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nisīdiṁsu

nisīdati

3rd person plural aorist indicative active of nisīdati

1. sat down
2. took a seat
3. settled

Built from

• ni- — prefix · down, into
  Marks descent and ingression. Cognate with English nether, German nieder.
• sīd — root · sit, settle
  From √sad (sit). Cognate with English sit, German sitzen, Latin sedēre.
• -iṁsu — ending · 3rd plural aorist
  Aorist marker (-i-) + plural marker (-ṁsu), marking completed action by multiple agents in past time.

Analysis. ni- (down, into) + √sad (sit) + -iṁsu (3rd plural aorist ending); they sat down, lowering themselves into a seated position.

Etymology. √sad is cognate with English sit, German sitzen, Sanskrit sad-. The prefix ni- (down, into) combines spatial descent with the action of settling: 'down-sat' = 'sat down'. Appears in contexts of monks sitting for meditation or formal assembly.

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

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