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sutadharo

sutadhara

masc nom sg of sutadhara (adj)

1. who has learned by heart; who remembers what one has learned; lit. holding what is heard

Built from

• suta — root · heard, learned
  Past participle of √śru meaning to hear or learn. Related to √dhṛ in the sense of receiving knowledge through the ear.
• dhara — stem · holding, bearing
  Derived from √dhṛ (hold, bear, support), denoting the action of keeping something with one. Used in compounds to mean 'holder of' or 'bearer of'.

Analysis. sutadhara = suta (heard, learned) + dhara (holding); a bahuvrihi compound: 'one whose holding is of heard things', i.e. one who retains learning by memory.

Etymology. suta is the past participle of √śru (hear), cognate with English shore (that which is reached by hearing waves), Greek akoúō, and Sanskrit śrutam (heard). dhara is from √dhṛ (hold, bear), cognate with English dare, German trauen, and Sanskrit dhṛta. The spatial sense is literal: something physically held or carried.

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

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