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yāme

yāma

masc acc pl of yāma (noun); masc loc sg of yāma (noun); masc acc pl of yāma (adj); nt acc pl of yāma (adj); …

1. yāma (masc): watch (of the night); one sixth of the day; about four hours
2. yāma (masc): (comm) stage of life
3. yāma (masc): restraint; control; suppression
4. yāma (adj): of the underworld; of the world of the dead; lit. belonging to the end
5. yāma (masc): underworld; world of the dead; lit. belonging to the end
6. yāmā (masc): name of a group of deities; lit. controllers
7. yāma (masc): (vinaya) time between noon and dawn; lit. watch of the night

Built from

• yā — root · to check, restrain
  From √yam, meaning to hold back or control. In mythology, Yama the death-god 'restrains' or rules over the dead.
• ma — ending · agent, controller
  Suffix forming agent nouns; yāma as 'controller' or 'restrainer'. In the context of Yama, the death-god who controls the underworld and the restraint of time itself.

Etymology. From root √yam (to check, restrain, control). Cognates: Sanskrit yama; English "yammer" (to speak with restraint or complaint) is from a different root. The sense 'watch of the night' derives from the restraining or demarcating of time; 'underworld' comes from Yama, the death-god who controls/restrains the deceased. The temporal sense ('watch', 'period') follows from time as something that restrains or divides the day.

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

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