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pabbajito

pabbajita

masc nom sg of pabbajita (noun); masc nom sg of pabbajita (pp)

1. monk; monastic; renunciant; renunciate; lit. went forth
2. ordained; renounced (from); lit. went forth

Built from

• pa — prefix · forth, forward
  Prefix marking action stepping forward or out; here, the decisive step into the religious life.
• bbaj — root · divide, share, go
  Root meaning to partition or move; in context of renunciation, to leave one's household share behind and depart. Related to Sanskrit bhaj.
• ita — ending · past participle
  Passive past participle suffix -ita marks the completed state of having gone forth; used as a noun for 'one who has gone forth'.

Analysis. pa + √bhaj, literally 'gone forth'; pabbajita is the past participle of pabbajati 'goes forth, renounces household life'.

Etymology. pa- (forward, forth) + √bhaj (to share, divide, go). The root √bhaj appears in Sanskrit bhaj 'to share, partake, go'; the prefix pa- gives the sense of stepping forth into a new state. The concrete image is leaving behind one's household share (bhaj) and going forward (pa-) into homelessness. Cognate with English 'go' and Sanskrit √gam through Indo-European *gwem-.

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

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