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maccu

masc nom sg of maccu (noun); masc voc sg of maccu (noun)

1. death; Death

Built from

• mac — root · die, wear away
  From PIE *mr̥-tu-. The root appears in Sanskrit mṛtyu, Latin mors and mortuus, English mortal. The image is of dissolution or wasting—that which causes or represents the wearing away of life.
• cu — ending · nominalizing suffix
  The -tu suffix (here -cu in Pali) forms nouns denoting agents or abstracts; it appears also in vedic formations. Here it derives an abstract noun meaning 'that which brings death' or 'death as a state'.

Etymology. From Proto-Indo-European *mr̥-tu- (that which brings death), cognate with Sanskrit mṛtyu-, Latin mors (death), mortuus (dead), English mortal. The root *mer- (to die, wear away) is ancient; Pali preserves it in maraṇa (dying), related to māreti (wastes away).

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

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