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appaṭipuggaloti

appaṭipuggala

masculine nominative singular, with -ti enclitic copula

1. who is not an equal; who is not a peer
2. matchless; peerless; unrivalled; unequalled; lit. with no counterpart

Built from

• a — prefix · not
  Plain negation (cognate: English un-, Greek a-, as in atheist). Negates the entire compound.
• ppaṭi — prefix · counter, against
  Assimilated from paṭi- (back, facing back; cognate: Greek pros toward/against). Concrete image: standing opposite, facing back in return.
• puggala — root · person, individual
  From Sanskrit puruṣa. The image is of one person standing as a peer or counterpart to another.
• ti — ending · copula
  Enclitic form of iti (it is, he/she/it is). Marks the end of a nominal phrase in predicate position.

Analysis. appaṭi-puggala + iti: a-ppaṭi-puggala, "not (having) a counter-person", + the enclitic copula iti "it is". The prefix a- negates ppaṭi-puggala (where ppaṭi is the prefix paṭi- "back, counter to" + puggala "person, individual"), yielding "one to whom no peer stands opposite".

Etymology. Compound of a- (negation) + paṭi- (back, against, counter to; from PIE *poti-, appearing in Greek pros, Latin contra) + puggala (person; from Sanskrit puruṣa, related to Greek pyr- and Latin par-, both meaning peer or equal). The prefix paṭi- carries the spatial image of standing opposite or facing back; negated, it means "without a counterpart facing back", i.e., matchless.

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

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