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gahapatiputto

gahapatiputta

masc nom sg of gahapatiputta (noun)

1. son of a good family; respectable young man; young gentleman

Built from

• gaha — stem · house
  From √grah 'to seize, hold'; the house as what one grasps and possesses. Cognate with Latin prehendere 'to seize'.
• pati — stem · master, lord
  From √pa 'to guard, protect, guide'; the master as protector of the domain. Cognate with Latin paterfamilias (father, master of the household) and English father.
• putta — stem · son
  Cognate with Sanskrit putra; ultimately from √pu 'to purify, grow'; one who continues and purifies the line. Related to English pure and Latin putus.
• ∅ — ending · nominative singular masculine
  Zero ending marks the nominative singular masculine in Pali nouns; the direct case for the subject or predicate nominative.

Analysis. gahapatiputta < gaha-pati-putta: gahapati (householder, master of the house) + putta (son). The compound designates a young man of good birth and standing, literally 'son of a householder.' In the suttas, a common form of address for disciples of good family.

Etymology. gahapati itself compounds gaha (house, from √grah 'seize, hold') + pati (master, lord, from √pa 'guard, protect'). The householder is the one who holds and guards the house. putta (son) is cognate with Sanskrit putra, ultimately from the root √pu 'to purify' (one's line), related to Latin putus 'pure' and English pure.

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

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