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amukharā

amukhara

masc nom pl of amukhara (adj); fem nom sg of amukhara (adj); fem nom pl of amukhara (adj); nt nom pl of amukhara (adj); …

1. not talkative; not big-mouthed; not garrulous; lit. not mouthy

Built from

• a- — prefix · not, without
  Negating prefix. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• mukh- — root · mouth
  The root underlying mukha. Spatial sense of speaking/utterance; no clear European cognates.
• -ara — ending · tending to, prone to
  Adjectival suffix forming words of quality or tendency. -ara attaches to nouns to create adjectives denoting characteristic behavior or appearance.

Analysis. a- (not) + mukhara (talkative, garrulous); lit. 'not big-mouthed'

Etymology. a- is the negating prefix (without, not; cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)- as in 'atheist'); mukhara derives from mukha 'mouth' (mouth-y, prone to use the mouth) with -ara suffix forming adjectives of tendency or quality. The concrete sense 'not mouthy' metaphorically yields 'not prone to chatter'.

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

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