MEANING:
Noun: cruise ship
Risteilijä comes from risteillä (a verb meaning to cruise or crisscross) + -jä (a suffix used to turn verbs into nouns).
EXTRA CREDIT:
Finns may also use the word ristelijä to refer to a plate or cup passed around the table at a meal for a collection of peels or fishbones.
MEANING:
Noun: Unicorn (mythical creature)
Yksisarvinen comes from yksi (“one”) + sarvi (“horn”) + -inen (“-ed”), coined by Mikael Agricola in 1551.
EXTRA CREDIT:
You may also see unikorni.
MEANING:
Noun: Industry (economic activity concerned with the processing of raw materials and manufacture of goods in factories.)
Formed from a combination of teollinen (an adjective meaning industrial) + the suffix uus used to turn adjectives into nouns.
Extra Credit:
Liitto is a noun that means trade union or organization.
MEANING:
Noun: Equilibrium, balance or stability (condition of a system in which competing influences are balanced).
EXTRA CREDIT:
Can also be used to refer to mental stability or balance.
Finnish Word of the Day 