masc nom sg of bāla (adj); masc nom sg of bāla (noun)
Etymology. Root uncertain; possibly related to Sanskrit bāla 'child, fool' and Greek phōlos 'tribe, clan' (orig. 'flock, herd'), suggesting an original sense of 'one who stays with the herd, undiscerning'. The semantic shift from 'young/unformed' to 'foolish' is natural and paralleled in many languages.
Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.
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