finnish

finnish — adjective

IPA/ˈfɪnɪʃ/
KK[fˈɪnɪʃ]IPA/ˈfɪnɪʃ/
  • finnishpositive
  • more finnishcomparative
  • most finnishsuperlative

1. connected to the country of Finland in northern Europe, the inhabitants of that

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

connected to the country of Finland in northern Europe, the inhabitants of that country, or their native language

Example

Ingrid brought back a beautiful Finnish wool blanket from her trip to Helsinki.

collocation: Finnish wool / Finnish design

The Finnish education system is often ranked among the best in the world.

collocation: Finnish education system

Common collocations
  • Finnish design
  • Finnish culture
  • Finnish people
  • Finnish winter
  • Finnish sauna
Synonyms
  • from Finland

    used after the noun instead of before it (people from Finland)

Usage Note

Place before a noun (Finnish food) or after the verb 'to be' (the food is Finnish). Do not use 'Finnish' as a noun to refer to a person — use 'a Finn' or 'Finnish person' instead.

Common Mistakes

She met a Finland man at the conference.
She met a Finnish man at the conference.
the adjective for the country is 'Finnish', not 'Finland'.

finnish — noun

IPA/ˈfɪn.ɪʃ/
KK[fˈɪnɪʃ]IPA/ˈfɪn.ɪʃ/

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Finnish (the language), Finn (a person from Finland), and Finland (the country) are closely related but used differently. 'Finland' names the country itself: 'Finland is in northern Europe.' 'Finn' refers to a person from that country: 'My neighbour is a Finn.' 'Finnish' as an adjective describes anything connected to Finland: 'Finnish food,' 'Finnish music.' As a noun, 'Finnish' means only the language: 'I am learning Finnish.' A common learner error is saying 'I am a Finnish' when the correct form is 'I am a Finn' or 'I am Finnish.'

FinnFinland ↗Finnish (adjective)

Common collocations

Phrases

  • the Finnish way
  • Finnish-style

Etymology

Old EnglishEnglish

Finnish comes from the Old English word 'Finnas', which referred to the ancient people of Finland, combined with the suffix '-ish', meaning 'belonging to' or 'of the character of'. The name has been used in English since the 16th century to describe both the people and their language.