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yadā

ind. (temporal conjunctive particle)

1. when; whenever

Built from

• yad — root · which, what (relative)
  Marks the head of a relative clause. Cognate with Sanskrit yad, Greek hó, Latin quod, English who/what — all from the Indo-European relative root *yo-.
• ā — ending · temporal marker
  Suffix converting the relative pronoun into a temporal conjunction, giving the sense 'whenever, at which time'; this use is typical of Pali conditionals and temporal clauses.

Etymology. From yad- (relative pronoun stem; Sanskrit yad, Greek hó 'who/which', Latin quod 'what/which', English who) with temporal suffix -ā. The shift from relative to temporal meaning ('which time' > 'when') is natural across Indo-European languages: compare Latin cum 'when' from an earlier relative sense, and English 'when' from the interrogative 'what time'.

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

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