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paccājāto

paccājāta

masc nom sg of paccājāta (pp)

1. born again (among); taken birth (in)

Built from

• pacc — prefix · back, again
  Contraction of paṭi- (back, against, counter) before vowel. Concrete image: turning or leaning back, hence return and repetition.
• ā — prefix · toward, up to
  Reverses motion and emotion verbs; here deepens the sense of rebirth as coming toward the speaker or back into existence.
• jā — root · be born, arise
  Cognate with English 'kin', 'kind'; Latin 'genus'; Sanskrit 'jan-'. Conveys generation and coming into being.
• ta — ending · past participle
  Masculine nominative singular, marking completed action: 'born' or 'arisen'.

Analysis. pacci- (back, again) + ā (toward) + jāta (born): literally 'born back', i.e. reborn; a doctrinal term for rebirth in saṃsāra.

Etymology. The prefix paṭi- (back, against) undergoes contraction to pacc- before ā and j-; ā- reverses the sense of √jan (be born) as it does other motion verbs, creating the sense 'born toward' or 'born back'. √jan is cognate with English 'kin', Latin 'genus', and Sanskrit 'jan-'. The compound expresses the Buddhist doctrine of repeated rebirth (punabbhava).

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

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