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pāpakaṁ

pāpaka

adjective, accusative singular neuter

1. evil
2. bad
3. wicked
4. harmful

Built from

• pāpa — root · evil, sin
  A noun or stem meaning wrongdoing or harm; the semantic development from a concrete notion of stumbling or falling to moral evil is typical of such roots.
• ka — ending · diminutive/intensive suffix
  Forms an adjective pāpaka (bad, evil) from the noun pāpa; marks accusative singular neuter agreement with a masculine noun (e.g., pāpakaṁ kammaṁ 'an evil deed').

Etymology. From pāpa (evil, sin) with the diminutive-intensive suffix -ka. The root pāpa is of uncertain origin but cognate with Sanskrit pāpa (evil); some scholars connect it to a root meaning 'to fall' or 'go astray', though the connection is not transparent. The suffix -ka intensifies the sense.

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

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