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atītamaddhānaṁ

atītamaddhāna

accusative singular masculine of atītamaddhāna (compound adjective/noun)

1. the past period
2. former times
3. elapsed time

Built from

• atīta — stem · past, gone beyond
  Derived from ati- (over, beyond) + √i (go), meaning time that has passed over or been surpassed.
• maddhāna — stem · middle, interval
  From *medhya- (middle), referring to a span or duration between two points.
• ṁ — ending · accusative singular
  Marks the compound as the direct object of a verb or in accusative position.

Analysis. atīta (past, gone beyond) + maddhāna (middle, interval). The compound denotes the time-span that has already elapsed, contrasted with present and future periods.

Etymology. atīta from ati- (beyond) + īta (gone, from √i "go"); maddhāna from Middle Indo-European *medhya- "middle" (cognate with Latin medius, English mid). The prefix ati- carries the sense of having crossed over or transcended a threshold, here applied to time itself.

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

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