‹ Back to the text

kantā

kanta

masc nom pl of kanta (pp); fem nom sg of kanta (pp); fem nom pl of kanta (pp); nt nom pl of kanta (pp); …

1. kanta (pp): charming; pleasant; desirable; agreeable (to); lit. desired
2. kanta (masc): beloved one, husband; lit. desired
3. kanta (pp): gone, entered into; lit. gone
4. kantanta (prp): cutting, shearing, incising
5. kantā (fem): woman, wife
6. kanti (aor): cut, sheared, incised
7. kanta (pp): cut out; incised; surgically removed; lit. cut
8. kanta (pp): spun; lit. cut
9. …

Built from

• kant — root · desire, love
  From √kam. The concrete sense is approaching or going toward something desirable.
• ā — ending · feminine nominative
  The feminine singular nominative ending -ā nominalizes the adjective kanta into a feminine noun (woman, wife).

Etymology. From √kam (to desire, love), whence kanta (pp. desired, charming, beloved). Cognate with Sanskrit kāma (desire, love) and English "come" (both from PIE *gʷem- "to go toward"); the semantic shift from motion-toward to desire reflects the concrete imagery of approaching what one wants. The feminine -ā ending nominalizes the adjective: a woman is "the desired one" or "the lovely one."

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

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