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snehena

sneha

masc instr sg of sneha (noun)

1. moisture
2. affection; love (for); lit. moisture
3. moisturizing oil; lotion; unguent

Built from

• sneh — root · moist, adhere
  The root √snih conveys both literal moisture and the abstract stickiness of emotional attachment. In the canon, sneha appears as one of the mental obstacles—like upādāna (clinging), it represents the adhesive quality of craving and affection that binds beings to saṃsāra.

Etymology. From √snih (to be moist, to adhere; to love). The root is cognate with Sanskrit sneha and Latin unguen (unguent), both reflecting moistness as the ground of stickiness and thus attachment. The semantic evolution from physical moisture (oil clinging to the skin) to emotional adhesion (affection binding beings) is typical of Pali; compare Sanskrit sneha in the same double sense. The root √snih itself may connect to Greek νέα (nea, moisture) and English snow, though this is uncertain.

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

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