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gihinī

fem nom sg of gihinī (noun); fem nom pl of gihinī (noun); fem acc pl of gihinī (noun); fem voc sg of gihinī (noun); …

1. wife of a householder; laywoman

Built from

• gihī — root · householder, dwelling
  From the sense of 'one who dwells' or 'keeper of a house'. Cognate with Sanskrit gṛha (house) and the Indo-European root *gher- (to enclose, grasp). The concrete image is of someone established in a household rather than a wanderer.
• -nī — ending · feminine agent
  The productive feminine suffix marking female agents or wives. Transforms the masculine noun gihī into its feminine counterpart to denote a woman householder or the wife of a householder.

Etymology. From gihī (householder, layperson), from a root meaning 'dwelling' or 'house'; related to Sanskrit gṛha (house) and English gird/garth. The suffix -nī marks the feminine agent noun. Cognate with Greek χώρα (chōra, 'place, land') through the root sense of 'enclosed space'.

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

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