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Etymology

Borrowed either from North Germanic (compare Old Norse enda) or from Middle Low German ende, in either case ultimately from Proto-Germanic *anþi. Compare Estonian ent (“but”), Ingrian entä (“but, however”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈentæ/, [ˈe̞n̪t̪æ]
• Rhymes: -entæ.
• Hyphenation(key): en‧tä

Conjunction

entä

1. what about
   Minä lähden – entä sinä?
   I'll go – what about you?
   Sinulla on selvästi hauskaa, mutta entä minulla?
   You're obviously having a good time, but what about me?
   Entä toinen maali!
   What about the second goal!
2. (dialectal) than (in comparisons)
   Meijän isä on kovempi entä teijän isä.
   My father is cooler than your father.

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Etymology

kaataa (“to overturn”) +‎ -ua (reflexive suffix). Possibly already as Proto-Finnic *kaatudak (compare Ingrian kaatua, Karelian kuatuo).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkɑːtuɑˣ/, [ˈkɑ̝ːt̪uɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑːtuɑ
• Hyphenation(key): kaa‧tua

Verb

kaatua (intransitive)

1. to fall from an upright position; to fall down, to fall over
   Kaaduin kadulla ja loukkasin polveni.
   I fell in the street and hurt my knee.
   Puu kaatui syysmyrskyssä.
   The tree fell in an autumn storm.
2. to fall (die, especially in battle)
   Tämä on kaikkien ensimmäisessä maailmansodassa kaatuneiden muistomerkki.
   This is a monument to all those who fell in the First World War.
3. (of a liquid) to spill
4. (of a government) to fall
5. (figuratively) to fail, to come to nought, to be frustrated (of an attempt, a plan, or similar)
   Suunnitelma kaatui rahan puutteeseen. The plan failed owing to a lack of funds.
6. (computing) to crash
7. (nautical) to capsize, keel over

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *rauha, of unclear further origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈrɑu̯hɑ/, [ˈrɑ̝u̯ɦɑ̝]
• Rhymes: -ɑuhɑ
• Hyphenation(key): rau‧ha

Noun

rauha

1. peace, harmony, calm (state of tranquility, quiet, and harmony)
2. peace (state free of oppressive and unpleasant thoughts and emotions)
3. peace (state free of war)
4. (usually with qualifier) treaty, peace treaty Täyssinän rauha ― Treaty of Teusina

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Etymology

näytellä +‎ -mä

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈnæy̯telmæ/, [ˈnæy̯t̪e̞lmæ]
• Rhymes: -æytelmæ.
• Hyphenation(key): näy‧tel‧mä

Noun

näytelmä

1. play (theatrical performance)
2. spectacle

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *sadëk. Equivalent to sataa (“to rain, precipitate”) +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈsɑdeˣ/, [ˈs̠ɑ̝de̞(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑde
• Hyphenation(key): sa‧de

Noun

sade

1. (meteorology) precipitation (any kind of precipitation from the sky (e.g. rain, snow, sleet, hailstones))
   Sateet tulivat tänä vuonna myöhään.
   The rains came late that year.
   1. (especially) rain (condensed water falling from a cloud)
2. (by extension) rain (any matter moving or falling, usually through air) Kranaattisade putosi asemiimme. A rain of mortar fire fell on our positions.

Usage notes

sade on its own usually refers to rain. Snowfall, hailstorm etc. are also sade in Finnish, but are normally used with a modifier, e.g. lumisade (“snowing, snowfall”), raesade (“hailstorm”). It is also possible to use a modifier for rain specifically: vesisade.

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *lippu, from an onomatopoeic stem, the same from which the Estonian lipp was derived.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈlipːu/, [ˈlipːu]
• Rhymes: -ipːu
• Hyphenation(key): lip‧pu

Noun

lippu

1. flag, banner
   liehuvat liput ― flying flags / waving flags
2. colours (standard or banner)
   Lipun menetys raunioitti rykmentin moraalin.
   The loss of their colours destroyed the regiment's morale.
3. sheet, ticket (piece of paper, usually for a specific purpose; often in the plural when used alone) [with illative or allative ‘to, for’] matkalippu ― travel ticket
   Ellipsis of matkalippu (“travel ticket”).
   Ellipsis of pääsylippu (“admission ticket”).

