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pabbājetuṁ

pabbājeti

infinitive (pabbājetuṁ) of pabbājeti (causative of pabbajati); 3rd sg. pres. would be pabbājeti

1. to cause to go forth (into homelessness)
2. to ordain (as a novice)
3. to send forth

Built from

• pa — prefix · forth, forward
  Forward motion and intensification; here 'going forth' into renunciation.
• bbāj — stem · go, depart
  Root √pac with ablaut; 'to go' becomes 'going forth' in this context.
• e — ending · causative marker
  The -e- (or -eti in 3rd sg.) marks the causative voice, making the verb transitive: 'cause to go forth'.
• tuṁ — ending · infinitive
  The -tuṁ ending forms the infinitive mood, used after permissive or volitional constructions.

Analysis. pabbājeti is the causative form of pabbajati (pabbāja- 'going forth' + -eti causative suffix). The root is √pac 'to go' with pa- 'forth' prefix, yielding pa-pac- > pabbac- > pabbāja-, meaning 'going forth' or 'departure'; the -eti causative makes it 'cause to go forth', i.e., to ordain or send into homelessness.

Etymology. pa- (forth) + √pac (go) [Sanskrit prayac, Greek poreuesthai 'go'; Indo-European *pork-]. The concrete sense 'going forth' acquired the technical meaning in Buddhism of renouncing lay life and entering the order as a novice (pabbajjā).

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

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