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licchavisatehi

licchavisatāni

nt instr pl of licchavisatāni (noun); nt abl pl of licchavisatāni (noun)

1. one hundred Licchavis

Built from

• licchavis — root · Licchavis, the clan
  A proper noun naming the Licchavi people, a prominent Kshatriya republic of Videha (north India). Known from Sanskrit inscriptions as Licchavi.
• sata — root · hundred, group
  Cognate with Sanskrit śata-, Latin centum (via different historical paths), English hundred. Derived from PIE *sed- 'to sit'; 'hundred' originally meant an assembled or settled body.
• e — ending · instrumental/ablative plural neuter
  The ending -ehi marks instrumental or ablative plural on neuter nouns in Pali, indicating 'by means of' or 'from' the group(s) of Licchavis.

Analysis. licchavis + sata. Licchavis: the Licchavi clan, a warrior republic of northern India in the Buddha's time. sata: 'hundred' (√sat, 'to sit', hence 'a standing/settled group'). Together: 'a hundred Licchavis' or 'the Licchavis reckoned by hundreds', a collective term for the clan or their assembly.

Etymology. Licchavis is a proper noun, the name of a Vedic-age Kshatriya clan attested in Sanskrit inscriptions and epigraphs (Licchavi). sata descends from PIE *sed- 'to sit', source also of Sanskrit sata-, Latin sedēre, English sit; the notion 'hundred' likely derives from 'a settled/assembled group'. The form licchavisata (neuter singular) is a collective: 'the body of Licchavis'.

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

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