‹ Back to the text

macchavilopeti

macchavilopa

masc nominative singular; or 3rd sg present of macchavilopeti 'catches fish'

1. catch of fish; haul of fish

Built from

• maccha — root · fish
  From Sanskrit matsya, originally 'small animal' or 'creeping thing'; refers to the aquatic creature hunted or caught.
• vi — prefix · apart, asunder
  Prefix marking separation and removal. Here it intensifies lopa into the complete taking-away of fish from water.
• lopa — root · loss, disappearance
  Denotes falling away, dropping, or loss; combined with vi- to mean complete removal or depletion.
• eti — ending · 3rd singular present
  Present tense third-person singular active ending, marking habitual or repeated action ('he/she/it catches').

Analysis. maccha (fish) + vilopa (loss, disappearance); or as verb macchavilopa + iti (makes). The compound depicts fishing as the 'loss' or removal of fish from water, with vilopa carrying the sense of taking away or depleting.

Etymology. maccha from Sanskrit matsya, cognate with English 'match' (in the sense of a small creature, though the connection is folk-etymological); vilopa from vi- (apart, asunder) + lopa (loss, dropping away), so 'taking apart' or 'causing to disappear'. The prefix vi- marks the clarity and thoroughness of the action.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version