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kātabbāni

kātabba

nt nom pl of kātabba (ptp); nt acc pl of kātabba (ptp); nt voc pl of kātabba (ptp); nt nom pl of kātabba (noun); …

1. should be done; lit. to be done
2. should be made; lit. to be done
3. duty; lit. to be done

Built from

• kā — root · do, make
  From √kar (do). Cognates: English craft, crafter; Latin creare (create); Greek kratein (rule, accomplish). The idea is to bring something into being.
• tabba — ending · should be, fit to be done
  Suffix forming the obligative past participle: "fit to be subjected to the action". Expresses duty or what should be done. The plural neuter nominative -ni marks it as a plural noun or neuter plural adjective used substantivally.

Etymology. From √kar (do, make; cognate with English craft, Latin creare) + -tabba, a suffix forming obligative past participles meaning "fit to be, should be". The -tabba suffix derives from the root √tap (be hot, undergo, fit); it expresses necessity or fitness in Pali as -tavya does in Sanskrit. The concrete sense is "subjected to the action", hence "fit to undergo it".

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

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