Hoiduma

Hoiduma is a verb in the Estonian language whose core sense is to refrain from an action or to guard or preserve something. It is related to the non-reflexive verb hoidma, which means to keep, hold, or preserve. In common usage, hoiduma conveys self-restraint or avoidance, and can be used in contexts ranging from everyday decisions to social or legal warnings. Grammatically, hoiduma appears in constructions where the subject acts to prevent themselves from performing a particular action, often followed by a noun in the partitive or a verbal noun that denotes the act to be avoided.

In phrases and idioms, hoiduma is frequently encountered in warnings or advisories: to refrain from something, to stay away from a practice, or to keep one’s distance from a situation. The verb can be combined with adverbs and prepositional phrases to specify what is avoided, for example, avoidance of harm, risk, or forbidden behavior.

In translation, hoiduma is commonly rendered in English as to refrain from, to abstain from, to avoid, or to keep away from, depending on the context. It is used in both formal and informal registers, and appears in legal, health, and cultural texts as a mechanism for expressing self-regulation or precaution.

See also: Estonian verbs; language and grammar; protecting and safety terms.