‹ Back to the text

uddissa

nt voc sg of uddissa (noun); imp 2nd sg of uddissati (verb)

1. uddissa (ind): in the name of; on account of; for the sake of; especially for; lit. pointing up
2. uddissa (ger): indicating; lit. pointing up
3. uddissa (nt): dedication; lit. pointing up
4. uddissati (pr): is appointed; is assigned; is designated (from); lit. is pointed up

Built from

• ud — prefix · up, out
  Upward and outward motion; cognate with English 'out' and German 'aus'. Here it intensifies the act of pointing.
• dis — root · point, show
  To indicate or direct attention toward something. Related to Latin dīcere and Greek δείκνυμι (show). Appears in English 'diction' and 'dictate' through the Latin line.
• a — ending · gerund/nominative
  Forms the gerund or neuter nominative singular, abstracting the verb into a noun: 'the act of pointing up', hence 'dedication'.

Analysis. ud + dissa: ud- (up, out) + √dis (point), literally 'pointing up', idiomatically 'dedicating to' or 'designating for'.

Etymology. From ud- (up, out; cognate with English 'out') + √dis (to point, show; akin to Latin dīcere 'to say, point out' and Greek δείκνυμι 'to show'). The spatial sense of 'up' combines with 'pointing' to yield 'pointing upward' — hence the sense of directing attention, dedicating, or designating something for a purpose.

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

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