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musāvādā

musāvāda

masc nom pl of musāvāda (noun); masc instr sg of musāvāda (noun); masc abl sg of musāvāda (noun); masc voc sg of musāvāda (noun); …

1. lying; false speech

Built from

• musā — root · lie, falsehood
  From Indo-European *mr̥- (to confuse, deceive); Sanskrit mṛṣā. The root captures the sense of utterance that distorts reality.
• vāda — stem · speech, doctrine
  From √vad (speak, say); cognate with Latin vādēs (pledge) and English word. Vāda in Buddhist contexts often refers to doctrine or utterance shaped by intention.

Analysis. musā (lie, falsehood) + vāda (speech, doctrine); literally 'false speech', one of the unwholesome forms of speech in the Eightfold Path.

Etymology. musā is related to Sanskrit mṛṣā (false, deceitful), from Indo-European *mr̥- (to deceive, confuse); vāda from the root √vad (speak, say), cognate with Latin vādēs (surety, pledge) and English word. The compound embodies the Buddhist analysis of wrong speech as utterance contrary to truth.

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

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