Yes. Same is true with many other languages. The word Shraddha (Sanskrit/ Marathi/ Hindi equevalent of pali saddha) in todays India is used to mean faith on some God or Deity. This may mean blind faith.
Modern Hindus use the word Bhagwan to mean "Amighty God" in addition to the word "Ishwara". I Guru named Rajneesh (who later renamed himself as Osho in the 80s) used to call himself Bhagwan Rajneesh in the 70s.
 
I heard this  explanation "bhagwant" meaning "the one who ended craving" in my childhood from a bhikkhu. I did not consider this Bhikkhu to be a learned one, therefore I was not sure of correctness of this explanation. Bhaga is an obscure word which is rarely used in modern marathi . This word is used to describe desire by a deity for sacrifice for acheiving something. Most marathi speaking people wont be able to recognize this word.
 
R.O. Jadhao
 
 
 
Sent: Monday, November 17, 2014 at 10:39 PM
From: "Dc Wijeratna dcwijeratna@... [Pali]" <Pali@yahoogroups.com>
To: Pali@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Pali] Bhagavant
 

 

Dear Jhadao
 
You are not wrong. There is no "right" translation of Pali. This was a maxim given to me by my Pali professor-a Japanese national.
I did a little bit of reading on this matter. It appears that my professor is right. Take any Pali word. You'll find many interpretations. I'll give you a simple example, See the definitions of Saddhaa in Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia and compare. 
 
The problem appears to insoluble. Any thoughts?
 
Kind regards
 
D.C. 
 
On Sat, Nov 15, 2014 at 12:31 PM, 'Rajendra Jadhao' jadhao@... [Pali] <Pali@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
 

 

I have heard somewhere its bhag + ant = bhagavant
bhaga - thirst, craving
ant - end
One who ended craving.
 
Of course.. I may be wrong.
 
R.O. Jadhao
 
 
Sent: Sunday, November 09, 2014 at 7:05 PM
From: "Bryan Levman bryan.levman@... [Pali]" <Pali@yahoogroups.com>
To: "Pali@yahoogroups.com" <Pali@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [Pali] Bhagavant
 

 

Dear D.C.
 
Bhagavant is from the Sanskrit. bhaga + vat
 
Bhaga means "good fortune, happiness, welfare, prosperity, majesty, distinction, excellence, etc" (Monier Williams dictionary), and vat is a suffix meaning "possessing"  so bhagavat means "possessing fortune, prosperous, happy, glorious, illustrious, venerable, holy, etc" (again from MW).
 
The translation "Blessed One"  is an interpretation based on this meaning.
 
As Gabriel says, there are many different ways to translate it.
 
Best wishes,
 
Bryan
 
 
 
 
From: "Buddhayatana buddhayatana@... [Pali]" <Pali@yahoogroups.com>
To: Pali_yahoogroups.com <Pali@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 8, 2014 2:58 PM
Subject: [Pali] Bhagavant
 
 
Hello Dr Wijeratna,

a more appropriate translation for "Bhagavant", both literally and in
term of context, is

"the Blissful One" ("le Bienheureux" in French)

Hope this helps

Mettâ

Dr Gabriel Jîvasattha Bittar

On 2014.11.08 21:03, Pali@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> There is 1 message in this issue.
>
> Topics in this digest:
>
> 1. Bhagavant: the Blessed One
> From: Dc Wijeratna
>
>
> Message
> __________________________________________________________
> 1. Bhagavant: the Blessed One
> Posted by: "Dc Wijeratna" dcwijeratna@...
> Date: Fri Nov 7, 2014 5:31 pm ((PST))
>
> PTS dictionary gives Bhagavant:fortunate, illustrious, sublime, as Ep. and
> title "Lord." Usual trs. Blessed One, Exalted One.
>
>
> The translation bhagavant as Blessed One cannot be understood.
> Blessed is associated with God; see the definition of blessed in the Oxford
> Dictionaries.
>
>
> I shall be grateful, if someone could clarify this.
>
>
>
>
>
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--
Metta is being friendly to everybody