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piṇḍapātaṁ

piṇḍapāta

accusative singular masculine of piṇḍapāta (noun)

1. alms, alms-food
2. begging round
3. food collected by mendicants

Built from

• piṇḍa — root · lump, morsel
  A sphere or ball of rice or food; used in the canon for the physical sustenance monks receive through alms.
• pāta — root · falling, descent
  From √pat 'fall, descend'; in compounds, often denotes something that comes down or is given. The concrete image is of food descending into the alms-bowl.

Analysis. piṇḍa (lump, morsel) + pāta (falling, descent); the food that 'falls' into the alms-bowl, or given by lay followers. A compound denoting the daily collection of food by monks through alms-begging.

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

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