Hengitetty

Hengitetty is a Finnish word that functions as the past passive participle of the verb hengittää, meaning to breathe. As an adjective, it describes something that has been breathed or inhaled. In medical, environmental, and scientific language, hengitetty can refer to air or gas that has undergone respiration, for example “hengitetty ilma” meaning air that has been inhaled by someone. In poetry or figurative prose, it may be used to convey life, vitality, or breath that has passed through a being.

Etymology and grammar: Hengitetty is formed from the verb stem hengit- plus the participial suffix -etty, yielding a past passive participle. Finnish participles are commonly used attributively (before the noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb), and hengitetty follows the same pattern. The form changes for number and case to match the noun it modifies, for example hengitetty ilma (breath that has been breathed) versus hengitettyä ilmaa in the partitive.

Usage notes: The term is relatively specialized and is most likely to appear in technical contexts such as physiology, pulmonology, or environmental science. For everyday talk about air that can be safely breathed, Finnish speakers more often use adjectives like hengittävä or breathable that convey suitability rather than the sense of something that has already been breathed.

See also: Hengitys (breathing), Hengittäminen (breathing process), Ilmanvaihto (ventilation).