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parisāsu

parisā

fem loc pl of parisā (noun)

1. assembly; meeting; forum; council; gathering; lit. sitting around
2. retinue; community; circle; following

Built from

• pari — prefix · around, complete
  Spatial prefix meaning 'all the way round'; conveys completeness and gathering. Cognates: Greek peri- (perimeter).
• sā — stem · sitting, assembly
  From √sad (to sit). The stem parisā nominally encodes 'those sitting around', a gathering. Cognate with Greek hedra 'seat' and Latin sedēre 'sit'.
• su — ending · locative plural
  Feminine locative plural ending: marks the location or sphere in which the assembly is present ('in the assemblies').

Analysis. pari- (around, all the way round) + √sad/√sidati (sit); literally 'sitting around', hence an assembled group

Etymology. pari- (prefix: around, complete) + √sad (to sit), related to Sanskrit parisad-, Greek hedra 'seat' (cathedral, sedentary), Latin sedēre 'sit' (sediment, session). The spatial sense of sitting all around a place evolved into the abstract sense of a council or assembly gathered together.

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

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