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pisuṇavāco

pisuṇavāca

masc nom sg of pisuṇavāca (adj)

1. who speaks divisively; who separates others by speech; who sows discord

Built from

• pisuṇa — root · gossipy, divisive
  Likely from √piś meaning to cut or separate, reflecting how malicious speech divides people and communities. The adjective pisuṇa captures the quality of creating discord through splitting.
• vāca — stem · speech
  From √vac (speak), cognate with Latin vox and English voice. Here used as the second member of a compound adjective denoting one characterized by such speech.
• -o — ending · masc nom sg
  Nominative singular masculine ending, agreeing with an understood agent noun (one who speaks divisively).

Analysis. pisuṇa (gossipy, divisive) + vāca (speech); one whose speech is gossipy—a quality speech.

Etymology. pisuṇa may be related to Sanskrit piśuna (treacherous, vile), from √piś (to cut, divide, separate), showing how divisive speech 'cuts' communities. vāca is from √vac (speak), cognate with Latin vox (voice) and English voice.

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

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