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sutavā
sutavant
masc nom sg of sutavant (adj); masc nom pl of sutavant (adj); masc voc sg of sutavant (adj); masc nom sg of sutavant (noun); …
- learned; well-studied; educated; initiated; lit. having heard quality
- heard about; lit. having heard quality
- name of a privately awakened Buddha; lit. having heard quality
Built from
- su — prefix · well, good
Spatial sense of fitness or propriety. Cognate with Greek eu- (eulogy, euthanasia) from Proto-Indo-European *su-.
- √śru — root · hear, learn
The root expresses receptive knowledge through listening. Cognate with English shore (what is heard/learned at the margin) and Latin struere (to build, arrange — what is structured by hearing). Sanskrit śrutam 'heard, learned'; sense extends to 'well-studied, learned'.
- -vant — ending · possessing, having the quality of
Possessive adjective suffix -vant (Sanskrit -vant) forms adjectives meaning 'possessing, endowed with'; here 'having the quality of one who has heard well'. Declined as masc nom sg sutavā, nom pl sutavā.
Etymology. su- 'well, good' (from Proto-Indo-European *su-, cognate with Greek eu- in eulogy, Latin suavis 'sweet') + √śru 'hear' (Indo-European *sreu-, cognate with English shore, learn; in Sanskrit śrutam 'heard, learned') + -vant suffix forming possessive adjectives. The image is of one who has heard (and absorbed) the teachings well; hence educated, initiated, and in the special case of a Pratyekabuddha, one who has achieved awakening through inward hearing of the Dharma.