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akkhikūpesu

akkhikūpa

masc loc pl of akkhikūpa (noun)

1. eye socket; lit. eye holes

Built from

• akkhi — root · eye
  From Sanskrit akṣi, PIE *h₃ekʷ- (to see). Cognate with Greek ὀφθαλμός and English eye.
• kūpa — root · pit, well
  Sanskrit kūpa (well); a common noun for any hole or cavity. No clear Indo-European cognate; possibly an old substrate word.

Analysis. akkhikūpa is a tatpuruṣa compound: akkhi (eye) + kūpa (pit, well). The literal sense is 'eye pit' or 'eye hole', the hollow socket in which the eye sits.

Etymology. Akkhi derives from Sanskrit akṣi (eye), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (to see), cognate with Greek ὀφθαλμός ophthalmos (eye) and English eye. Kūpa (pit, well) is an Indo-European borrowing from Dravidian or a word of uncertain origin within Pali itself; it may be related to Sanskrit kūpa (well). The compound is a straightforward descriptive apposition: the eye's hollow home.

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

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