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ekacce

ekacca

masc nom pl of ekacca (pron); nt nom pl of ekacca (pron); masc acc pl of ekacca (pron); nt acc pl of ekacca (pron); …

1. certain; one of
2. some; a few
3. part of; partial; in part

Built from

• eka — root · one
  From PIE *oi-no- (one, single). Cognate with Latin unus, Greek oînos, English one, German eins. Expresses singularity and unity.
• -cca — ending · (partitive/ablative)
  Archaic partitive or ablative suffix, marking a subset or portion. Survives chiefly in this pronoun to express 'one [of many]', hence 'some, certain ones'.

Analysis. eka- 'one' + -cca, an old ablative or partitive suffix. The form denotes a subset: 'one [part]' → 'some, certain ones'.

Etymology. eka from √ek- 'to be one' (cognate with Latin unus, Greek oînos, English one, Gothic ains), expressing unity and singularity. The suffix -cca (also -cchi, -cche) is an archaic partitive or ablative marker, likely from PIE *-ko- or *-tio-; it survives in Pali chiefly in this pronoun. Together they carry the sense of selecting one portion from a whole.

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

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