sammāvāyāmo

sammāvāyāma

masc nom sg of sammāvāyāma (noun); masc nom sg of sammāvāyāma (adj)

correct effort; right striving
with correct effort; having right endeavour

Built from

sam — prefix · together, completely
Brings elements into unified right relation. See saṁ- prefix: things brought into one.
mā — root · measure, mark out
Conveys the sense of proper proportion and correctness. Related to Sanskrit mā and the idea of fitting measure.
vāyāma — stem · exertion, effort
Likely from √vī 'separate, exert' or semantically related to vāya 'wind', denoting active striving and effort. In compound sammāvāyāma this becomes the directed effort that is rightly measured.

Analysis. sammā (sammā adverb, 'rightly, correctly') + vāyāma (exertion, effort); a compound meaning 'exertion done rightly'. In the Eightfold Path, sammāvāyāmo refers to the sixth factor: the cultivation of wholesome states and the abandonment of unwholesome ones.

Etymology. sammā is saṁ + mā, from √mā 'to measure', literally 'measured together', hence 'properly, rightly' (cognate with Sanskrit samyak). Vāyāma is from √vī 'to separate, exert' or related to vāya 'wind', suggesting the sense of effort and exertion. The compound idiomatically denotes right effort as the cultivated striving along the path.

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

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