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udakatārakā

fem nom sg of udakatārakā (noun); fem nom pl of udakatārakā (noun); fem acc pl of udakatārakā (noun); fem instr sg of udakatārakā (noun); …

1. sparkle of the water; shimmer of the water

Built from

• udaka — root · water
  From an Indo-European root related to 'flow' and 'wet'; the sense is liquid that flows and glistens.
• tārakā — stem · star, gleam
  From √tar 'to cross, shine, deliver'; tārakā literally 'that which crosses/shines', applied to stars and bright points of light.

Analysis. udaka (water) + tārakā (star, twinkling light). A compound noun: the stars or bright points seen twinkling on the surface of water, or water-reflected starlight.

Etymology. udaka is from √vad 'to speak, flow' (cognate with Latin vadāre 'wade'); tārakā from √tar 'to cross, traverse, shine' (the crossing or shining quality, related to Sanskrit tāraka 'star, that which causes to cross'); the compound imagery treats water-sparkles as stars.

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

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