes, obstructs'; cognate with English 'bar' (a covering barrier) and German 'wehren' (to defend/ward off). The concrete image is of something that blocks or seals.
• aya — ending · causative
  Suffix forming causative stems (-aya, -ayati); here it produces a participle or adjective meaning 'that which causes to obstruct / one who restrains'.

Analysis. ni- (down, into) + vāraya (causative stem of √vṛ 'to cover, obstruct'). The prefix ni- gives the sense of 'keeping down' or 'holding in', intensifying the obstruction.

Etymology. √vṛ (Sanskrit vṛnoti 'covers, obstructs'; cognate with English 'bar', which shares the sense of blocking passage) takes the causative suffix -aya, producing vāraya 'causes to cover/obstruct'; ni- prefixes the sense of 'down' or 'into', turning abstract obstruction into the concrete image of pressing something down or holding it in place.

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

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