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yadatītaṁ

yadatīta

neuter nominative/accusative singular (or indeclinable)

1. whatever has passed
2. the past
3. bygone things

Built from

• yad — root · whatever, which
  Relative pronoun; picks out an unspecified referent.
• ati — prefix · beyond, over
  Marks transcendence or excess; here, passing-beyond in time.
• i — root · go, pass
  Motion root; with ati-, suggests moving past a threshold.
• ta — ending · past participle
  Marks the result of the action — in this case, having gone beyond, hence 'past'.

Analysis. yad + atīta: yad = 'whatever' (relative pronoun), atīta = ati + ita, 'gone beyond', hence 'past'. Compound means 'whatever has transcended (time)', i.e., things no longer present.

Etymology. ati (beyond, over) + √i (go, pass): the prefix ati expresses excess or transcendence of a limit — here, passing beyond the present moment into the unreachable past. Cognate to English 'ite' (Latin -itus, past participle).

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

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