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samaṇabrāhmaṇā

samaṇabrāhmaṇa

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

1. samaṇabrāhmaṇa (masc): ascetic or Brahman; monk or priest
2. samaṇabrāhmaṇā (masc): ascetics and Brahmans; monks and priests

Built from

• samaṇa — root · ascetic
  From Sanskrit śramaṇa, one who toils or exerts himself. The term denotes a religious renunciate who abandons householder life.
• brāhmaṇa — root · Brahman
  A member of the priestly caste; also used for any learned religious specialist. In Buddhist contexts, often paired with samaṇa to cover all religious practitioners.
• ā — ending · nominative plural
  The long -ā ending marks masculine nominative plural, treating the compound as a single masculine noun.

Analysis. A dvandva (coordinate) compound: samaṇa (ascetic, renunciate) + brāhmaṇa (Brahman, priest). Both terms refer to religious specialists; the compound pairs them as the two principal categories of religious life in ancient India. The nominative plural samaṇabrāhmaṇā treats the compound as a single unit.

Etymology. Samaṇa is from Sanskrit śramaṇa (from √śram- 'to toil, exert oneself'), meaning a wandering ascetic or mendicant; cognate with English 'shram' (Romani, from the same root). Brāhmaṇa derives from brahman (cosmic principle, the Absolute in Upaniṣadic thought), referring to those of the priestly Brahmin caste; Sanskrit brahman has no clear Indo-European cognate.

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

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