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devatā

fem nom sg of devatā (noun); fem nom pl of devatā (noun); fem acc pl of devatā (noun); fem instr sg of devatā (noun); …

1. deity; god

Built from

• dev — root · shining, sky
  Indo-European *dyeu- (brightness, sky). Cognate with Latin deus (god), Greek Zeus, Sanskrit deva. The root imagery: celestial radiance and the upper sky.
• a — stem · noun stem marker
  Masculinizing thematic vowel that creates deva from the root.
• tā — ending · feminine abstract suffix
  Forms feminine quality nouns from masculine nouns; devatā = the quality or nature of being a deva.

Etymology. From deva (god) + tā (abstract feminine suffix forming quality nouns); deva itself is from Indo-European *dyeu- (sky, brightness), cognate with Latin deus, Greek Zeus (gen. Dios), Sanskrit deva, English Tuesday (Tiw's day). The suffix -tā abstracts the quality of being divine.

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

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