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pavaḍḍhanti

pavaḍḍhati

pr 3rd pl of pavaḍḍhati (verb)

1. increases; develops; grows
2. (of an illness) gets worse; lit. increases

Built from

• pa — prefix · forward, intensifying
  Emphasizes the action of growth or development, sending it forward with force. Cognate with Greek/Latin pro-, English forth.
• vaḍḍh — root · grow, increase, swell
  The root sense is physical swelling or waxing. Cognate with Sanskrit vardh- and Old English weorðan (become, turn out); all from the same Indo-European base.
• -a — ending · present stem
  Thematic vowel marking the present tense stem, inherited from the proto-language.
• -nti — ending · 3rd person plural present
  The ending -nti marks third person plural active in the present indicative, unchanged since the proto-language.

Analysis. pa- (forward, intensifying) + vaḍḍhati (grows). The prefix pa- throws the action forward and gives it intensity, sharpening the sense of increase or development.

Etymology. √vaḍḍh- (grow, increase) is related to Sanskrit vardh- and Old English weorðan (become, turn out); the root carries the sense of swelling or waxing. The prefix pa- (forward, forth) intensifies the idea, making pavaḍḍhati mean "grows out" or "increases markedly".

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

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