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abhāsīti

abhāsanta

3rd person singular imperfect (aorist) of abhāsati

1. abhāsanta (prp): not speaking; not talking (about)
2. abhāsi (aor): spoke; said
3. abhāsi (aor): told about; explained (something to)
4. abhāsi (aor): shone, radiated
5. abhāsi (aor): (of lies) told; spoke

Built from

• abhi- — prefix · toward, over
  Facing and bearing down on the action; intensifying. Latin ob- (observe), English over.
• ā- — prefix · toward (reversing motion)
  Often reverses the direction of verbs; here combined with the root to form a complete verb stem.
• bhās — root · to shine, speak
  The concrete image is radiance or utterance bursting forth. Related to Sanskrit bhāsa-.
• -i — ending · 3rd singular aorist
  Marks the 3rd person singular past tense, completing the verbal action.

Analysis. abhi- (toward, over) + āsīti (sat, was). The form abhāsīti shows the prefix abhi- prefixed to āsīti (imperfect of āsīdati or related root), creating a sense of "speaking toward" or "addressing." In the sense "shone," the root may derive from √bhās (to shine), with abhi- intensifying the radiance.

Etymology. abhi- (toward, over; Latin ob-, English over) + √bhās or √as (to be, sit). The root √bhās means to shine or speak; abhi- bears down on the action, making it emphatic or intensive. The radiance sense suggests light shining forth; the speech sense derives from the force of utterance directed outward.

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

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