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asite

asita

masc acc pl of asita (pp); nt acc pl of asita (pp); masc loc sg of asita (pp); nt loc sg of asita (pp); …

1. asita (pp): eaten
2. asita (nt): eating; lit. eaten
3. asita (nt): food
4. asita (pp): detached; independent; free; lit. untied
5. asita (masc): name of a privately awakened Buddha; lit. untied
6. asita (adj): black; dark-coloured; lit. not white
7. asita (nt): sickle; lit. thrown
8. asita (pp): reaped, cut
9. …

Built from

• a- — prefix · not, without
  Plain negation. Forms the semantic opposite of the root.
• si — root · bind, tie
  From √si. Cognate with Latin serere 'to join, weave, sow' and English 'seam'. The concrete image is binding together or binding fast.
• -ta — ending · past participle
  Marks the word as a past participle (the action of binding completed and negated).

Etymology. a- (prefix 'not', without) + √si (to bind, tie). The root √si means 'to bind' (cognate with Latin serere 'to join, weave', English 'seam'); asita as a past participle means 'not bound' or 'untied', which evolved semantically to 'eaten' (food that passes through the body unbound by it), and as an adjective 'free, independent' or 'black' (the darker, unbound form). The sense 'reaped, cut' reflects the scythe or sickle that cuts (severs bonds of attachment to the plant).

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

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