Know the Etymology: 413
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 02 August 2015

Ekkassa

எக்கஸ்ஸ
Ekkassa

Ekkassa

The pastureland

Ekkassa

> pasture land (Sinhala, Codrington); Ekkaasu: united, collected, gathered together, assembled with (Sinhala); Ekkaasu-kara’nawaa: to assemble, to collect, to join, to put together (Sinhala); from Ek: one (Sinhala); Eaka: one (Sanskrit, Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 2462)

Codrington notes that Ekkassa means a pastureland and Sorata Nayaka Thera’s dictionary endorses it with a mark that it is spoken Sinhala.

The usage, seldom found in Sinhala place names, seems to have derived from Ekkaasu, meaning ‘gathered together’, as herds of cattle are put together for grazing in a pastureland.

Ekkaasu, which is also spoken Sinhala as noted by Sorata, comes from Ek, meaning one in Sinhala, and Eaka meaning the same in Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit (CDIAL 2462)

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Ekkassa is a place in Ambalantota division of Hambantota district

First published: Sunday, 02 August 2015, 11:57