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anuttaresu

anuttara

masc loc pl of anuttara (adj); nt loc pl of anuttara (adj)

1. highest (of); unsurpassed (by); incomparable (to); superior (to); lit. no higher

Built from

• an — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)-.
• ut — prefix · up, out
  Directional prefix embedded in uttara. Cognate with English out, German aus.
• tara — stem · higher, further
  Comparative form (ut + -ara). The root tar- means to cross or go over; the comparative sense preserves the image of going further up or beyond.
• su — ending · locative plural
  Locative plural ending -su marks the location or context (here, in which respects something is highest).

Etymology. an- (without) + uttara (higher, further). Uttara derives from ut- (up, out) + -ara (comparative suffix), cognate with English "utter" (to speak forth). Thus anuttara is literally "not-higher", the superlative meaning "highest of all".

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

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