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mahantaṁ

mahant

accusative singular masculine of mahant-, adjective; alternatively analyzed as accusative singular of a neuter substantive mahantaṁ

1. great, large
2. mighty, powerful
3. important, significant

Built from

• mah — root · be great
  PIE *meg- 'great'; see English much, mighty, Latin magnus. The concrete image is 'large, taking up space'.
• -ant — ending · having (quality)
  Participial adjective suffix forming present-participle-like adjectives; here marking the accusative singular masculine or neuter form of the qualifying adjective.
• -aṁ — ending · accusative singular
  Accusative singular case ending; marks the direct object or predicate complement in nominative agreement contexts.

Etymology. Root √mah- 'to be great' (Sanskrit mahat-, from PIE *meg- 'great'; cognate with English much, mighty, Latin magnus). The suffix -ant- forms adjectives expressing a quality or condition.

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

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