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abhabba

masc voc sg of abhabba (ptp); nt voc sg of abhabba (ptp)

1. unable (to); impossible (to); incapable (of); unlikely (to); lit. not to be
2. ineffective; inoperative; incapable of producing a result; lit. not to be
3. incompetent; incapable; lit. not to be

Built from

• a — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation; cognates English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• bhabba — stem · to be, fit, become
  Past participle of bhavati 'to be, become' (PIE *bʰeuə-); cognates English be, Latin fui. The stem bhabba preserves the sense of what is possible or fitting.

Analysis. a- (not) + bhabba (to be done, fit). The a-privative negates the sense of what can be done or is fitting, yielding the sense of what cannot be or is unfit.

Etymology. The a- prefix is the Indo-European negation (Greek a-, English un-); bhabba is a past participle of bhavati 'to become, to be', from the PIE root *bʰeuə- 'to grow, be' (Sanskrit bhavati, English be). The word thus literally means 'not-become-able' or 'not-fit-to-be', expressing radical incapacity or impossibility.

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

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