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taṇhākkhayo

taṇhākkhaya

masc nom sg of taṇhākkhaya (noun)

1. wearing away of craving; depletion of desire; extinction of longing

Built from

• taṇhā — root · craving, thirst
  From √tṛṣ (to thirst); concrete sense of parching thirst extends to psychological craving (tanhā tīyi, craving runs hot). Cognates: English thirst, German Durst, Latin torrēre.
• kkhaya — root · decay, wearing away, extinction
  From √kṣi (to decay, consume, wear down); the noun kkhaya denotes the process and result of wasting away. Cognate with English consume and the root sense of decay in attrition.

Analysis. taṇhā (craving, thirst) + kkhaya (wearing away, decay); a key doctrinal compound denoting the cessation of tanhā as the goal of the path—nirvana understood as the final decay of the fuel that feeds saṃsāra.

Etymology. taṇhā derives from √tṛṣ (Sanskrit tṛṣ) 'to thirst'—cognate with English thirst, German Durst, and Latin torrēre 'to parch'; kkhaya is the Pali form of Sanskrit kṣaya, from √kṣi 'to decay, wear away', cognate with English consume and Latin caedere 'to fell, cut'. The compound captures a central Buddhist insight: craving as the active thirst that must literally be worn away.

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

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