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hatthāpalekhano

hatthāpalekhana

masc nom sg of hatthāpalekhana (adj)

1. who licks the hands

Built from

• hattha — root · hand
  From Sanskrit hasta; Indo-European *ghes- 'to grasp, seize'. The hand as the grasping organ.
• ā — prefix · toward, at
  Spatial prefix meaning approach or direction toward; here it marks the target of the action (licking at/toward the hands).
• pā — root · lick, eat greedily
  Related to Sanskrit pṛ- 'to fill'; concrete image of the mouth taking in food or licking.
• lekhana — stem · licking, eating
  Gerundive stem from pālayati; -lekhana is a suffix forming agent nouns or action nouns; here it nominalizes the action of licking.
• a — ending · masculine nominative singular
  Marks the adjective's agreement with a masculine singular nominative noun (e.g., sunaka 'dog').

Analysis. hattha- (hand) + ā- (prefix: toward) + palekhana (licking), literally 'licking toward/at the hands'; refers to a dog or person who licks hands in submission or servility.

Etymology. hattha from Sanskrit hasta 'hand' (cognate with English has from Proto-Indo-European *ghes- 'to grasp'); pāl- is the root of pālayati 'licks, eats greedily' (related to Sanskrit pṛ- 'to fill'; palek- is the present stem); ā here functions as a preposition/prefix meaning toward or at, preserving the spatial sense of approach.

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

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