‹ Back to the text
passato
passa
nt abl sg of passa (noun); masc abl sg of passa (adj); masc abl sg of passa (noun); masc abl pl of passa (noun); …
- passa (nt): (of the body) side; rib
- passa (nt): side; edge; border
- passa (nt): (of a mountain) slope; side
- passa (adj): near to; neighbouring; bordering
- passato (prp): for one who sees; lit. for seeing
- passanta (prp): seeing
- passanta (prp): finding
- passanta (prp): understanding; (intellectually) getting; grasping
- …
Built from
- pass- — root · to see, observe
From *spek- (look, behold). The concrete imagery is direct visual perception; cognate with Latin specio, Greek skeptomai, English spy.
- -a — ending · present participle stem
Marks the participle stem; -a is the thematic vowel for present participles in Pali.
- -to — ending · nominative singular masculine
Nominative singular masculine ending on the participle, marking the subject (one who sees) as nominative in agreement with its noun.
Analysis. passa-to: present participle passa (one who sees) + nominative singular -to ending; literally 'for one who sees' or 'to the one seeing'
Etymology. passa is the present participle of passati (to see), from Indo-European *spek- (to look, observe); cognate with Latin specio (to look), Greek skeptomai (to look), English spy. The nominative -to marks an agent or subject in agreement.