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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *hërkku. Cognates include Estonian hõrk, Karelian herkku and Votic erkku (Mati), herkku. Possibly related to herkkä.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈherkːu/, [ˈhe̞rkːu]
• Rhymes: -erkːu
• Syllabification(key): herk‧ku
• Hyphenation(key): herk‧ku

Noun

herkku

1. (food) delicacy
2. treat (snack food item designed to be given to pets)
   Synonym: herkkupala
3. (slang) option, accessory kaikilla herkuilla ― with all options; loaded

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Etymology 1

From Proto-Finnic *tapa, borrowed from Proto-Baltic *dabāˀ (compare Latvian daba).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈtɑpɑ/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝pɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑpɑ.
• Syllabification(key): ta‧pa
• Hyphenation(key): ta‧pa

Noun

tapa

1. habit (action performed on a regular basis) [with first infinitive ‘to do’]
   Meillä oli sunnuntaisin tapana mennä rannalle.
   We used to go to the beach on Sundays. / We would go to the beach on Sundays.
2. habit (action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness) [with first infinitive ‘to do’]
   Synonym: tottumus
3. custom (frequent repetition of the same act) [with first infinitive ‘to do’]
   Synonym: käytäntö
4. (usually in the plural) habit, manner (one's customary method of acting)
5. (usually in the plural) manner (good, polite behavior)
6. way, manner (to do something) [with illative ‘for’; or with first infinitive ‘to do’] jollain tavalla ― some way, by some means, somehow

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈtɑpɑˣ/, [ˈt̪ɑ̝pɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑpɑ
• Syllabification(key): ta‧pa
• Hyphenation(key): ta‧pa

Verb

tapa

1. inflection of tappaa (to kill, slay):
   1. present active indicative connegative
   2. second-person singular present imperative
   3. second-person singular present active imperative connegative

lähde

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *louk'at'ak. Related to Ingrian loukata, Karelian loukahtoa and Votic loukõtõ.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈlou̯kɑtɑˣ/, [ˈlo̞u̯kɑ̝t̪ɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -oukɑtɑ
• Syllabification(key): lou‧ka‧ta
• Hyphenation(key): lou‧ka‧ta

Verb

loukata

1. (transitive) to wound, hurt, injure (cause a physical injury to (chiefly of [one's own] body parts))
   Synonyms: satuttaa, teloa
   Loukkasin jalkani.
   I hurt my leg.
   Loukkasin varpaani oveen.
   I hurt my toe on the door.
2. (transitive, usually atelic) to hurt (someone's feelings), injure, offend, insult, wound (cause emotional offense to)
   Synonyms: satuttaa, pahoittaa (mieli)
   loukata jonkun kunniaa ― to offend someone's honour
3. (transitive, usually atelic) to violate, infringe upon, encroach upon, make inroads on
   Loukkasivatko Venäjän hävittäjät Suomen ilmatilaa?
   Did the Russian fighter planes violate the Finnish air space?
4. (intransitive) to get hurt (physically)
   Loukkasitko pahasti?
   Did you get badly hurt?

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vasta, from Proto-Finno-Permic *wasta (“a place opposite or across”). Related to Estonian vast, Karelian vasta, Livonian vastõ, Livvi vastah, Veps vast, Võro vasta, Votic vassõ, Northern Sami vuostá (“towards, against”), Erzya васта (vasta, “spouse”), вастомс (vastoms, “to meet”), Moksha васта (vasta, “spot, place”) and probably Eastern Mari ваштареш (vaštareš, “against”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈʋɑstɑ-/, [ˈʋɑ̝s̠tɑ̝-]

Prefix

vasta-

1. counter-, anti- (expressing opposition or contrast)
   Antonym: myötä-
2. new-, freshly, just, recently (expressing that something took place recently)
3. return (expressing reciprocity)

Inflection

Like many other Finnish prefixes, vasta- has inflected forms to a limited extent that are used as adverbs.

