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khippameva

khippa

adverb (sandhi form with eva); instrumental singular neuter of khippa used adverbially

1. khippa (adj): quick; fast; lit. to be thrown
2. khippa (nt): fishing net; casting net (for); lit. to be thrown
3. khippameva (sandhi): very quickly; extremely rapidly; very swiftly
4. khippaṃ (ind): quickly; rapidly; swiftly; soon

Built from

• khippa — stem · quick, swift
  Neuter stem from √khip (to throw, cast). The semantic shift from 'thrown' to 'swift' reflects the speed of a projectile.
• ṃ — ending · instrumental singular
  Neuter singular instrumental case ending, used adverbially to mean 'in a quick manner, quickly'.
• eva — prefix · indeed, very
  Intensifying particle that emphasizes or strengthens the preceding word, here turning 'quickly' into 'very quickly'.

Analysis. khippaṃ + eva: khippaṃ (instrumental neuter singular of khippa, 'quickly') + eva ('indeed, very'), intensifying the adverbial sense to 'very quickly, with utmost speed'.

Etymology. Khippa derives from √khip (to throw, cast), cognate with Sanskrit kṣip-. The instrumental neuter singular khippaṃ ('in a quick manner') is adverbially idiomatized; eva ('indeed, very') intensifies it, a common Pali construction. The root imagery is 'thrown' — swift as something hurled — which grounds the sense of rapidity.

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

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