Õlidega

Õlidega is an Estonian expression meaning “with oils.” It is formed by attaching the comitative suffix -ga to the plural genitive stem of the noun õli (oil), yielding õlidega. The form is used to indicate that oils serve as a medium, ingredient, or means in a process.

The phrase appears in various domains where oil is involved, especially cooking, cosmetics, and painting. It functions as a prepositional or adjunct element that answers “with what?” and can modify verbs, nouns, or clauses. For example:

- Lõigatud köögivilju praaditi õlidega. (The vegetables were fried with oils.)

- Värvid segati õlidega. (The paints were mixed with oils.)

- Õlidega maalimine on traditsiooniline kunstitehnika. (Oil painting is a traditional artistic technique.)

When a specific oil is intended, Estonian typically uses compounds such as oliiviõliga (with olive oil) or linaseemneõliga. The general form õlidega thus allows broad reference to oils in general rather than a single type.

See also:

- õli, the word for oil

- oliiviõli, olive oil

- maalimine, painting (to situate the term within art contexts)

Notes:

- Õlidega is a productive construction in Estonian and appears across registers, from recipes to art criticism.

- It emphasizes the medium or accompaniment rather than naming a particular substance, unless a specific oil is stated in a compound form.