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pañcamattehi

pañcamatta

masc instr pl of pañcamatta (adj); nt instr pl of pañcamatta (adj); masc abl pl of pañcamatta (adj); nt abl pl of pañcamatta (adj)

1. five in number; five measures

Built from

• pañca — root · five
  From PIE *penkwe. Cognates: Latin quinque, Greek pente, English five, German fünf.
• matta — stem · measure, quantity
  Derived from √mat 'to measure'. Related to Sanskrit mātra; from PIE *me- 'to measure'. Here it forms an adjective meaning 'limited by measure of' or 'consisting of'.
• -hi — ending · instrumental/ablative plural
  This ending marks plural instrumental or ablative case (masculine and neuter forms syncretize in Pali), expressing agency or point of origin in context.

Analysis. pañca (five) + matta (measure, quantity); the compound means 'measured/limited by five' or 'five-fold in measure'.

Etymology. pañca is from PIE *penkwe (five), cognate with Latin quinque, Greek pente, English five, German fünf; matta is from √mat 'to measure', related to Sanskrit mātra (measure, quantity), ultimately from PIE *me- (to measure).

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

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