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mudhā

mudha

masc nom pl of mudha (pp); fem nom sg of mudha (pp); fem nom pl of mudha (pp); nt nom pl of mudha (pp); …

1. mudha (pp): foolish; stupid; ignorant; confused; deluded
2. mudhā (ind): for free; gratis; for nothing
3. mudhā (ind): for nothing; for no purpose; uselessly

Built from

• mudh — root · be confused
  The root carries the sense of bewilderment and lack of purpose. Related to English 'muddle' and Sanskrit muddha-.
• a — ending · past participle
  Forms the past participle stem; here reanalyzed as an adjective or nominal base.
• ā — ending · instrumental/adverbial
  The instrumental singular or locative ending, used adverbially to mean 'in a confused/purposeless manner', gradually lexicalized as the particle 'for nothing, uselessly'.

Analysis. mudhā is the instrumental singular (or locative) of mudha (past participle), reanalyzed as an adverbial particle. The sense 'for nothing' arises from the instrumental meaning 'by means of foolishness' or 'in a foolish manner', hence 'to no purpose, uselessly'.

Etymology. mudha is a past participle from √mudh- (to be confused, bewildered). The root √mudh- is cognate with Sanskrit muddha- and likely related to English 'muddle', both sharing the sense of confusion and disorder. The adverbial instrumental form froze into a preposition-like particle expressing purposelessness.

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

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