Pali, noun
lit. basket. In the context of the Pali Cannon of Theravada Buddhism, a pitaka is one of the three divisions of the Tipitaka: the Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta Pitaka, and Abhidhamma Pitaka. The use of the term 'basket' is thought to stem from the earliest days when the canon was commited to writing. As each sutta was bound on a thread, groups of related suttas were placed in large baskets to be transported or sorted. See sutta.