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kadāci

indeclinable adverb

1. sometimes; at some time
2. ever; at any time
3. perhaps

Built from

• kad — root · who, what
  Interrogative stem from Indo-European *kwo-; cognates: English who, what; Latin quod, quis; Greek pós, tís. The interrogative sense remains in compounds.
• āci — ending · at (some) time
  Temporal locative suffix built on -ā (directional) with enclitic -ci (indefinite particle meaning "any"). Together, -āci marks indefinite temporal reference: "at whatever time" becomes "sometimes".

Analysis. kad- (interrogative stem, "who/what") + āci (temporal suffix forming indefinite adverbs); literally "at what time", used indefinitely to mean "at some time" or "sometimes".

Etymology. kad- is the interrogative stem related to Sanskrit ka- ("who, what") and ultimately to Indo-European *kwo-/kwi- (English who, what; Latin quod, quis; Greek pós, tís). The suffix -āci is an old temporal locative formation (compare Vedic kádā "when", Sanskrit kadā); the -ci is an enclitic particle of indefiniteness (related to cid, meaning "any"). Together they form an indefinite temporal expression: "at whatever time" → "sometimes, ever".

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

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