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aggato

agga

masc abl sg of agga (adj); nt abl sg of agga (noun)

1. agga (adj): highest; topmost; foremost; supreme; ultimate
2. agga (adj): most; very; extremely; superbly
3. agga (nt): tip; top; peak
4. agga (nt): chief (among); best (of); highest (of); ultimate
5. agga (nt): outcome; conclusion; result
6. agga (nt): hall; room; place; position
7. aggato (ind): before one's eyes; right in front of one; in one's presence

Built from

• agga — root · top, peak, foremost
  From *ak- 'sharp, pointed'. The tip or peak as what stands foremost and prominent. Cognate with Sanskrit agra, Greek akē 'point', English edge.
• -to — ending · ablative
  Ablative case suffix marking source, separation, or (here) instrument/manner. Creates the adverbial sense 'from the top/in front'.

Analysis. aggato is the ablative singular of agga (top, peak, foremost), used adverbially to mean 'from the top/front', hence 'in full view', 'before one's eyes'.

Etymology. agga is cognate with Sanskrit agra (point, tip, foremost), from the Indo-European root *ak- 'to be sharp, pointed' (English edge, acute, Latin acumen). The ablative ending -to creates an adverbial sense 'from the top/before', keeping the spatial imagery of prominence and forward-facing position.

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

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