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khattiyo

khattiya

masc nom sg of khattiya (adj); masc nom sg of khattiya (noun)

1. of the warrior caste; of high-caste; noble
2. man of the warrior caste; high-caste man; nobleman
3. prince; king's son

Built from

• khatt — root · rule; power
  From Sanskrit kṣat-, meaning 'to rule or have dominion'. The concrete sense is holding and wielding authority. The root appears in Sanskrit kṣatra 'power, dominion' and kṣatriya 'one who rules or fights'.
• iya — ending · agent; one who
  Nominal suffix deriving an agent noun: 'one who rules', hence 'ruler, warrior, nobleman'. This suffix forms occupational and caste names from verbal roots.

Etymology. From Sanskrit kṣatriya, from the root kṣat- 'to rule, have power'. The word reflects the ancient Indo-Aryan class system. Sanskrit kṣatra 'power, rule' is cognate with Latin castra 'military camp' (from the root for 'to hold, fortify'), and the semantic drift shows how 'those who hold power' became the designation for the warrior caste. The Pali form shows regular sound change from Sanskrit kṣ- to kh-.

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

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