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manasikaroto

manasikaronta

masc dat sg of manasikaronta (prp); nt dat sg of manasikaronta (prp); masc gen sg of manasikaronta (prp); nt gen sg of manasikaronta (prp)

1. paying attention; lit. making in mind

Built from

• manas — root · mind
  From Indo-European *men- (think, mind). Cognates: English mental, Latin mens, Sanskrit manas. The root imagery is motion of thought.
• i — prefix · into
  Connects the object (manas) to the action; here it emphasizes inward direction of attention.
• kar — root · make, do
  From Indo-European *ker- (make, create). Cognates: Latin creare, English craft, German Kraft. The root imagery is fashioning or shaping.
• onta — ending · present participle
  Marks the word as a present active participle; in dative or genitive singular (manasikaronto) it agrees with a noun in those cases, expressing ongoing action ('while attending', 'of attending').

Analysis. manas (mind) + √kar (make, do) + -oti (present participle suffix); literally 'making in mind', i.e. turning the mind toward an object as an instrument of deliberate attention.

Etymology. From manas 'mind' (cognate with English mental, Latin mens) and √kar 'make, do' (cognate with Latin creare, English craft, German Kraft). The compound expresses the Indo-European root sense of 'making' applied to the intellect: to attend is to direct the mind as one directs an instrument.

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

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