Külmetunud

Külmetunud is an Estonian adjective formed from the verb külmetuma, meaning to catch a cold or to become cold. It denotes a state resulting from exposure to cold, typically either illness (having caught a common cold) or a feeling of being very cold. In everyday use it most often describes a person who is sick with a cold, for example: Ma olen külmetunud.

In grammar, külmetunud is a past participle that agrees with the noun it modifies and is used together with the auxiliary olla (to be). Examples: Ta on külmetunud (He/She is sick with a cold), Me oleme külmetunud (We have a cold). It can also describe a body part or person affected by cold, such as käed on külmetunud (the hands are cold) or olen külmetunud ja köidan (I am sick with a cold and coughing).

Distinguishing it from külmunud is important. Külmunud means frozen or solidly chilled, usually referring to objects or surfaces, as in külmunud maa (frozen ground). Külmetunud, by contrast, more often relates to a person’s condition or sense of cold and to illness rather than to physical freezing.

Etymology traces külmetunud to the verb külmetuma with the past participle suffix, signaling a resulting state of being cold or having caught a cold. The term is common in standard Estonian and widely used in everyday speech and writing.