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duppañño

duppañña

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

1. foolish; stupid; unintelligent; undiscerning; lit. bad actively knowing
2. fool; idiot; foolish person; lit. bad actively knowing

Built from

• du — prefix · bad, wrong
  Expresses dysfunction or going awry; cognate with Greek dys- (dysfunction) and related to Latin dis-. Here it qualifies the wisdom that follows, marking it as deficient or perverse.
• pañña — root · wisdom, knowing
  From √jñā 'to know' (Sanskrit jñāna, English 'know', Greek gnōsis). In Buddhist usage, pañña is discriminating wisdom, the insight that sees things as they truly are—the opposite of what duppañña lacks.

Analysis. du- (bad, wrong) + pañña (wisdom, discernment); literally 'bad wisdom' or 'poorly knowing'

Etymology. du- (Greek dys-, English dis-; expressing badness or dysfunction) + pañña from √jñā 'to know' (Sanskrit jñāna, English 'know', cognate with Greek gnōsis). The prefix du- carries the sense of going wrong or missing the mark, so duppañña expresses both the state of lacking wisdom and the agent who lacks it.

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

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