masculine noun, accusative singular (the title refers to the 'Great Discourse to Mālukyaputta', a canonical text; surface form ends in -aṁ, the accusative marker)
Analysis. mahā (great) + mālukyasutta (discourse to/of Mālukyaputta). Mālukyaputta is a disciple's name; sutta means 'thread' or 'discourse'. The compound identifies the text by its central character and subject matter.
Etymology. mahā (great, from root √mah, 'to grow, be large'; cognate with English much, Latin magnus); sutta (thread, discourse, from √siv 'sew'; cognate with English sew, Latin suere). Mālukyaputta is a proper name (the disciple Mālukyaputta).
Meanings from the Digital Pāḷi Dictionary; morphology and etymology by Claude.
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