Pañca

adjective noun masculine

Cases:
■ gen. dat. pañcannaṃ,
■ instr. abl pañcahi,
■ loc. pañcasu;
■ often used in compositional form pañca˚ (cp. Ved. pañcāra with 5 spokes RV i.164¹³; Gr.πεμπώβολος, Lat. quinqu-ennis etc.).

1. Characteristics of No. 5 in its use, with ref, to lit. & fig. application “Five” is the number of “comprehensive and yet simple” unity or a set; it is applied in all cases of a natural and handy comprehension of several items into a group, after the 5 fingers of the hand, which latter lies at the bottom of all primitive expressions of No. 5 (see also below pañc’ angulika. The word for 5 itself in its original form is identical with the word for hand *prəq cp. Lat. com˚, decem, centum etc.)
   1. No. 5, applied
      1. with ref. to time: catupañcāhaṃ 4 or 5 days Ja.ii.114 (cp. quinque diebus Horace Sat i.3¹⁶); maraṇaṃ tuyhaṃ oraṃ māsehi pañcahi after 5 months Vv.63#10, p. māse vasitvā DN-a.i.319 (cp. qu menses Hor. Sat. ii.3²⁸⁹)
      2. of space: ˚yojanaṭṭhāna Ja.iii.504; ˚yojan-ubbedho gajavaro Vv-a.33 ˚bhūmako pāsādo Ja.i.58 (cp. the house of Death as 5 stories high in Grimm, Mārchen No. 42 ed. Reclam)-
      3. of a group, set, company, etc. (cp. 5 peoples RV iii.37⁹; vi.11⁴; viii.9² etc.; gods x.55³; priests ii.34¹⁴iii.7⁷; leaders of the Greek ships Hom. Iliad 16, 171 ambassadors Genesis 47²; quinque viri Hor. Sat. ii.5⁵⁵ Epist. ii.1²⁴): p. janā Ja.v.230; p. amaccā Ja.v.231; p hatthino Dhp-a.i.164; pañca nāriyo agamiṃsu Vv.32#2 p. puttāni khādāmi Pv.i.6#3
         ■ Note. No. 5 in this applⁿ is not so frequent in Pāli as in older literature (Vedas e.g.); instead of the simple 5 we find more freq the higher decimals 50 and 500. See also below §§ 3, 4.
   2. No. 15 in two forms:
      ■ pañcadasa (f. ˚ī the 15th day of the month Vv.15#6 = AN.i.144; Snp.402) Vv-a.67 (˚kahāpaṇa-sahassāni dāpesi), and paṇṇarasa (also as f ī of the 15th or full-moon day Pv.iii.3#1; Dhp-a.i.198 Dhp-a.iii.92; Dhp-a.iv.202; Vv-a.314; Snp-a.78) Snp.153 (pannaraso uposatho); Vv.64#2 (paṇṇarase va cando; explained as paṇṇarasiyaṃ Vv-a.276); Dhp-a.i.388 (of age, 15 or 16 years) DN-a.i.17 (˚bhedo Khuddaka-nikāyo); Snp-a.357 (pannarasahi bhikkhu-satehi = 1500, instead of the usual 500) Pv-a.154 (˚yojana). The applⁿ is much the same as 5 and 50 (see below), although more rare, e.g. as measure of space: ˚yojana Dhp-a.i.17 (next in sequence to paṇṇāsa-yojana); Ja.i.315; Pv-a.154 (cp. 15 furlongs from Jerusalem to Bethany John 11, 18; 15 cubits above the mountains rose the flood Gen. 7 20).
   3. No. 25 in two form