‹ Back to the text

pamāya

gerund (absolutive)

1. measuring; evaluating; appraising

Built from

• pa — prefix · forward, forth
  Intensifying prefix; concrete imagery of stepping forth becomes abstract sense of distinctive evaluation or measurement.
• mā — root · measure, estimate
  Cognate with English 'measure', Latin 'mēnsūra', Sanskrit 'mā'; from Indo-European *me- (to measure).
• ya — ending · gerund/absolutive
  Suffix forming the gerund (absolutive) in Pali, expressing an action as a condition or means.

Analysis. pa- (forward, forth) + māya, gerundive form of √mā (to measure, estimate). The prefix pa- intensifies the sense of measurement or evaluation stepping forth distinctly.

Etymology. From pa- (forward, forth) + √mā (to measure). √mā cognates with English "measure", Latin "mēnsūra", and Sanskrit "mā", all from the same Indo-European root *me- (to measure, estimate). The prefix pa- originally concrete (forward motion) becomes intensive here, shaping "measuring forth" into evaluating or appraising.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version