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dāsi

dāsī

fem voc sg of dāsī (noun)

1. maid; maidservant; female slave

Built from

• dās — root · serve, servitude
  The root underlying servitude and slave-status. Cognate with Sanskrit dāsa- and Greek doûlos, all from IE *dou̯es-.
• -ī — ending · feminine singular
  Standard Pali feminine suffix deriving feminine nouns from masculine stems. Here marks the word as referring to a female servant.

Etymology. From √dās 'to serve', related to Sanskrit dāsa-, Greek δοῦλος doûlos 'slave' (both from Indo-European *dou̯es- 'to serve, be in servitude'). The feminine -ī ending is standard Pali formation from the masculine dāsa.

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

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