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Etymology

kol- +‎ -kko; from the same root as kolea.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkolkːo/, [ˈko̞lkːo̞]
• Rhymes: -olkːo
• Syllabification(key): kolk‧ko
• Hyphenation(key): kolk‧ko

Adjective

kolkko (comparative kolkompi, superlative kolkoin)

1. gloomy, dismal

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kärmeh, borrowed from Proto-Balto-Slavic *kirmis (compare Latvian cirmenis (“maggot”), Lithuanian kirmis (“worm”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷr̥mis.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkæːrmeˣ/, [ˈk̟æːrme̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -æːrme
• Syllabification(key): käär‧me
• Hyphenation(key): käär‧me

Noun

käärme
1, snake Alternative form: (dialectal) kärmes

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Etymology

From Swedish tråka, from French troquer.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈtrokɑtɑˣ/, [ˈt̪ro̞kɑ̝t̪ɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -okɑtɑ
• Syllabification(key): tro‧ka‧ta
• Hyphenation(key): tro‧ka‧ta

Verb

trokata (slang)

1. to deal, to bootleg, to fence (especially of alcohol)

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Etymology

From miekka +‎ -illa.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈmie̯kːɑi̯lːɑˣ/, [ˈmie̞̯kːɑ̝i̯lːɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -iekːɑilːɑ
• Syllabification(key): miek‧kail‧la
• Hyphenation(key): miek‧kail‧la

Verb

miekkailla

1. (intransitive) to fence, duel (with swords)

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *aita, possibly from Proto-Uralic *ajta. Cognate with Karelian aituš, Livvi aidu, Estonian aed and, more distantly, with Erzya утомо (utomo).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈɑi̯tɑ/, [ˈɑ̝i̯t̪ɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑitɑ
• Syllabification(key): ai‧ta
• Hyphenation(key): ai‧ta

Noun

aita

1. fence
2. (low) wall

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Etymology

Borrowed from Old Swedish mānadagher, or from Middle Low German māndach; ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *mānini dag.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈmɑːnɑntɑi̯/, [ˈmɑ̝ːnɑ̝n̪t̪ɑ̝i̯]
• Rhymes: -ɑːnɑntɑi
• Syllabification(key): maa‧nan‧tai
• Hyphenation(key): maa‧nan‧tai

Noun

| day of | the week | | ----- | ----- | | Previous | sunnuntai | | Next | tiistai |

maanantai

1. Monday (day of the week; the first day of the week in Finland and in the ISO 8601 standard)

Usage notes

As with all days of the week in Finnish, the essive case (maanantaina) is usually used when talking about what will happen or happened on a Monday.

lädhe

Alternative forms

äitee (dialectal)

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *äitei (compare Southern Ostrobothnian äitee, äiree), borrowed from Proto-Germanic *aiþį̄ (compare Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 (aiþei)). The front vowel in the word could perhaps be explained by influence from baby talk (which has also been suggested as an alternative etymology, compare täti and baby speak äittä-äittä-tättä). The original word for "mother", emä (< Proto-Finnic *emä), is now only used for animals in Finnish but is used for humans in dialects and in other Finnic languages. Cognate with Estonian eit (“old woman”); Võro äide, äidi, ääde (“mother, grandmother”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈæi̯ti/, [ˈæi̯t̪i]
• Rhymes: -æiti
• Syllabification(key): äi‧ti
• Hyphenation(key): äi‧ti

Noun

äiti

1. mother (woman in relation to her children)
   Synonyms: (archaic) emä, (slang) mutsi, mude, (colloquial) äiskä, äippä, (colloquial, childish) mamma, mami
2. (childish) mother (animal mother)
   Synonyms: emo, emä
3. mother (woman in high position)
   Thatcheria alettiin ylistää kansakunnan äidiksi. ― Thatcher became lauded as “mother of the nation”.
4. mother (respectful title for a nun, usually one who has served for a long time or is the leader of nuns' community)
5. mother (origin)
   luontoäiti ― mother Nature
6. mother (mightiest of its kind)
   kaikkien taistelujen äiti ― mother of all battles
7. The letter Ä in the Finnish spelling alphabet.

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Etymology

soveltaa +‎ -us

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈsoʋelːus/, [ˈs̠o̞ʋe̞lːus̠]

• Rhymes: -oʋelːus
• Syllabification(key): so‧vel‧lus
• Hyphenation(key): so‧vel‧lus

Noun

sovellus

1. application (act of applying as a means; act of directing or referring something to a particular case)
2. application, app (computer program or the set of software that the end user perceives as a single entity as a tool for a well-defined purpose)

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *pilvi, from Proto-Finno-Ugric *pilwe. Cognate with Estonian pilv, Northern Sami balva, Erzya пель (peľ) and Hungarian felhő.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈpilʋi/, [ˈpilʋi]
• Rhymes: -ilʋi
• Syllabification(key): pil‧vi
• Hyphenation(key): pil‧vi

