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saṅkhamuṇḍikampi

saṅkhamuṇḍika

nt (nom. sg. + enclitic api)

1. name of a torture; lit. bald shell

Built from

• saṅkha — root · shell, conch
  Prakrit reduplication (*śaṅkh-) of uncertain origin; the spiraled structure may underlie related words in Indo-Aryan and possibly Greek κόγχη (konkhē, 'shell, conch').
• muṇḍ — root · bare, peeled, hairless
  Related to mundati 'shaves, peels'; the abstract noun muṇḍa conveys baldness and rounded smoothness, the defining feature of the torture device.
• ika — ending · diminutive/attributive suffix
  Forms an adjective or descriptive noun (muṇḍika 'bald one') from the root; here used as a nominal forming the first member of the compound.
• api — ending · also, even, also-clause particle
  Enclitic focus particle (here, nominative singular neuter to agree with saṅkhamuṇḍika) that signals indefinite focus and intensification: 'even a bald shell (was used)'.

Analysis. saṅkhamuṇḍika 'bald shell' + api 'also, even': a torture device named from its appearance, treated as an indefinite focus marker ('even a bald shell', i.e., used as an instrument of torment).

Etymology. saṅkha 'shell, conch' (√śaṅkh-, a Prakrit reduplication; akin to Latin cancrum 'crab' in the sense of spiraled structure) + muṇḍika 'bald, bare' (muṇḍa 'hairless, round, peeled' + -ika diminutive suffix; muṇḍa is perhaps connected to √mund 'shave, bare', as in mundati 'shaves'). The compound names the instrument by its naked, rounded, shell-like form.

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

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