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sassato

sassa

nt abl sg of sassa (noun); masc abl sg of sassa (noun); masc abl pl of sassa (noun); masc nom sg of sassata (adj)

1. sassa (nt): corn; grain; crop; harvest
2. sassata (adj): eternal; everlasting; endless; perpetual; (comm) existing forever
3. sassa (masc): corn; grain; crop; harvest

Built from

• sassa — root · grain, crop
  A noun of uncertain origin; appears in both neuter and masculine forms. The semantic leap to "eternal" suggests either semantic shift or reanalysis in doctrinal usage.
• -ta — ending · quality, state (adjective suffix)
  Forms adjectives from nouns and verbs, here creating an abstract quality. In this word it marks the predicate nominative or attributive adjective sassata.

Etymology. From sassa (grain, crop) + -ta (adjective suffix forming quality nouns): literally "grain-like" or "of the nature of grain", but reanalyzed as "unchanging, permanent" — perhaps from the idea of grain as a stable, cyclical harvest. The connection between grain and eternity is unclear; sassata appears primarily in philosophical contexts (eternalism, sassatavāda) where it contrasts with ucchedavāda (annihilationism). No clear Indo-European cognates.

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

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