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pubbo

pubba

masc nom sg of pubba (prep); masc nom sg of pubba (adj); masc nom sg of pubba (noun)

1. previous; earlier; former
2. going before; been before
3. eastern
4. (gram) initial; preceding; first
5. (gram) initial vowel; preceding letter; first syllable
6. pus; suppuration

Built from

• pubba — root · before, front
  The root *pŕ̥-u̯o- originally denoted spatial priority: what stands in front of us, the prow of a ship, the eastern direction from which the sun comes. This concrete imagery extends to temporal priority (what came before) and eastward direction.

Etymology. From PIE *pŕ̥-u̯o- (forward, in front), cognate with Sanskrit pūrva (eastern, prior), Latin prōrus (prow of a ship), Greek prṓra (prow), English fore/first. The spatial sense 'in front, before' (prow facing forward) generalizes to 'earlier in time' and 'eastern' (where the sun goes before us).

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

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