Noun

pilvi

1. cloud
2. (computing) cloud
3. (slang) hashish, marijuana
   polttaa pilveä ― to smoke marijuana
   olla pilvessä ― to be high

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Etymology

touko (“sowing”) +‎ kuu (“month”), with seeds being sown around May

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈtou̯koˌkuː/, [ˈt̪o̞u̯ko̞ˌkuː]
• Rhymes: -uː
• Syllabification(key): tou‧ko‧kuu
• Hyphenation(key): touko‧kuu

Noun

toukokuu

1. May (month)

Usage notes

• “in May” is expressed with the inessive case (toukokuussa).

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *vannodak.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈʋɑnːoɑˣ/, [ˈʋɑ̝nːo̞ɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑnːoɑ
• Syllabification(key): van‧no‧a
• Hyphenation(key): van‧noa

Verb

vannoa

1. to swear, vow (promise solemnly)
   vannoa vala ― to take an oath
   vannoa kostoa ― to vow (to get) revenge
   vannoa luopuvansa (+ elative) ― to swear off
   vannoa [+ genitive +] nimeen ― to swear by
   vannoa uskollisuutta (+ allative) ― to pledge allegiance to
   vannoa väärin / vannoa väärä vala ― to perjure oneself, commit perjury
   Olisin voinut vannoa, että...
   I could have sworn that...

lähde

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *lämbin, from Proto-Uralic *lämpe. Cognate with Erzya лембе (lembe), Moksha лямбе (lämbe).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈlæmːin/, [ˈlæmːin]
• Rhymes: -æmːin
• Syllabification(key): läm‧min
• Hyphenation(key): läm‧min

Adjective

lämmin (comparative lämpimämpi, superlative lämpimin)

1. warm
2. heated (made warm by some means, used especially of buildings)
   lämmin varasto ― heated storage

lähde

Etymology

From Vappu, Valpuri, the name of a medieval saint with a feast day on 1st May.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈʋɑpːu/, [ˈʋɑ̝pːu]
• Rhymes: -ɑpːu
• Syllabification(key): vap‧pu
• Hyphenation(key): vap‧pu

Noun

vappu

1. May Day, Labor Day, Walpurgis night (1st of May; in Finland, a highly joyous, festive occasion, especially among the working class and students)

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Alternative forms

• vapunaatto

Etymology

vappu (May Day) +‎ aatto (Eve)

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈʋɑpːuˌɑːtːo/, [ˈʋɑ̝pːuˌɑ̝ːt̪ːo̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑːtːo
• Syllabification(key): vap‧pu‧aat‧to
• Hyphenation(key): vappu‧aatto

Noun

vappuaatto

1. May Day eve (April 30th)

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Etymology

From French jongler (“to juggle”), apparently via Swedish jonglera (“to juggle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈjoŋleːrɑtɑˣ/, [ˈjo̞ŋle̞ːˌrɑ̝t̪ɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑtɑ
• Syllabification(key): jong‧lee‧ra‧ta
• Hyphenation(key): jong‧lee‧ra‧ta

Verb

jongleerata

1. to juggle

lähde

Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kaikki, borrowed from Proto-Baltic *kajakei.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkɑi̯kːi/, [ˈkɑ̝i̯kːi]
• Rhymes: -ɑikːi
• Hyphenation(key): kaik‧ki

Pronoun

kaikki

1. (indefinite, uncountable) everything (in the singular)
   Tänään kaikki menee pieleen.
   Today everything is going wrong.
   Vihaan kaikkea.
   I hate everything.
   eikä tässä vielä kaikki ― but wait, there's more (literally, “and this is not everything yet”)
2. (indefinite) everyone, everybody (in the plural, except the nominative form is in the singular, but verbs in the plural form)
   Kaikki olivat täällä.
   Everyone was here.
   Vihaan kaikkia.
   I hate everyone.
3. (in compounds) all-, omni-

Determiner

kaikki

1. all
   Kaikki sukkani löytyivät.
   All my socks were found.
   Yhtäkkiä kaikki vesi vyöryi huoneistoon.
   Suddenly all the water ran into the apartment.

