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labbhati

pr 3rd sg of labbhati (verb)

1. is obtained (among); is acquired (from); is received (from); lit. is got
2. is found (in); lit. is got
3. is possible to get (to); lit. is got
4. is taken; is understood (as); lit. is got

Built from

• labh — root · seize, take
  The core sense is grasping or catching hold. Sanskrit labhate shows the same root; the PIE ancestral form *h₂lebʰ- carried imagery of clinging or hanging on to something.
• a — ending · 3rd sg present middle-passive
  The -a ending marks present tense in the middle voice, casting the action as something that befalls the subject rather than something the subject does actively.

Etymology. From √labh- (to take, seize, grasp), itself a development of Proto-Indo-European *h₂lebʰ- (to hang, cling; hence to take hold of). The root appears in Sanskrit labhate with identical sense. English leap and lobe distantly share the same ancestral imagery of grasping or catching hold. The middle voice form -ate (labbhati as middle voice passive present) shifts the focus from active seizing to receptive obtaining—what comes into one's grasp.

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

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