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chavā

chava

masc nom pl of chava (adj); fem nom sg of chava (adj); fem nom pl of chava (adj); nt nom pl of chava (adj); …

1. low; base; vile; wretched; poor; terrible; lit. corpse
2. worthless; trivial; lowly; unimportant; lit. corpse
3. corpse

Etymology. From PIE *skeṷ- 'to cover, hide': related to Sanskrit chāyā 'shadow; protection', Greek skeuē 'equipment; hide', English 'sky' and 'shade'. The root sense 'covered; hidden' evolved toward 'what is left behind; remains' and thence 'corpse'. Also cognate with Sanskrit chāva 'corpse'.

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

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