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pantāni

panta

nt nom pl of panta (adj); nt acc pl of panta (adj); nt voc pl of panta (adj)

1. distant; remote; very far away
2. secluded; isolated; solitary; lit. towards the end

Built from

• pa — prefix · forward, forth
  Intensifying prefix indicating extension and protrusion; the sense of 'far' arises from the image of something reaching forward to its limit.
• anta — root · end, boundary
  Root meaning terminus or limit; cognate with English 'end' and Latin 'ante'. In compounds it conveys the image of extremity and distance.
• ā — ending · neuter nominative singular
  Neuter singular stem-formant; -ni marks the nominative/accusative/vocative plural.

Analysis. panta appears to be formed from pa- (forth, forward, prefix of extension and intensification) + anta (end, boundary), yielding the sense 'extending to the end' or 'to the far end', hence distant and remote.

Etymology. From pa- (forward, forth) + anta (end, terminus; cognate with English 'end', Old English 'ende', Proto-Germanic *andijaz). The prefix pa- gives the sense of something stretching forth or away to its limit; anta itself is cognate with Latin 'ante' and English 'end'. The compound thus images distance as extension toward a boundary or frontier.

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

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