tuṇhībhūtaṁ

tuṇhībhūta

past participle (nominative singular neuter) of tuṇhībhavati (causative passive or middle voice of bhavati 'to become', with tuṇhī 'silent')

become silent
fallen silent
made silent

Built from

tuṇhī — root · silent
Root meaning silence or tacitness; used adjectivally or as a bound form in compounds to express muteness or reticence.
bhūta — ending · became
Past participle of bhavati (to become); here it forms a periphrastic perfect, showing completed state of becoming or being. The masculine/neuter form agrees with an implicit subject.

Analysis. tuṇhī (silent, tacit) + bhūta (became, past participle of bhavati 'to become'); the phrase means 'having become silent' or 'having fallen into silence', often used in the canon of the Buddha or arahat remaining silent rather than responding to a question.

Etymology. tuṇhī is from √tuṇh- (to be silent, to hush); bhūta is from √bhū (to become, to be), cognate with English 'be' and Latin 'fuit'. The root √bhū appears in Sanskrit bhavati and is part of the Indo-European family *bʰeuH- (to grow, become, be).

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

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