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cārittaṁ

cāritta

nominative singular neuter

1. conduct, behaviour
2. virtue, moral practice
3. character

Built from

• cār — root · walk, move
  The root √car means to go or walk; the metaphor of following a path becomes following a way of conduct.
• -tta — ending · abstract noun
  The suffix -tta transforms the active sense into an abstract state or quality, here 'the conduct one walks' or 'the way one conducts oneself'.

Analysis. cāritta is derived from cāra- (walking, movement, practice) with the suffix -tta (abstract noun formation); the concrete image of walking a path comes to denote the conduct one follows.

Etymology. From √car (to walk, move), which appears in Sanskrit cāra (movement) and Latin cedō (go, yield); the abstract suffix -tta transforms the action of walking into the idea of a way of life or character one maintains.

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

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