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santo
santa
masc nom sg of santa (prp); masc nom pl of santa (prp); masc voc sg of santa (prp); masc voc pl of santa (prp); …
- santa (prp): existing; being; there is
- santa (prp): being present; attending
- santa (masc): virtuous man; good person; wise person; sage
- santa (adj): true; correct; lit. existing
- santa (pp): still; calm; at peace; tranquil; lit. calmed
- santa (pp): tired; wearied; fatigued; exhausted; lit. calmed
- santo (masc): virtuous men; good people; wise people; sages; the good
- santo (prp): being; existing
Built from
- sant- — root · to be; to become still
From Indo-European √*h₂es- (to be); also √śam- (to calm). The form santa serves both as present participle ('being, existing') and past participle ('stilled, at rest'), the latter sense bearing the existential tranquility central to Buddhist soteriology.
- -a — ending · masc nom/voc singular or plural
Nominal ending marking masculine singular or plural nominative and vocative cases in Pali's a-stem declension.
Etymology. From √as (to be), cognate with English 'is', Latin 'esse', Sanskrit 'asti'. The sense 'calm, at peace' develops from 'stilled, brought to rest', via the past participle of √śam (to calm, become peaceful). In the Pali canon, santa frequently denotes the peacefulstate of one freed from craving and restlessness—the inner stillness of nirvana.