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kālo

kāla

masc nom sg of kāla (noun)

  1. time; occasion (for)
  2. suitable time; appropriate occasion; right time; lit. time
  3. (gram) tense; mood; lit. time
  4. (gram) rest; pause; space; lit. time
  5. time of death; death moment; lit. time
  6. daybreak; early morning; lit. time
  7. necklace plant; Sophora tomentosa

Etymology. From PIE *keh₂- (to lie, rest), whence Sanskrit kāla (time, death), Greek kairos (the right moment), and English halt, hold. The root's image of 'lying still' or 'arresting motion' underlies both temporal and spatial senses: time as something that holds or determines, the fitting moment when action must pause and choose.

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

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