Emä

Emä is a Finnish noun with several related meanings. In everyday language, emä most commonly means mother or female parent. It is widely used in informal speech, especially within families, and can carry a warm or rustic tone. For more neutral or formal references to one’s mother, the word äiti is often preferred.

In scientific contexts, emä denotes a base in acid–base chemistry. It refers to a substance that can neutralize acids, in contrast to happi, which means acid. This sense of emä appears in educational materials and laboratory terminology.

Etymology and cognates: Emä belongs to the Finnic branch of the Uralic language family. It has cognates in related languages, notably Estonian ema meaning mother, reflecting a common ancestral word. The Finnish noun is historically rooted in this family of languages and retains the core sense of a parental term in its primary usage.