‹ Back to the text

pasavo

pasava

masc nom sg of pasava (noun); aor 2nd sg of pasavi (verb); masc nom pl of pasu (noun); masc acc pl of pasu (noun); …

1. pasava (masc): outflow, offspring
2. pasava (masc): generation; production; creation (of); lit. flowing forward
3. pasavi (aor): produced; generated; made; lit. flowed forth
4. pasavo (masc): domestic animals; livestock; farm animals
5. pasu (masc): domestic animal; livestock; farm animal
6. pasu (masc): (in general) animal; beast

Built from

• pa — prefix · forth, forward
  Direction and intensity; things stepping out ahead.
• su — root · flow, bear forth
  The image of flowing motion; cognate with Sanskrit suvati 'flows' and Latin suere 'sew' (thread flowing).
• ava — ending · down, away
  Spatial qualifier; combined with the root to suggest downward or subordinate motion.

Analysis. pa + su + ava: pa- (forth) + su- (well, good) + ava- (down); literally 'flowing forth and down', the natural outflow or generation of creatures.

Etymology. From pa- (forward, forth) + √su (to flow, bear forth) + ava (down, away): the root √su appears in Sanskrit suvati 'flows' and Latin suere 'to sew' (threads flowing through); the prefix pa- intensifies and directs forward, ava compounds the downward motion. The sense evolved from 'that which flows forth and down' (natural offspring, generation) to 'domestic animals' as creatures naturally produced and living beneath (subordinate to) humans. Cognate with English sew (threads flowing through fabric) and Sanskrit sūtra (thread, string).

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

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