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mātāpiturakkhitā

mātāpiturakkhita

masc nom pl of mātāpiturakkhita (adj); fem nom sg of mātāpiturakkhita (adj); fem nom pl of mātāpiturakkhita (adj); nt nom pl of mātāpiturakkhita (adj); …

1. protected by a mother and father

Built from

• mātā — root · mother
  PIE *meh₂ter-; the nurturing parent (concrete sense of bearing and nourishing). Cognates: English mother, Latin māter, Greek mēter.
• pitu — stem · father
  Oblique form of pitā, from PIE *ph₂ter-. The male parent and authority figure. Cognates: English father, Latin pater, Greek patēr.
• rakkhita — stem · protected, guarded
  Past participle of rakkhati (to guard, protect), from PIE *reg- (to direct, rule, maintain order). Emphasizes the act of watching over and maintaining safety. Cognates: Latin regere (rule), English reck (care).
• -a — ending · masc nom pl / fem nom sg
  Nominative ending marking the subject or predicate adjective in these genders and numbers, here agreeing with the noun (child or person) being described as protected.

Analysis. mātāpitu-rakkhita: compound of mātāpitu (mother and father) + rakkhita (protected, past participle of rakkhati 'guard, protect'). The first element mātāpitu is itself a compound: mātā (mother) + pitu (father, genitive/oblique form of pitā). The whole expression means 'one protected by both mother and father', emphasizing dual parental care.

Etymology. rakkhita is the past participle of rakkhati (to guard, protect), from PIE *reg- (to direct, rule, protect; cognate with English 'reck', Latin regere, Greek oregein). The prefix is implicit in the root sense: to guard is to set in order and maintain. mātā descends from PIE *meh₂ter- (mother; cognates: English mother, Latin māter, Greek mēter, Sanskrit mātṛ). pitā derives from PIE *ph₂ter- (father; cognates: English father, Latin pater, Greek patēr, Sanskrit pitṛ).

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

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