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vaṇṇavādī

masc nom sg of vaṇṇavādī (adj); masc nom pl of vaṇṇavādī (adj); fem nom sg of vaṇṇavādī (adj); nt nom pl of vaṇṇavādī (adj); …

1. who speaks in praise (of); who highly recommends; lit. speaking praise

Built from

• vaṇṇa — root · praise; colour
  From √van 'to sound, speak'; originally the audible or visible mark by which someone is known. Cognate with Sanskrit varna, Latin vēnum.
• vādī — stem · speaker; arguer
  Agent noun from √vad 'to speak'. Cognate with English word, Latin vātes 'prophet'. The -ī ending marks an agent or habitual doer.

Analysis. vaṇṇa (praise, colour, appearance) + vādī (speaker, one who argues); 'one who speaks praise'

Etymology. Compound of vaṇṇa (from √van 'to sound, speak', cognate with Sanskrit varna, Latin vēnum 'sale, sound') and vādī (agent noun from √vad 'to speak', cognate with English word, Latin vātes 'prophet'). The concrete sense of vaṇṇa as 'colour, appearance' extends to 'reputation, praise' through what is seen and spoken of.

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

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