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dibbe

dibba

masc acc pl of dibba (adj); nt acc pl of dibba (adj); masc loc sg of dibba (adj); nt loc sg of dibba (adj); …

1. dibba (adj): divine; heavenly; celestial
2. dibbati (pr): shines; radiates
3. dibbati (pr): plays; has fun; amuses oneself (with)
4. dibbati (pr): plays dice; gambles (with)

Built from

• div — root · shine
  The root √div means to shine, gleam, or radiate. It underlies both the adjective dibba (shining, divine) and the verb dibbati (shines, radiates; also plays or gambles, from a secondary sense).
• ba — ending · adjective
  The suffix -ba forms adjectives from roots. Here it attaches to the root div to create dibba, marking the word as an adjective meaning 'shining' or 'divine'.

Etymology. From √div (to shine), cognate with Sanskrit div-, Latin dīves (rich, from the sense of shining/splendor), and English day (both from the root 'to shine'). The concrete image is radiance and luminosity, transferred to the divine realm as that which shines or stands out with supernatural brilliance.

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

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