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mahesī

mahesi

masc nom pl of mahesi (noun); masc acc pl of mahesi (noun); masc voc pl of mahesi (noun); fem nom sg of mahesī (noun); …

1. mahesi (masc): great sage; mighty seer; epithet of the Buddha
2. mahesī (fem): queen; royal consort
3. mahesī (masc): great sage; mighty seer
4. mahesī (masc): (comm) great seeker

Built from

• mahā — prefix · great, mighty
  Prefix meaning 'great' or 'mighty', cognate with English 'much', Greek mega-, Latin magnus; conveys the sense of exceeding in size or importance.
• isi — root · sage, seer
  Noun derived from √i 'to go', denoting one who has penetrated wisdom; cognate with Sanskrit rṣi. The word originally carried the sense of one who has traveled far into insight.

Analysis. mahā (great) + isi (sage, seer); the masculine form mahesi/mahesī appears as an epithet of the Buddha meaning 'great seer', while the feminine mahesī denotes a queen or royal consort.

Etymology. mahā ('great') derives from Proto-Indo-European *meg- (great, mighty); cognates include English 'much', Greek mega- (megaphone), Latin magnus. Isi ('sage, seer') is an old Pali noun from the verbal root √i 'to go', originally one who has gone far or penetrated deeply into wisdom; related to Sanskrit rsi.

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

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