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gacchanto
gacchanta
masc nom sg of gacchanta (prp); masc nom pl of gacchanta (prp); masc voc pl of gacchanta (prp); nt voc pl of gacchanta (prp)
- going; walking; travelling
- (of time) passing; lit. going
Built from
- gacch — stem · go
Present stem of √gam, with the -ch- infix characteristic of the present tense (as in Sanskrit gacchati). The nasal infix and the stop create a durative sense: not a punctual going, but an ongoing process of going.
- a — ending · nominalizing
The -a suffix here is the masculine nominative singular ending of the present participle (prp), marking the participle as a declined adjective. It agrees with the subject noun in gender and number.
- nt — ending · masculine nominative
Together -ant (the participle stem) + -a give the masculine nominative singular form. The -nt- is the participial marker inherited from Indo-European *-ent-, seen in Latin amāns "loving", English -ant (abundant, significant).
Etymology. From √gam (gacchati, to go), cognate with Latin venire "to come" (from earlier *gwem-), Greek βαίνω "go" (baínō), English come, Sanskrit gacchati. The root *gwem- appears across Indo-European; Pali gam- represents the -m- variant that became standard in present and participle forms.