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niyato

niya

masc abl sg of niya (adj); masc nom sg of niyata (pp)

1. niya (adj): one's own; his own; her own
2. niyata (pp): controlled; restrained
3. niyata (pp): certain; decided; invariable; unavoidable; of fixed destiny; lit. controlled down
4. niyata (pp): established; fixed; settled (in); lit. controlled down

Built from

• ni — prefix · down, into
  The downward and inward force of ni- suggests pressing something into a fixed state or binding it firmly in place.
• yam — root · restrain, control, yoke
  From Indo-European *yek- 'to join, yoke'; the root's concrete image is the yoking or harnessing of animals, hence controlling and fixing in place.
• ta — ending · past participle
  The -ta ending marks this as a past participle, expressing the state resulting from the action of restraining: what has been controlled down remains controlled.

Etymology. ni- (down, into) + √yam (to restrain, control). The prefix ni- conveys the sense of pressing down or binding down into place, yielding the sense of being firmly controlled or settled. Cognate with Sanskrit niyata and Greek zygon (yoke, a restraining device), both from the same Indo-European root *yek- 'to join, yoke'.

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

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