އަބޫނާ

Dhivehi

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit अभय (abhaya, “unfearful; not dangerous”). Cognate to Sinhalese අබය (abaya)

The second sense is compared to Arabic أَبُونَا (ʔabūnā, “our father”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.buː.n̪aː/, [ä.buː.n̪aː]
• Hyphenation: އަ‧ބޫ‧ނާ

Noun

އަބޫނާ • (abūnā) (plural އަބޫނާތައް (abūnātak̊))

1. (archaic) a fearless person
2. (historical) the reader of the proclamation on the day of coronation of the Sultan

   Synonym: އަބޭނާޔަކަ (abēnāyaka)

References

• Hassan Ahmed Maniku (2000) “އަބޫނާ”, in A Concise Etymological Vocabulary of Dhivehi Language, Colombo: The Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, page 5