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paṭinissaggā

paṭinissagga

masc nom pl of paṭinissagga (noun); masc instr sg of paṭinissagga (noun); masc abl sg of paṭinissagga (noun); masc voc sg of paṭinissagga (noun); …

1. giving up; relinquishing; dropping; abandoning (of)

Built from

• paṭi — prefix · back, against
  Counter-movement or reversal; the spatial imagery of 'back' becomes the logical sense of opposition or response.
• nis — prefix · out of, away from
  Downward and outward motion; combined with the root, it negates or undoes the action of binding.
• sagga — stem · throwing, casting, letting go
  From √sañj (to bind, cling, throw together); here functioning as the root of 'relinquishing'. The geminate -gg- marks the assimilation of -sj- in the Pali phonetic form.

Analysis. paṭi + nissa + gga: paṭi (back, against) + nis (out of) + √sañj (to bind, cling) → nissa (clinging); combined they mean 'counter-clinging' or more plainly 'throwing off clinging'; the -gga is part of the root stem sagga/sañjati, assimilated in sandhi.

Etymology. Compound of paṭi (back, counter-) and nissa (from nis + √sañj). The prefix paṭi- shows the pattern of counter-movement or reversal (as in paṭiccasamuppāda); nissa- ('out of' + 'binding') expresses the action of undoing. The root √sañj (cling, bind) appears in Sanskrit saṁjñā (connection) and cognates with Latin sanguis 'blood' (that which binds together); here the prefix nis- reverses it to mean 'release from binding'. In Buddhist doctrine, paṭinissagga is the active relinquishing of defilements and clinging, a key step in the path.

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

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