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vacchatariyo

vacchatarī

fem nom pl of vacchatarī (noun); fem acc pl of vacchatarī (noun); fem voc pl of vacchatarī (noun)

1. young heifer; lit. female more than a calf

Built from

• vaccha — root · calf, young animal
  From IE *wet- 'year, age'; cognate with English wether (castrated ram) and Latin vitulus (calf). The root denotes a young domestic animal, especially cattle.
• -tarī — ending · feminine comparative/agent suffix
  The suffix -tara- (masculine) and -tarī (feminine) form comparatives and agent nouns. Here it creates a feminine noun meaning 'female more than X', i.e. a heifer in the stage between calf and full-grown cow.

Analysis. vaccha- (calf) + -tarī (comparative suffix, 'more, -er'); literally 'more-than-a-calf', i.e. a young animal larger than a calf but not yet fully grown.

Etymology. vaccha is cognate with Sanskrit vatsa 'calf, young animal', from Indo-European *wet- 'year' (also underlying English wether, a castrated ram). The comparative suffix -tarī (related to Sanskrit -tara-) builds comparative and superlative adjectives and agent nouns, here shifting sense to denote a female of intermediate age.

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

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