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paṭiggaṇhāti

pr 3rd sg of paṭiggaṇhāti (verb)

1. takes; accepts; receives; lit. takes back
2. (of an apology) accepts; lit. takes back

Built from

• paṭi — prefix · back, in return
  From the spatial image of facing someone and giving back in response. Works like Latin contra- and Greek anti-. Signals reciprocity and counter-motion.
• gaṇh — root · takes, grasps
  √gah/√grah. Cognate with Sanskrit gṛhṇāti, English grab, German greifen. The concrete sense of grasping carries into the abstract notion of receiving or accepting.
• ā — prefix · toward
  The ā- reverses the motion of the root, directing the grasping toward the agent. Here fused into the verb stem as part of the derivation.
• ti — ending · 3rd sg present
  The present indicative ending -ti marks third person singular in the active voice, making this a statement of habitual or general action.

Analysis. paṭi- (back, in return) + ggaṇhāti (takes, grasps). Lit. 'takes back'; used of receiving or accepting something offered, especially an apology or gift presented with deference.

Etymology. paṭi- (back, against, returning) derives from the spatial sense of facing and answering; ggaṇhāti from √gah (grasped, taken), cognate with Sanskrit gṛhṇāti and the Germanic root seen in English grab and German greifen. The compound idiom 'takes back' conveys acceptance and reciprocal acknowledgment.

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

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