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bhavā

bhava

masc nom pl of bhava (noun); masc instr sg of bhava (noun); masc abl sg of bhava (noun); masc voc sg of bhava (noun); …

1. bhava (masc): being; becoming; existence
2. bhava (masc): state of existence; form of becoming
3. bhava (nt): state of existence; form of becoming
4. bhava (masc): well-being; prosperity; development
5. bhavanta (prp): becoming
6. bhavi (aor): became; was; existed
7. bhavanta (prp): existing

Built from

• bha — root · be, become
  Proto-Indo-European *bheuH-. The concrete sense is 'to grow, swell, arise'; the abstract sense of 'existence' follows from becoming manifest.
• va — ending · agent noun
  Nominalizing suffix forming abstract nouns of state and condition from verbal roots. Here marks the nominal form denoting the state or process of becoming.

Etymology. From √bhū (to be, become), cognate with English 'be', Latin fuī (was), Sanskrit bhavati (becomes). The root carries the sense of arising and persisting in existence, fundamental to Buddhist cosmology as the cycle of repeated becomings (bhavacakra).

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

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