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devamanussānaṁ

devamanussā

genitive plural of devamanussā (compound noun, masculine)

1. gods and humans
2. divine and human beings
3. heavenly and mortal realms

Built from

• deva — root · god, shining one
  From PIE *deiw- 'shine': the divine as luminous and elevated. Cognates: Sanskrit deva, Latin deus, English deity.
• manussā — root · human
  From PIE *manu- 'man, mind': the human as thinking, mortal being. Cognates: Sanskrit manuṣya, English man.
• aṁ — ending · genitive plural
  The -aṁ ending marks genitive plural, showing possession or relation pertaining to both gods and humans together.

Analysis. deva (god, divine being) + manussā (human), a standard compound pairing celestial and terrestrial realms in Buddhist cosmology. The genitive plural marks possession or relation to both classes of sentient beings.

Etymology. deva < PIE *deiw- 'to shine' (Sanskrit deva, Latin deus, English 'deity'); manussā < PIE *manu- 'man, mind' (Sanskrit manuṣya, English 'man'). The compound reflects the Buddhist worldview that sentient existence spans divine and human stations.

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

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