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vassasatassa

vassasata

nt dat sg of vassasata (noun); nt gen sg of vassasata (noun)

1. one hundred years; century

Built from

• vassa — root · year
  Originally the monsoon season and the monastic retreat during it; came to mean a year generally. From Indo-European *wer- (turn, revolve), as the year turns.
• sata — root · hundred
  Cognate with Sanskrit śata, Latin centum, Greek hekatón, and English hundred, all from Indo-European *k̑mtóm.

Analysis. Compound: vassa (a year, particularly the monsoon season and retreat) + sata (hundred). Literally 'hundred years'; a standard term for an extended temporal span in the canon.

Etymology. Vassa derives from Vedic varṣa (rain, year), cognate with Latin versus (a turning of the seasons) and English year via the same Indo-European root *wer- (to turn, revolve). Sata (hundred) is cognate with Sanskrit śata, Latin centum, Greek hekatón, and English hundred — all from Indo-European *k̑mtóm.

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

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