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sannipāto

sannipāta

masc nom sg of sannipāta (noun)

1. assembly; congregation; gathering; lit. falling down together
2. arrangement; organization; lit. falling down together
3. connection; combination; gathering; lit. falling down together
4. illness produced by combination of the three humours; lit. falling down together
5. concurrence; union; lit. falling down together

Built from

• saṁ — prefix · together
  Brings things into one; cognate with English 'same' and Latin 'similis'.
• ni — prefix · down, into
  Directional downward movement; cognate with English 'nether'.
• pat — root · fall, alight
  The concrete image is descent or descent into a place; cognate with Latin 'patere' (lie open) and Sanskrit 'patati'.
• a — ending · nominalized
  The masculine singular abstract noun suffix -a, converting the verbal action into a concrete noun for the state or event of falling together.

Analysis. saṁ + ni + √pat (or nipāta): things falling down together into one place; in medical contexts, the coming-together of vāta, pitta, and kapha humours as a cause of disease.

Etymology. sam (together) + ni (down, into) + √pat (fall, alight). The root √pat means 'to fall' or 'to alight', cognate with Latin patere 'to lie open' and Sanskrit patati. The spatial imagery—multiple things descending and converging into one—yields the sense of assembly or unified collection. In Pali medicine (following Sanskrit vaidya), sannipāta-roga denotes illness from the simultaneous disturbance of all three humours.

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

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