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dhammadinnāya

dhammadinna

masc dat sg of dhammadinna (noun); fem instr sg of dhammadinnā (noun); fem dat sg of dhammadinnā (noun); fem abl sg of dhammadinnā (noun); …

1. dhammadinna (masc): name of a lay disciple; lit. given to religion
2. dhammadinnā (fem): name of an arahant nun; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost nun in giving Dhamma talks; lit. given to religion

Built from

• dhamma — root · religion, doctrine
  From √dhṛ "to hold, carry"; the concrete sense of holding or bearing teachings becomes the abstract "doctrine" or "religion". Cognate with English firm and Latin firmus.
• dinnā — ending · given (feminine)
  Past participle feminine nominative/accusative form of dā "to give". The -nā ending marks feminine singular. This participle functions as an adjective modifying the understood subject (a woman).

Analysis. dhamma + dinnā: dhamma (religion, doctrine) + dinnā (given, feminine past participle of dā "give"). A compound nominal epithet: "she to whom Dhamma is given" or "devoted to Dhamma". The name itself is formed as a feminine agent noun, standard in Pali for naming women by their qualities or roles.

Etymology. dhamma: Sanskrit dharma, from √dhṛ "to hold, bear" (English firm, Latin firmus). dinnā: feminine past participle of dā "to give", cognate with English do, Greek tithēmi, Sanskrit dā; the root is Indo-European *deh₃ "to give".

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

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