‹ Back to the text

vitathamidanti

vitatha

adjective, nominative singular masculine, possibly a contraction or non-standard form; if read as vitathā + midanti, unclear attestation — resolving to vitatha 'false, vain'

1. false
2. vain
3. futile
4. unreal

Built from

• vi — prefix · apart, asunder
  The prefix creates intensive clarity or separation; here marks negation of the root's sense of firmness or truth.
• tatha — root · stand firm, proper
  Related to Sanskrit stha- and Latin stāre; the sense 'proper, real' derives from standing upright and established.

Analysis. vi- (apart, asunder) + tatha (proper, suitable, real), literally 'seen apart from reality' or 'not standing firm'; the -midanti suffix is not standard Pali and may be scribal corruption or a variant form

Etymology. vi- (apart, intensive) + √tath- (stand firm, be proper; cognate with Sanskrit stha-, Latin stāre 'stand', English stand). The root is the same as in tathā 'thus, in that manner' and tathāgatā 'thus-gone', where tatha preserves the sense of 'firm, established'. vitatha inverts this: apart from firmness, hence false or unreal.

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

Lite mode — plain HTML for e-readers and old browsers. Full version