‹ Back to the text

dosena

dosa

masc instr sg of dosa (noun); masc instr sg of dosa (adj); nt instr sg of dosa (adj)

1. aversion; ill-will; hate; hatred
2. fault; wrong; error
3. defect; corruption; problem
4. angry; wrathful; malicious; upset
5. nightfall; dusk; early evening
6. (of the body) humour; elemental condition; lit. fault
7. accusation; blame; reproach

Built from

• do — root · bad, spoil
  Related to Sanskrit dus- and Greek dys- (dys-function, dys-topia); the root imagery of something broken or corrupted underlies all senses.
• sa — ending · nominalizing suffix
  Forms abstract noun from root; -a is the masculine singular nominative stem-former.
• ena — ending · instrumental singular
  Marks the instrumental case, showing the agent or means by which an action occurs ('by means of aversion', 'with fault').

Etymology. Root √dus (bad, spoil) cognate with Greek dys- (dysfunction) and Latin malus indirectly; dosa as dusk (nightfall) shows the concrete image of darkness as fault or defect. The meaning 'humour' (Ayurvedic doṣa) preserves the sense of elemental imbalance or corruption. The word spans physical defect, psychological aversion, and temporal obscurity—all imaging 'going wrong'.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version