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vatthukatāya

vatthukata

fem instr sg of vatthukata (adj); masc dat sg of vatthukata (adj); fem dat sg of vatthukata (adj); nt dat sg of vatthukata (adj); …

1. made a foundation; made a basis; firmly established

Built from

• vatthū — root · foundation, basis
  Feminine form of vatthu (substance, thing); originally referred to physical ground or material foundation, then extended to abstract foundation of teaching.
• -kata — ending · made, done
  Past participle ending from √kṛ (do, make); here marks the adjective as 'made into' or 'established as', agreeing with the feminine noun in case and number.

Analysis. vatthū (foundation, basis) + -kata (made, done) — a past participle adjective meaning 'made into a foundation' or 'established as a basis'.

Etymology. vatthū is the feminine form of vatthu (Skt. vastuḥ, 'thing, substance, basis'), cognate with English 'waste' (from Latin vastus, 'empty space') and German 'Wüste' (desert) through the shared sense of a concrete place or ground. The suffix -kata derives from √kṛ (do, make), cognate with English 'create' and Latin 'creare'. The compound expression reflects the spatial imagery of 'placing something as a ground' or 'laying down a foundation'.

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

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