The Eyes of the Pineapple

The Dictionary of the Pali Language, by R.C. Childers (London, fourth printing, 1909) shows that pati means “towards, back in return, against” and vattam means “going on, continuance, succession,” also “a circle, region, realm,” as in samsaravattam, “revolution or realm of transmigrations.” The general meaning of “moving against,” implying also a circular motion, was then an apt translation, in several Southeast Asian languages, of the Latin “revolution.”