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *loppu. Equivalent to (dialectal) loppi (“(inside) corner, nook”) +‎ -u or (dialectal) loppea (“to finish”) +‎ -u.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈlopːu/, [ˈlo̞pːu]
• Rhymes: -opːu
• Hyphenation(key): lop‧pu

Noun

loppu

1. end, ending, finish, conclusion (terminal, final or closing point of something)
   Synonyms: lopetus, pääte
   loppu on tullut ― this is the end (literally, “the end has come”)
2. (in the plural) the rest, the remaining [with elative ‘of’]
   Loput heistä ovat mennyttä.
   The rest of them are gone for good.

Adjective

loppu (not comparable)

1. (in the plural) the rest, the remaining
   Synonyms: jäljelle jäävä, jäljelle jäänyt, jäljellä oleva
   Saat syödä loput mansikat. You may eat the remaining strawberries.

Adverb

loppu

1. out, out of, over (without, no longer in possession of)
   Synonym: lopussa
   Meiltä on leipä loppu. We are out of bread.
   Aika on loppu.
   Time's up.

Usage notes.

• Used with olla (“to be”). Who is or are out of something is expressed in the ablative case (as in the usage example).
• Traditionally this use of loppu instead of lopussa was proscribed, as it was seen to derive from Swedish influence.

Interjection

loppu

1. the end (radio) out (the station is finished with its transmission and does not expect a response)

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Etymology

huhta (“cleared field in slash-and-burn cultivation”) +‎ kuu (“month”), named so because it was around the time of year when the trees and plants to be burned to make a swidden were left to dry.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈhuhtiˌkuː/, [ˈhuht̪iˌkuː]
• Rhymes: -uː
• Hyphenation(key): huhti‧kuu

Noun

month
Previous: maaliskuu
Next: toukokuu
huhtikuu

1. April (month)

Usage notes

“in April” is expressed with the inessive case (huhtikuussa).

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *nakradak, of unknown ultimate origin. Cognates include Estonian naerma, Karelian nakrua.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈnɑu̯rɑːˣ/, [ˈnɑ̝u̯rɑ̝ː(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -ɑurɑː
• Hyphenation(key): nau‧raa

Verb

nauraa (intransitive)

1. to laugh [with allative or partitive ‘at’] nauraa katketakseen ― to laugh one's head off, split one's sides
2. to laugh off [with allative]
   Jos sää on huono, minä vain nauran sille.
   If the weather is bad, I'll just laugh it off.

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *soomi, probably from earlier *sämä and related to Proto-Samic *sāmē (see the Proto-Finnic entry for more details and references). The name originally referred only to the area now known as Southwest Finland (Finnish Varsinais-Suomi (literally “Finland Proper”)). Cognates include Estonian Soome, Ingrian Soomi, Livonian sūom, Votic soomi and (borrowed) Northern Sami Suopma. First attested in 811 in Royal Frankish Annals as an anthroponym (personal name).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈsuo̯mi/, [ˈs̠uo̞̯mi]
• Rhymes: -uomi
• Hyphenation(key): Suo‧mi

Proper noun

Suomi

1. (uncountable) Finland (a country in Northern Europe) Synonyms: Suomenmaa, Suomen tasavalta
   Suomi on tasavalta.
   Finland is a republic.
2. a Finnish surname

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *hihtädäk, probably onomatopoeic. Compare Karelian hiihteä and Veps hihtta.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈhiːhtæːˣ/, [ˈhiːçt̪æː(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -iːhtæː
• Hyphenation(key): hiih‧tää

Verb

hiihtää.

1. (intransitive, transitive) to ski

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Etymology

Formed with the suffix -nko from a root of unknown origin, for which proposed etymologies include:

• from earlier *auderinko, derived from auer.
• from a Baltic language (compare Lithuanian aušrà (“dawn”)).

