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pubbakā

pubbaka

masc nom pl of pubbaka (adj); fem nom sg of pubbaka (adj); fem nom pl of pubbaka (adj); nt nom pl of pubbaka (adj); …

1. ancient; of old; former
2. former; previous; who was before
3. (gram) in front; coming first; preceded by

Built from

• pubba — root · former, earlier
  From √pab (arrive, precede). The root carries the sense of going ahead in time.
• -ka — ending · adjective marker
  Diminutive and adjective-forming suffix, here creating a stable adjective from the temporal adverb.

Etymology. From pubba (earlier, former, east), itself from the adverbial past participle of √pab (pappati, to arrive, get ahead). Related to Sanskrit pūrva (former, earlier, eastern) and Latin prīmus (first) through the Indo-European root *per- (to go forward, advance). The suffix -ka marks the adjective.

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

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