‹ Back to the text

bhikkhunisatehi

bhikkhunisata

nt instr pl of bhikkhunisata (noun); nt abl pl of bhikkhunisata (noun)

1. one hundred nuns

Built from

• bhikkhuni — root · nun
  From bhikkhu (alms-beggar, monk), itself from the root meaning to beg or seek sustenance. A nun in the Buddhist monastic order.
• sata — root · hundred
  From the numeral meaning 100. Cognate with Sanskrit śata and distantly related to English/Latin decem (ten) via the Indo-European numeric system.

Analysis. bhikkhuni (nun) + sata (hundred); a compound noun denoting a collective group.

Etymology. bhikkhuni from bhikkhu (one who lives by alms), ultimately from √bhikṣ (to beg); sata from √sat or Indo-European *dek-m̥ (ten), related to Latin decem and English ten — sata literally '100' but also used as a collective.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version