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sāvakā

sāvaka

masc nom pl of sāvaka (noun); masc instr sg of sāvaka (noun); masc abl sg of sāvaka (noun); masc voc sg of sāvaka (noun); …

1. disciple; pupil; follower; lit. hearer

Built from

• sā — root · hear
  From √śru (Sanskrit śṛṇoti). The same root appears in English "shear" (things heard together) and Latin "serere" (whence series, sermon). Concrete sense: the disciple as one who listens.
• vaka — ending · agent (one who)
  The suffix -ka (here -vaka with epenthetic v) forms agent nouns, marking the person who performs the action of the root. Here: one who hears.

Etymology. From √śru (Sanskrit śṛṇoti "hears"), the same root as English "shear" and Latin "serere" (to join, whence series). The agent noun formation -ka yields sāvaka "one who hears", the learner who sits at the teacher's feet. In the canon, sāvaka denotes the Buddha's disciples (the fourfold sangha of monks, nuns, laymen, laywomen), as opposed to the Buddha himself or pacceka-buddhas. The Pali reflects Sanskrit śrāvaka.

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

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