List of English words of Finnish origin

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For a list of words relating to with Finnish language origins, see the Finnish derivations category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Rather few words of Finnish origin have entered other languages, the language being a net importer of words.

Words loaned to English

Finnish has loaned a bare handful of words to the English language specifically. The best known example is Sauna, and many would argue that Sauna even is the only loanword in the English language that is used outside of the context of Finland or the Finnish culture. There are two words in specialist fields; the motti military tactic and rapakivi granite in geology.

There are also words of Uralic origin, not necessarily directly from Finnish, for example, "whale" ← Proto-Uralic [xɑlɑ] "fish" (comprare finnish valas (whale)).

English words coined by Finns

The expression "Molotov cocktail" was coined by Finns in the Winter War.

See also

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