pāpito

pāpita

masc nom sg of pāpita (pp); masc nom sg of pāpita (adj)

caused to reach or attain; lit. caused to reach
suffering misfortune; experiencing evil

Built from

pā — root · cause to go, reach
Causative stem of √pad 'go, fall, reach'. The concrete image is of causing someone to move forward or downward. Cognate with Latin pes, pedis 'foot' and English foot.
pita — ending · past participle
The -ita suffix marks the word as a past participle or adjective meaning 'caused to go/experience'. Here it transforms the root into an adjective describing someone 'led to' or 'brought into' a state.

Analysis. pā + pita: pā is the causative stem of √pad (go, reach); pita is the past participle ending -ita. Literally 'caused to go/reach', hence 'brought to misfortune' or 'made to experience evil'.

Etymology. Pāpita contains √pad (√pā in causative form) 'to go, reach, fall', which is cognate with Latin pedis 'foot' and English foot (from PIE *ped-). The prefix pa- (forward, forth, out ahead) intensifies the sense of causing motion. The semantic shift from 'caused to go' to 'brought to misfortune' reflects the metaphor of being 'led astray' or 'sent down a wrong path'.

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

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