väestönsuoja

 väestönsuoja –

MEANING:

Compound noun: Air-raid shelter; bomb shelter.

DERIVED FROM:

Väestön is the genitive singular of väestö, a collective noun meaning ”population” or ”the people living within a boundary.” (The collective noun comes from väki (”people”) +‎ the suffix –stö, which turns it into a collective noun.)

Suoja means ”shelter.” So literally the compound noun means ”population shelter,” but idiomatically it is an ”air raid shelter” or ”bomb shelter.”

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