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akālena

akāla

masc instr sg of akāla (noun); masc instr sg of akāla (adj); nt instr sg of akāla (adj)

1. akāla (masc): inappropriate time; unsuitable time; not the time (for)
2. akāla (masc): wrong season; not the season (for)
3. akāla (adj): out of season; unseasonal; lit. not in time
4. akālena (ind): at the wrong moment; at an unsuitable time; at an improper time

Built from

• a- — prefix · not
  Negation. Cognate: English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• kāla — root · time
  From √kāl (to count, reckon, determine). Cognate: Greek kalon (fitting), Latin calendae (marked days).
• -ena — ending · instrumental
  Instrumental case ending marking manner, means, or attending circumstance—here expressing 'at/in an unsuitable time'.

Analysis. a- (not) + kāla (time); the instrumental -ena marks manner or circumstance: 'in/by an unsuitable time', hence 'at the wrong moment'

Etymology. a- is the negation prefix (English un-, Greek a-); kāla is 'time, proper season', cognate with Greek kalon 'the beautiful, the fit' and Latin calendae 'day on which business is announced'. The root √kāl (variant √kal) means 'to count, reckon, determine', underlying the notion of measured or determined time.

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

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