sutta.stream

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citte

citta

nt acc pl of citta (noun); nt loc sg of citta (noun); masc acc pl of citta (adj); nt acc pl of citta (adj); …

  1. mind; heart
  2. thought; intention; idea; lit. mind
  3. decorated; beautiful; adorned
  4. varied; different; diverse
  5. painting; picture; artwork; illusion
  6. name of a lay-disciple; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost layman in giving Dhamma talks; Citta Macchikāsaṇḍika
  7. name of a monk; Citta Hatthisāriputta
  8. name of a lunar month; March-April

Etymology. Root √cit- (to perceive, notice, be aware). The nominal form citta (literally 'perceived, noticed') denotes both the faculty of awareness (mind) and its content (thought). Cognate with Sanskrit cit-, and distantly with Latin citāre 'to set in motion' (originally 'to call attention to'); the concrete sense of 'noticing' or 'bringing to awareness' underlies both. In Pali Buddhism, citta denotes the phenomenal mind-moment (in Abhidhamma), the stream of consciousness, and the heart-mind as seat of intention and moral quality.

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

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