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atho

indeclinable particle

1. and then; or; after that; because of

Built from

• ath- — root · then, now
  A temporal or deictic particle marking sequence or emphasis. The concrete sense is a pointing-toward moment or event in narrative flow.
• -a — ending · nominalized form
  Marks the base form atha, from which the enclitic -o derives.
• -o — ending · enclitic softener
  A frequent Pali particle suffix that attaches to words to lighten emphasis or signal a conversational turn, especially common in linking clauses.

Etymology. From atha (then, now) with the enclitic -o, a frequent Pali particle suffix that softens or lightens utterance. The root atha itself connects to Sanskrit atha and likely derives from an Indo-European temporal or deictic stem (*at-) related to Greek autos (self, that one) and Latin atta (father, in the sense of pointing to a figure).

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

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