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ānanda
masc voc sg of ānanda (noun); imp 2nd sg of ānandati (verb)
- ānanda (masc): happiness; joy
- ānanda (masc): name of an arahant monk; attendant of the Buddha; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in great learning; foremost monk in excellent recollection; foremost monk in retention; foremost monk in total recall; foremost monk in assistance; lit. happiness
- ānanda (masc): name of four privately awakened Buddhas
- ānandati (pr): is happy; is joyful
Built from
- ā — prefix · toward, up to
Reverses the sense of √nand from 'to delight' to 'to arrive at delight'; the concrete sense of approach becomes the abstract sense of possessing joy.
- nand — root · rejoice, please
The emotional state of being pleased or delighted. Related to Sanskrit nandati; distantly cognate with Latin gaudēre 'rejoice' through an older root *gn̥d-.
- a — ending · nominative singular masculine
The thematic vowel and nominative ending mark the base form of a masculine a-stem noun, used here for the vocative as well.
Etymology. ā + √nand. The prefix ā- reverses the motion of √nand (to delight, be pleased), turning an internal state outward toward the speaker: literally 'delight arriving at one', hence 'joy possessed, happiness'. The root √nand appears in Sanskrit nandati 'rejoices', cognate with Latin gaudēre 'to rejoice' (via older *gn̥d-), though the Pali form shows the standard Indo-European nasal-present formation.