‹ Back to the text

satthu

satthar

masc dat sg of satthar (noun); masc gen sg of satthar (noun)

1. satthar (masc): master; teacher
2. satthar (masc): name of a privately awakened Buddha; lit. teacher
3. satthu (masc): to the teacher; to the master
4. satthu (masc): of a teacher; master's; of the Buddha
5. satthu (masc): when the teacher; when the master

Built from

• sah — root · bear, master
  The root √sah means to bear, carry, endure, or overcome — here used in its active sense of mastery over oneself or others.
• tar — ending · agent noun suffix
  The suffix -tar forms masculine agent nouns (one who does the action). In this case, 'one who bears' becomes 'one who masters or teaches'.

Etymology. From √sah (to bear, endure, overcome); satthar is the agent noun meaning 'one who bears or masters'. Cognate with Sanskrit śāsṛ, Greek ἄρχω (archō, 'to rule, lead'), and English 'sustain' (via Latin sustinēre). The notion of 'mastery' flows from the concrete sense of bearing weight or overcoming resistance.

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

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