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bhikkhunīhi

bhikkhunī

fem instr pl of bhikkhunī (noun); fem abl pl of bhikkhunī (noun)

1. nun; fully ordained nun

Built from

• bhikkhu — root · monk, beggar
  From √bhikṣ meaning to beg or ask for alms. The concrete image is of one who survives by requesting; in the canon, a fully ordained member of the monastic saṅgha bound by the Vinaya.
• -nī — ending · feminine marker
  The standard feminine nominalizing suffix in Pali, forming the feminine counterpart to masculine nouns. Here it designates a female renunciate, parallel in status to the masculine bhikkhu.

Etymology. From bhikkhu (monk, one who begs) + -nī (feminine suffix). Bhikkhu itself derives from √bhikṣ (to beg, ask), cognate with Sanskrit bhikṣu and Greek phauskō (to beg). The -nī suffix marks the feminine form and is the inherited Pali feminine nominalizer.

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

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