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bāhiya

masc voc sg of bāhiya (noun)

1. name of an ascetic; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in quick realization; Bāhiya Dārucīriya; lit. foreigner
2. name of a monk; lit. foreigner

Built from

• bāh — root · outside, external
  Spatial root denoting outwardness, external position. Cognate with Sanskrit bāhya (outside); ultimately from Indo-European *bheuh- (to swell, grow, be, exist externally).
• iya — ending · adjective suffix
  Nominal or adjectival formant marking a quality or property; creates the noun bāhiya from the root sense 'being outside, foreign'.

Etymology. From √bāhira 'external, outside', related to Sanskrit bāhya. The name Bāhiya Dārucīriya ('the woodworm ascetic from outside') suggests a wanderer or outsider who came to the Buddha's teaching from beyond the monastic fold. The concrete spatial sense of 'outside' underlies the social sense of 'foreigner'.

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

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