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pāṇabhūtesu

pāṇabhūta

nt loc pl of pāṇabhūta (noun); masc loc pl of pāṇabhūta (noun)

1. living being; lit. breathing being
2. living being; lit. breathing being

Built from

• pāṇa — root · breath, life-force
  From √pā 'to drink, sustain life'. The visible sign of life is breath; cognate with Sanskrit prana (vital force) and English 'pant'.
• bhūta — root · being, creature
  From √bhū 'to become, be'. Literally 'that which has come into being'; cognate with Sanskrit bhūta and English 'be'.
• -su — ending · locative plural
  Locative case (expressing location) in plural form, marking the beings as a group in a particular place or state.

Analysis. pāṇa (breathing, life-breath) + bhūta (being, that which has become); a living being is one animated by breath.

Etymology. pāṇa from √pā 'drink, live' (related to prana in Sanskrit, Vedic breath-force; cognate with English 'pant'); bhūta from √bhū 'become' (related to Sanskrit bhūta, English 'be'). The compound reflects an ancient equation of life with respiration.

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

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