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catūsu

catu

masc loc pl of catu (card); fem loc pl of catu (card); nt loc pl of catu (card)

1. catu (card): four (4)
2. catūsu (card): in four; among four

Built from

• catu — root · four
  Cardinal numeral from PIE *kwetwor-. The root itself is ancient and uninflectable in origin, though it takes case endings in Pali like nouns.
• -su — ending · locative plural
  Locative plural ending marking the ablative sense 'in, among, within'. This ending appears across all genders in the locative plural.

Etymology. From PIE *kwetwor- "four"; cognates English four, Latin quattuor, Greek téssares, German vier, Sanskrit catvāras. The Pali form catu shows the typical loss of the final -r and simplification of the consonant cluster.

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

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