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mahāmoggallānassa

mahāmoggallāna

masc dat sg of mahāmoggallāna (noun); masc gen sg of mahāmoggallāna (noun)

1. name of an arahant monk; chief disciple; great disciple of the Buddha; foremost monk in psychic power; lit. great descendent of Muggala

Built from

• mahā — prefix · great
  Honorific prefix marking excellence or prominence. Cognate with English 'much', Latin 'magnus', Sanskrit 'mahant-'.
• moggallāna — root · descendant of Muggala; clan name
  A patronymic from the family or clan Moggalāna. Sanskrit form Maudgalyāyana is attested in Buddhist texts as the name of this celebrated disciple.
• ssa — ending · genitive/dative singular
  The masculine singular ending -ssa marks either genitive ('of Mahāmoggallāna') or dative ('to/for Mahāmoggallāna') depending on syntactic context.

Analysis. mahā (great) + moggallāna (descendant of Muggala); a proper name compound. Moggallāna derives from the clan name Moggalāna, related to Sanskrit Maudgalyāyana. Mahā is the frequent honorific prefix meaning 'great', applied to distinguish this Moggallāna from others of the same name in the community.

Etymology. Mahā < *mah- 'great', cognate with English 'much', Latin 'magnus', Sanskrit 'mahant-'. Moggallāna is a Pali form of Sanskrit Maudgalyāyana, ultimately a patronymic from the clan Moggalāna (Muggala), whose etymology is obscure but traditionally associated with vegetables (mugga, mūga 'bean').

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

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