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nigamo

nigama

masc nom sg of nigama (noun)

1. town; market town; lit. going down

Built from

• ni — prefix · down, into
  Spatial prefix indicating descent or ingress. Cognate with English nether and German nieder. Here it frames the noun as a place one enters or approaches from above.
• gam — root · go
  Root meaning to go or come. Cognate with English come and Latin venio. The image of going down into a place gives the word its sense of settlement or gathering point.
• a — ending · nominative singular masculine
  Standard masculine -a ending, marking the nominative singular case in the noun declension.

Analysis. ni- + √gam, 'a place where [people] go down [into]'; refers to a populated settlement or trading center as a destination approached from higher ground or as a gathering place.

Etymology. ni- (down, into) + √gam (go; cognate with English come, Latin venio). The concrete image is descent or ingress: a nigama is etymologically a place one goes down into, hence a town or bazaar as a focal point of habitation and commerce. Related to Sanskrit nigama.

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

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