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dubbalataraṁ

dubbala

neuter singular accusative comparative form of dubbala (adjective)

1. weaker
2. more feeble
3. less powerful

Built from

• du — prefix · bad, weak
  Spatial sense of wrongness or deficiency; cognate Greek dys- (dysfunction).
• bala — root · strength, power
  Concrete sense of physical force; cognate Sanskrit bala.
• -tara — ending · more, comparative
  Comparative suffix forming the comparative degree; -tara becomes -taram in neuter accusative.
• -ṁ — ending · neuter accusative
  Neuter singular accusative case ending; marks the object of a verb or adverbial use.

Analysis. dubbala (base adjective meaning weak, feeble) + -tara (comparative suffix -tara, making 'more weak') + -ṁ (neuter singular accusative ending); literally 'in a weaker manner' or 'something more weak'

Etymology. dubbala from du- (bad, gone wrong; cognate Greek dys- as in dysfunction) + bala (strength, power; cognate Sanskrit bala, Latin valus related to English 'weal' meaning well-being). The prefix du- originally conveys a spatial sense of wrongness or deficiency that becomes qualitative weakness. Comparative -tara is from Sanskrit -tara, related to Latin -tor and Indo-European comparative formation.

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

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