Usage notes

The pronoun also has the nominative plural form kaiket, which is used only in some phrases, e.g. kaiket päivät (“every day, all the time, day after day, for days on end”).

lähde

Etymology

jäätää (“to freeze”) +‎ -lö or possibly through dialectal jäädellä (“to (slowly) freeze”), thus equivalent to jäätää +‎ -ellä +‎ -ö. Coined by Finnish physician and philologist Elias Lönnrot in 1874.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈjæːtelø/, [ˈjæːt̪e̞lø̞]
• Rhymes: -æːtelø
• Hyphenation(key): jää‧te‧lö.

Noun

jäätelö

1. ice cream (frozen dessert)

Usage notes

jäätelö does not necessarily indicate that the ice cream is made of cream. It may also be milk or vegetable fat, as long as the texture and taste resemble that of the original cream-based product. To specify the raw ingredient, a modifier may be added e.g. kermajäätelö, maitojäätelö, kasvirasvajäätelö.

lähde

Etymology

esi- +‎ -s (s-lative singular); originally "forward, forwards".

Pronunciation

*IPA(key): /ˈedes/, [ˈe̞de̞s̠]

• Rhymes: -edes
  *Hyphenation(key): edes

Adverb

edes

1. even (suggesting an absolute minimum in a question)
   Voiko hän edes juosta?
   Is he even able to run?

2. at least (suggesting an absolute minimum in a positive statement)
   Synonyms: ainakin, vähintään
   Voisit edes lähettää hänelle kortin.
   You could at least send her/him a postcard.
   Anna kymmenen tai edes viisi euroa.
   Give me ten or at least five euros.

3. anyway (in any event)
   Synonyms: kuitenkin, kumminkin, sentään
   Hyvä, että edes ilma oli kaunis.
   Well, the weather was beautiful anyway.

4. even, so much as (suggesting the lack of even a minimum of something in a negative statement)
   Synonym: -kaan
   Asun talossa, jossa ei ole edes vesijohtoa.
   I live in a house which doesn't even have tap water.
   Hän käveli huoneeseen kysymättä edes lupaa ja alkoi selailla heidän tiedostojaan.
   Without so much as asking, he walked into the room and started digging through their files.
   Älä edes kuvittele!
   Don't even think of it!
   Edes NN ei osannut auttaa.
   Even NN was not able to help.

5. (as modifier) for-, fore-, forth (signifies being in front of something, often figuratively)
   edesmennyt ― deceased (compare foregone)
   edestakaisin ― back and forth
   edesvastuu ― legal liability (liability in front of the law)

6. (as headword) on, onward (in some time-related expressions)
   tästedes ― from now on
   (dialectal, dated) forward, forwards

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Etymology

Borrowed from Swedish muskot, from earlier muskat, ultimately from Late Latin muscata (“musky”) (named so because of its taste), a derivation of Late Latin muscus (“musk”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈmuskotːi/, [ˈmus̠ko̞t̪ːi]
• Rhymes: -uskotːi
• Hyphenation(key): mus‧kot‧ti

Noun

muskotti

1. nutmeg

lähde

Etymology

Variant of dialectal pireä, possibly by influence from nuortea (like how dialectal pirkeä is probably influenced by virkeä)

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈpirteæ/, [ˈpirt̪e̞æ]
• Rhymes: -irteæ
• Hyphenation(key): pir‧teä

Adjective

pirteä (comparative pirteämpi, superlative pirtein)

1. perky, vivacious, lively, spirited
   Antonym: väsynyt

lähde

Etymology

avata +‎ -in, literally "an opening tool, tool for opening". Compare Livvi avain, Veps avadim.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈɑʋɑi̯n/, [ˈɑ̝ʋɑ̝i̯n]
• Rhymes: -ɑʋɑin
• Hyphenation(key): avain.

Noun

avain

1. key (device designed to open and close a lock)
   avaimet käteen -toimitus ― turnkey delivery
2. (figuratively) key (crucial step)
3. (telegraphy) key (device used to transmit Morse code)
4. (chiefly in compounds) wrench, spanner (tool)
   jakoavain ― adjustable wrench / adjustable spanner
   kiintoavain ― non-adjustable wrench / non-adjustable spanner
5. (music) clef (used especially in compound terms)
   Synonyms: klaavi, nuottiavain
   diskanttiavain ― treble clef
   g-avain ― G clef
6. code (set of rules for converting information in a primitive form of cryptography)
7. (cryptography) key (piece of information used to encode or decode)
8. (computing, databases) key (field, potentially unique, used for lookup)

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