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paccuggantvā

absolutive (ind. past participle) of paccuggacchati

1. having gone out to meet; having gone to welcome; lit. having gone back up

Built from

• paṭi — prefix · back, against
  Directional prefix marking counter-motion or return; here combined with ud to show approaching to meet.
• ud — prefix · up, out
  Prefix of upward and outward motion; cognate with English 'out' and German 'aus'.
• gam — root · go, come
  Ancient root for motion; cognate with English 'come' (Gothic qiman) and Sanskrit gacchati.
• tvā — ending · absolutive
  Marks a completed action that precedes the main verb in a sequence; indicates 'having done' the action.

Analysis. paṭi- (back, against) + ud- (up, out) + √gam (go) + absolutive -tvā; literally 'having gone back up to meet', hence 'having gone out to meet someone approaching'

Etymology. The prefix paṭi- (back, counter) + ud- (up, out) compounds the notion of motion: going upward and back, i.e., going forward to meet someone. √gam is the ancient root for going or coming, cognate with English 'come' (Gothic qiman) and Sanskrit gacchati. The absolutive -tvā marks completed action before the main verb.

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

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