English Reference

Word

finn

Phoneticsfinn

/ˈfɪn/

Definition

n. a person who comes from Finland.

n. a national or inhabitant of Finland.

Examples

“My friend is a Finn who lives in Helsinki.”

“The marathon runner was a proud Finn who had trained in the snowy forests of Lapland.”

“While many people assume all Nordic citizens share similar customs, a Finn will often point out the unique linguistic and cultural heritage that distinguishes them from their Scandinavian neighbours.”

Examples

simple

“My friend is a Finn who lives in Helsinki.”

contextual

“The marathon runner was a proud Finn who had trained in the snowy forests of Lapland.”

complex

“While many people assume all Nordic citizens share similar customs, a Finn will often point out the unique linguistic and cultural heritage that distinguishes them from their Scandinavian neighbours.”

Usage

Always capitalized as it refers to a specific nationality.

Teaching tip

While 'Finlander' exists, 'Finn' is the standard and most common term used in English today.

Etymology

From Old English Finnas (“the Sami”) (plural), from Old Norse finnr (“a hunter-gatherer”), from Proto-Germanic *finnaz (which see for more). Possibly originally meaning a ‘finder’ of food, referring to nomadic hunter-gatherers, particularly the Sami.

An Old and Middle Irish form of Fionn.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Synonyms

Finlander

This entry

Level
B1 · Intermediate
Frequency
Frequent
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference