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hatthipade

hatthipada

nt acc pl of hatthipada (noun); nt loc sg of hatthipada (noun)

1. elephant footprint

Built from

• hatthi — root · elephant
  From √has- via a Prakrit development; the great shining or laughing beast. No clear Indo-European cognate.
• pada — root · footprint, track
  From √pad- 'to go, tread'; cognate with English foot, Latin pes, Sanskrit pad-. The mark or impression left by treading.

Analysis. hatthipada is a tatpuruṣa compound: hatthi (elephant, nominative stem) + pada (footprint, track). The compound denotes the distinctive footprint left by an elephant, used metaphorically in the canon for a trace or sign of enlightenment.

Etymology. hatthi is from √has- (to laugh, to shine), via the sense 'great beast'; pada from √pad- (to go, to tread), cognate with English 'foot' and Latin 'pes'. The compound is transparently motivated: the physical mark impressed on the ground by the elephant's foot.

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

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