etasmā

eta

masc abl sg of eta (pron); nt abl sg of eta (pron)

eta (pron): this
etasmā (pron): from this
etasmā (pron): than this

Built from

eta — root · this
Demonstrative pronoun, from IE *e- 'pointing gesture'. No simple cognate in English, but the sense echoes Old English þæt and German das (from the same demonstrative family).
-smā — ending · from, than (ablative-instrumental)
Marks source, agent, or standard of comparison in Pali. The -sm- is the instrumental stem, and -ā the ablative marker, often used interchangeably with the straight ablative -ā.

Analysis. etasmā = eta (this) + instrumental/ablative ending -smā, marking the source or standard of comparison.

Etymology. eta is the demonstrative pronoun 'this', cognate with Sanskrit etad and related to the Indo-European root *e- (pointing gesture). The ablative-instrumental ending -smā descends from Indo-European *-sme(n), seen in Latin ablatives like -ō and in the comparative particle *-s-.

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

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