khayā

khaya

masc nom pl of khaya (noun); masc instr sg of khaya (noun); masc abl sg of khaya (noun); masc voc sg of khaya (noun); …

wearing away; exhaustion; erosion; depletion; destruction (of)

Built from

khay — root · wear away, be consumed
The concrete image is of material being worn through by friction or time. Related to Sanskrit kṣaya- and Proto-Indo-European *skey- (to cut, separate); cognate with English shy.
a — ending · noun-forming suffix
Forms an abstract noun from the root, making khaya a noun meaning the process or state of wearing away.

Etymology. From √khay- (to wear away, be consumed), related to Sanskrit kṣaya- (destruction, consumption) and ultimately to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (to cut, separate), which also underlies English shy (originally to turn aside, shrink from) and Greek schizein (to split). The root's original sense of cutting or breaking apart developed into the meaning of being worn down or consumed.

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

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