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āgato

āga

masc abl sg of āga (noun); masc abl pl of āga (noun); masc nom sg of āgata (noun); masc nom sg of āgata (pp)

1. āga (masc): mountain, tree
2. āgata (masc): guest; visitor; arriver; lit. come here
3. āgata (pp): come; arrived; returned (from); lit. come here
4. āgata (pp): become; entered (into state or position); lit. come here
5. āgata (pp): (of scriptures) come down; handed down (in); lit. come here
6. āgata (pp): present; at hand; current; lit. come here
7. āgata (pp): came to; arrived at; reached; lit. come here

Built from

• ā — prefix · toward, hither
  Reverses motion verbs: √gam "go" becomes "come" when the action is directed toward the speaker or reference point.
• gam — root · go, move
  Cognate with English "come" and Sanskrit gacchati. The image is of walking or motion across space.
• ta — ending · past participle
  Marks a completed action; here, "having come (to a place or state)". In nom sg masc, it yields the noun āgata "one who has arrived", i.e. guest or visitor.

Analysis. ā-√gam: the prefix ā- (toward the speaker) reverses the direction of √gam (go), making it "come" — a motion verb reoriented. The pp āgata thus means "having come (here)"; as a noun, "one who has come", i.e. guest.

Etymology. √gam (go, move) + ā- prefix. The root gam cognates with English "come" and Sanskrit gacchati; ā- is a spatial prefix marking approach toward the speaker or a point of reference. In compounds, āgata extends to mean "arrived at" (a state, doctrine, time), hence "present, handed down".

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

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