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mūle

mūla

nt acc pl of mūla (noun); nt loc sg of mūla (noun); masc acc pl of mūla (adj); nt acc pl of mūla (adj); …

1. (of a tree) root; base; foot
2. source; origin; root
3. money; cash; capital; moola
4. (vinaya) (of a legal action) beginning; start
5. original; first; primary
6. (of money) capital; principal
7. base; foundation; bottom part
8. primary text; root text; source text (as opposed to the commentaries and sub-commentaries)

Etymology. From Indo-European *muH- 'to grow, swell'; cognate with English 'mold' (humus, growth) and Sanskrit mūla. The root sense is 'that which grows up from below', hence 'base' and 'source'. In Buddhist usage, particularly in relation to the three unwholesome roots (mūla): greed, hate, and delusion (lobha, dosa, moha)—the fundamental mental poisons from which all suffering springs.

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

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