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dhammo

dhamma

masc nom sg of dhamma (noun); masc nom sg of dhamma (adj)

1. nature; character
2. quality; characteristic; trait; inherent quality
3. teaching; discourse; doctrine
4. mental phenomena; thoughts
5. mental states
6. matter; thing; phenomenon
7. truth; reality; principle; truth behind the teaching
8. virtue; moral behaviour
9. …

Built from

• dha — root · place, put, establish
  Root dhā- with concrete sense 'to place or set down'; abstracts to 'establish as law or nature'. Cognate with Sanskrit dhā-, Greek tithēmi, Latin faciō, English do.
• mma — ending · nominative singular masculine
  Standard masculine nominative singular suffix. Marks the subject or predicate nominative in a sentence.

Etymology. From Proto-Indo-European *dhē- 'to place, set, put' (cognates: Sanskrit dhā-, Greek tithēmi 'I place', Latin faciō 'I do', English do, deed). The sense development moves from 'that which is put in place' to 'law, established order' to 'nature, characteristic quality' — what something is inherently set or constituted to be. In the Buddha's teaching, dhamma refers to the principles or laws governing reality, and to the doctrine that reveals them.

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

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