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taruṇako

taruṇaka

masc nom sg of taruṇaka (adj)

1. very young; immature

Built from

• taruṇ — root · young, tender
  Related to Sanskrit taruṇa and ultimately Indo-European *der- 'tear, strip', metaphorically 'soft, tender'. Describes what is not yet fully developed or hardened.
• -a — ending · adjective stem
  Forms the base adjective taruṇa from the root.
• -ka — ending · diminutive
  Diminutive suffix that adds the sense of extreme youth or smallness to taruṇa, yielding 'very young, immature'.

Etymology. Diminutive derivative of taruṇa 'young, tender'. The root taruṇ- is cognate with Sanskrit taruṇa and likely connected to the Indo-European root *der- 'tear, strip' (English tear, Latin deruere), which metaphorically extends to what is soft and easily torn — hence 'tender, young'. The suffix -ka forms a diminutive, emphasizing extreme youth or smallness.

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

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