Originally an innovation of the western dialects of Finnish (replacing päivä). Attested in written sources since the 1500s.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈɑu̯riŋko/, [ˈɑ̝u̯riŋko̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑuriŋko
• Hyphenation(key): au‧rin‧ko

Noun

aurinko

1. the Sun
   Synonyms: (colloquial) arska, (archaic) päivä
2. a sun
3. (in compounds) solar, sun-, helio-

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Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old Swedish korper (compare Swedish korp), from Old Norse korpr.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkorpːi/, [ˈko̞rpːi]
• Rhymes: -orpːi
• Hyphenation(key): korp‧pi

Noun

korppi

1. common raven, Corvus corax.
2. any raven

Etymology 2

Clipping of korpraali +‎ -i, influenced by korppi (“raven”).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkorpːi/, [ˈko̞rpːi]
• Rhymes: -orpːi
• Hyphenation(key): korp‧pi

Noun

korppi

1. (military slang) Synonym of korpraali (“lance corporal”).

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *häirit'äk, from earlier *šajri-/šäjri-, borrowed from Proto-Germanicsairijaną (compare Icelandic særa).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈhæi̯ritæˣ/, [ˈhæi̯rit̪æ(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -æiritæ
• Hyphenation(key): häi‧ri‧tä

Verb

häiritä (transitive, usually atelic)

1. to disturb, bother, bug
   ei saa häiritä ― do not disturb 
2. to disrupt
2. to jam (block or confuse a radio or radar signal)

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *varis, from Proto-Uralic *warᴈ. Cognates include Estonian vares, Veps variš, Karelian varis, Erzya варака (varaka), Moksha варси (varsi) and Hungarian varjú. Likely an onomatopoeic word, compare Russian воро́на (voróna).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈʋɑris/, [ˈʋɑ̝ris̠]
• Rhymes: -ɑris
• Hyphenation(key): va‧ris

Noun

varis

1. hooded crow, grey crow, Corvus cornix
2. corvid, crow (any bird of the genus Corvus)

Usage notes

Until recently carrion crow (nokivaris, which is rarely seen in Finland but common in England) was believed to be just a black variant of hooded crow or grey crow (which is common in Finland but less common in England). Therefore many dictionaries give "carrion crow" as translation for varis.

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *etelä (“south, southwest”)(compare Estonian edel (“southwest”)). Equivalent of esi- (“front”) +‎ -lä, named so because dwellings tended to be built facing south (as that is where the sun shines from at noon in northern Europe).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈetelæ/, [ˈe̞t̪e̞læ]
• Rhymes: -etelæ
• Hyphenation(key): ete‧lä

Noun

etelä

1. south

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Etymology

From Russian со́боль (sóbolʹ, “sable”),[1] from Old East Slavic соболь (sobolĭ).

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈsopuli/, [ˈs̠o̞puli]
• Rhymes: -opuli
• Hyphenation(key): so‧pu‧li

Noun

sopuli

1. lemming (several rodents in the family Cricetidae, especially those of the tribe Lemmini)
2. lemming, true lemming (any rodent of the genus Lemmus)
3. Norway lemming, Lemmus lemmus
   Synonym: tunturisopuli
4. lemming (a member of a group given to conformity or groupthink; used especially of journalists)

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Etymology

From päivän (“of the day”) +‎ tasaus (“equalisation”).

Pronunciation.

• IPA(key): /ˈpæi̯ʋænˌtɑsɑus/, [ˈpæi̯ʋæn̪ˌt̪ɑ̝s̠ɑ̝us̠]
• Rhymes: -ɑsɑus
• Hyphenation(key): päivän‧tasa‧us

Noun

päiväntasaus

1. (astronomy) equinox

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *kevät, from Proto-Uralic *keŋä.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkeʋæt/, [ˈk̟e̞ʋæt̪]
• Rhymes: -eʋæt
• Hyphenation(key): ke‧vät

Noun

season
Previous: talvi
Next: kesä
kevät

1. spring, springtime (season of the year)

