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taṇhamudacchidā
imperf 3rd sg of taṇhamudacchidā (verb)
- cut craving; stopped desire
Built from
- taṇha — root · craving, thirst
The fundamental mental poison; one of the Twelve Factors (paticcasamuppāda). From the same root as Latin tānă (a lair, den—originally something one thirsts/hungers for).
- ud — prefix · up, out
The concrete image is upward and outward motion; cognates are English out and German aus. Here it intensifies the action of cutting, marking a thorough severance.
- a — prefix · (connecting vowel)
A thematic connector appearing between the prefix and root in compounds; not a morpheme with independent meaning.
- cchid — root · cut, sever
From √chid (Sanskrit chidati). Cognate with English sheath and German scheiden (separate, divide). The concrete image is the action of cutting blade through material.
- ā — ending · 3rd sg imperfect
The imperfect suffix marking past tense, 3rd person singular. Indicates a completed action in the past narrative.
Analysis. taṇha (craving) + uda (prefix form of ud-, up/out) + acchidā (from √chid, cut). The compound conveys the sense of cutting craving away, uprooting it; uda intensifies the action of severance.
Etymology. √chid (Sanskrit chidati, cut) is cognate with English sheath (the cutting tool that sheathes the blade), and with German scheiden (divide, separate). The prefix ud- (up, out) has cognates in English out and German aus, and keeps its concrete sense of cutting upward and away. Taṇha (thirst, craving) is the root of suffering in Buddhist doctrine; its severance is liberation.