‹ Back to the text

yanta

nt voc sg of yanta (noun)

1. machine; mechanism; contraption

Built from

• y — root · hold, control
  The root yam- means to hold or restrain; the concrete image is of binding or yoking, as in controlling a horse. Cognate with English yoke, Greek zygon, Latin iugum (all meaning 'yoke'), from Indo-European *yeug-.
• anta — ending · instrumental suffix
  The suffix -ta forms instrumental nouns (that which does the action or that by which it is done), turning the root into a concrete noun meaning 'that which holds' or 'a controlling device'.

Etymology. From √yam 'to hold, control, restrain' (Sanskrit yam-, cognate with English 'yoke', Greek zygon, Latin iugum, all from Indo-European *yeug- 'to join, yoke'). The suffix -ta forms an instrumental noun: that which holds or controls, hence a device or instrument for controlling/operating something.

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

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