Usage notes

As with all four seasons in Finnish, the adessive case (keväällä) is normally used when talking about events that will take place or took place in (the) spring. The essive case (keväänä) is used instead, however, if there is a determiner like tämä (“this”), viime (“last”) or ensi (“next”); this does not apply when e.g. specifying the year (adessive case is used). As usual, other uses, e.g. when postponing events (allative) or with asti (“until”) (illative), may use other locative cases.
...tapahtui keväällä ―
...happened in the spring
...tapahtui vuoden 2017 keväällä ―
...happened in the spring of (the year) 2017,
...happened in spring 2017
...tapahtui viime keväänä ―
...happened last spring

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Etymology

kalsari- (“underpants”) +‎ känni (“intoxication”)

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈkɑlsɑriˌkænːi/, [ˈkɑ̝ls̠ɑ̝riˌk̟ænːi]
• Rhymes: -ænːi
• Hyphenation(key): kal‧sari‧känni

Noun

kalsarikänni
(slang)

1. (often in the plural) Getting drunk in one's underpants at home, usually alone.
   Mitä teit perjantaina? —Olin niin väsynyt, että menin kotiin ja vedin kalsarikännit. What did you do on Friday? —I was so tired that I went home and got drunk alone.

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Etymology

From Proto-Finnic *onni, of uncertain further etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈonːi/, [ˈo̞nːi]
• Rhymes: -onːi
• Hyphenation(key): on‧ni

Noun

onni

1. happiness, pleasure, contentment, gratification, bliss
   Near-synonym: ilo
2. joy, delight, pleasure (a person, thing or action that causes enjoyment)
   Synonym: ilo
3. luck, fortune [with inessive ‘with (something)’]
   Minulla oli onni selvitä ehjin nahoin. I was fortunate to have survived in one piece.

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Etymology

Borrowed from Old Swedish trumba (compare modern Swedish trumma). Doublet of trumpetti.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈrumpu/, [ˈrumpu]
• Rhymes: -umpu
• Hyphenation(key): rum‧pu

Noun

rumpu

1. drum (musical instrument)
2. cylinder (usually rotating, such as in a washing machine)
3. culvert (channel crossing under a road or railway for the draining of water)
   Synonym: siltarumpu

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Etymology

peli +‎ -ata

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈpelɑtɑˣ/, [ˈpe̞lɑ̝t̪ɑ̝(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -elɑtɑ
• Hyphenation(key): pe‧la‧ta

Verb

pelata

1. (transitive) to play (participate in (a sport or game))
2. (intransitive, colloquial) to work, to function (operate normally)
3. (archaic, transitive) to play (music)
   Synonym: soittaa
4. (archaic, intransitive) to play (of music)
   Synonym: soida

Usage notes

pelata is used for playing organized and rule-bound games, whereas the verb for playing at "children's games" with no rules or set objectives is leikkiä. Likewise, the noun leikki denotes "children's games" and peli organized games with rules.

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Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈsoi̯tin/, [ˈs̠o̞i̯t̪in]
• Rhymes: -oitin
• Hyphenation(key): soi‧tin

Etymology 1

soittaa +‎ -in

Noun

soitin

1. musical instrument, instrument
2. player (any device that repeats recorded sound).
   DVD-soitin ― DVD player

Etymology 2

Verb

soitin

1. first-person singular past indicative of soittaa

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Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Low German spel, from Proto-West Germanic *spil, Doublet of pila.

Pronunciation

• IPA(key): /ˈpeli/, [ˈpe̞li]
• Rhymes: -eli
• Hyphenation(key): pe‧li

Noun

peli

1. game (activity described by a set of rules, especially for the purpose of entertainment)

2. (sports) match, game; (tennis) game

3. (especially in compounds) tool, means, implement, vehicle
   ajopeli, kulkupeli, ankkuripeli ― (dialectal or humorous) vehicle; (dialectal or humorous) vehicle; anchor windlass

4. (slang) wheels (automobile)
   Kiva peli!
   Nice wheels!

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