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pitarā

pitar

masc instr sg of pitar (noun); masc abl sg of pitar (noun)

1. father

Built from

• pit- — root · father
  PIE *ph₂tér-, the primary term for male parent across Indo-European. The -ṛ vocalic ending marks the ancient root nominative, lost in oblique forms.
• -ar — ending · instrumental/ablative singular
  Masculine instrumental singular -ena or ablative singular -ā contracted to -ar in this oblique stem; shows both instrumental (with, by means of) and ablative (from, away from) case meanings here.

Etymology. From Proto-Indo-European *ph₂tér-, the same root as Sanskrit pitṛ, Latin pater, Greek patḗr, and English father. The Pali form pitṛ > pitar shows the regular loss of final -ṛ in the oblique stem. This root is ancient and widespread across Indo-European languages, reflecting the central role of paternity in early kinship vocabulary.

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

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