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dibbāya

dibba

fem instr sg of dibba (adj); masc dat sg of dibba (adj); fem dat sg of dibba (adj); nt dat sg of dibba (adj); …

1. divine; heavenly; celestial

Built from

• dib — root · shine, brightness
  The concrete imagery of radiance, light, and the bright sky underlies the sense of divinity and celestial beauty. Cognate with Latin dīves 'rich' (originally 'shining, bright') and Sanskrit div- 'sky, light'.
• ba — ending · adjective-forming suffix
  The suffix -ba derives adjectives from roots, giving 'pertaining to shining, radiant, divine'.
• ā — ending · feminine instrumental or dative singular
  The ending -ā marks the feminine singular in the instrumental case (with, by means of) or dative case (for, to), depending on context in the sentence.

Etymology. From √div 'to shine' (cognate with Latin dīves 'rich', Sanskrit div- 'sky, brightness'). The root's concrete imagery of brightness and radiance—the visible glory of the sky and sun—generalized to the divine realm and its inhabitants.

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

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