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dandho

dandha

masc nom sg of dandha (adj)

1. slow; sluggish
2. slow, silly, stupid

Built from

• dandh- — root · slow, tardy
  The concrete image is physical sluggishness and delay in motion or response. This root underlies the behavioral flaw of mental inertia and unresponsiveness.
• -a — ending · masculine nominative singular
  Masculine singular nominative ending in -a marks this as an adjective in the nominative case addressing a male referent or abstract subject.

Etymology. Root √dandh- (to be slow, tardy); related to Sanskrit dambha (deceit, hypocrisy — sense-shift from sluggishness of mind to mental dullness and deception). The root reflects Proto-Indo-European *dhabh- (to move slowly, lag), cognate with English deaf (unable to respond quickly to sound) and Greek typhlós (blind — slow to perceive).

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

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