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anupalittā

anupalitta

masc nom pl of anupalitta (pp); fem nom sg of anupalitta (pp); fem nom pl of anupalitta (pp); nt nom pl of anupalitta (pp); …

1. not smeared; not sullied; untainted; unstained (by); lit. not smeared near

Built from

• anu — prefix · along, not
  The prefix anu- originally means 'along, following', but here it functions as part of the negation a-nu-palitta, reversing the action of smearing.
• a — prefix · not, without
  Privative prefix marking negation. Cognates: English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist).
• palitta — root · smeared, soiled
  Past participle form of a root meaning to cover, smear, or soil; the stem conveys the concrete sense of surface contamination.

Etymology. anu- (along, following) + palitta (past participle of palimpati, to smear, soil). The prefix anu- here carries the sense of negation or reversal through the privative a-, making it 'not smeared along' or simply 'not smeared'. The root is likely connected to Sanskrit pali- (to cover, protect), though the semantics have shifted to 'smear, soil'.

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

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