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appaṭibhāno

appaṭibhāna

masc nom sg of appaṭibhāna (adj)

1. unresponsive; dumbfounded; speechless; mute; at a loss for words

Built from

• a- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Greek a-, English un-.
• paṭi- — prefix · back, against, in return
  Signals counter-movement or response; what appears back to mind does not.
• bhā — root · shine, appear
  √bhā 'to shine, come to light, appear.' Cognate with English 'bright', Latin fulgeō.
• na — ending · capable of, -able
  Nominal suffix forming adjectives of capacity or quality. Here with paṭi- creates 'that which comes back to mind' > 'responsive'.

Analysis. a- (not) + paṭibhāna (responsive, occurring to mind); one to whom nothing occurs, who has no ready response.

Etymology. From a- (without, Greek a-, English un-) + paṭibhāna (from paṭi- back, against + √bhā shine, appear — 'appearing back', i.e. coming to mind in response). The prefix paṭi- keeps its sense of counter-movement: what should appear to the mind in reply does not. Cognate with English 'appear' (Latin apparēre).

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

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