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nihitasattho

nihitasattha

masc nom sg of nihitasattha (adj)

1. non-violent; lit. put down the weapon

Built from

• ni — prefix · down, into
  Spatial prefix marking downward motion or inward placement. Cognate with English nether and German nieder.
• hita — stem · placed, put
  Past participle of √dhā (to place, put), cognate with Latin facere and English do. Here used adjectivally to mean 'placed (down)'.
• sattha — root · weapon
  Noun meaning weapon or armed force; the concrete image is that which one carries alongside (from √sac). The compound 'weapon placed down' transfers to the abstract sense of non-violence.

Analysis. ni-hita-sattha: ni (prefix, down, into) + hita (past participle of dhā, placed) + sattha (weapon). Lit. 'weapon placed down', i.e. laid aside, hence peaceful, non-violent.

Etymology. The compound draws on ni- (down, into; cognate with English nether, German nieder) and the root √dhā (to place, put; cognate with Latin facere and English do), and sattha (weapon; from √sac, to associate or accompany, originally what one carries alongside).

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

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