‹ Back to the text

jīvikaṁ

jīvika

accusative singular of jīvika (feminine noun)

1. livelihood, means of subsistence
2. way of life, living
3. occupation, profession

Built from

• jīv — root · live, be alive
  From Indo-European *gʷeyH-. Cognate with Latin vivus, English quick (archaic 'living'), Greek bios. The root carries the concrete sense of animate life and vitality.
• ika — ending · manner, state, way
  Nominalizing suffix forming abstract nouns and conditions. Here it marks jīvika as a means or manner of living.
• aṁ — ending · accusative singular
  Marks the accusative case, singular number, feminine gender; the object of a transitive verb or goal of motion.

Analysis. jīvika is derived from jīva 'life' (itself from √jīv 'to live') plus the suffix -ka; the suffix -ika often forms abstract nouns and nominals denoting a state, condition, or manner.

Etymology. From jīva (living, life) connected to √jīv (to live, survive). The root √jīv is cognate with Latin vivus 'alive', English quick (in the archaic sense 'living'), and Greek bios 'life'; all descend from Indo-European *gʷeyH-. The concrete sense is simply 'the living' or 'the means by which one lives'.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version