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pathaviyāpi

pathavī

feminine nominative/accusative (with postposition api)

1. earth; world
2. earth; ground
3. ground; land; country

Built from

• pathavī — root · earth
  Feminine noun of uncertain etymology. Sanskrit pṛthivī is related but diverges phonetically; the underlying sense is the solid ground or earth element.
• ya — ending · instrumental feminine
  Suffix marking the instrumental case (by, with, through), here pathaviyā 'with/by the earth'.
• api — prefix · even, also
  Postposition meaning 'even', 'also', 'too'; marks inclusion or emphasis. Cognate with Latin apud. Here it adds the sense 'even as far as the earth' or 'the earth too'.

Analysis. pathaviyā (instrumental feminine singular of pathavī) + api (postposition 'even, also'), literally 'even the earth' or 'the earth too'; often used in the sense 'down to the very earth' or 'earth and all'.

Etymology. pathavī is of uncertain origin; possibly connected to the Sanskrit pṛthivī (earth), but the Pali form shows divergence. The root sense remains obscure and does not securely cognate with familiar European roots. The postposition api (even, also, too) is cognate with Latin apud (at, by) through Indo-European *apo- (off, away), here used in the sense of 'reaching unto' or 'including'.

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

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