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anuttaro

anuttara

masc nom sg of anuttara (adj)

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

Built from

• an- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation; a- before vowels. Cognate with English un-, Greek a(n)- (atheist).
• uttara — stem · higher, further
  Comparative form related to √ut 'out'; cognate with English utter (Old English utera, comparative of ut). The negation of the comparative yields the superlative sense.

Etymology. an- (prefix 'not') + uttara (comparative 'higher'), literally 'not higher'; the negation of the comparative forms the superlative sense. Cognate with English utter (from Old English utera, comparative of ut 'out'), which preserves the same comparative structure.

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

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