Laitos

Laitos is a Finnish noun that denotes an establishment, facility, institution, or department. It can refer to a physical site built for a specific purpose, or to an organizational unit within a larger body. The meaning is determined by context. In industrial and infrastructural contexts, laitokset commonly refer to plants or facilities for production or processing, such as a teollisuuslaitos (industrial facility), a sähköntuotantolaitos (power generation facility), or a jäteveden puhdistamolaitos (wastewater treatment plant). In public administration and services, laitokset can denote internal divisions or offices within ministries, municipalities, or agencies. In education and research, universities and research institutions use laitokset to designate departments or institutes, for example chemistry-laitos or computer science-laitos.

The term has a broad semantic range, from a single building to a large complex or organizational unit. The exact scope is usually clarified by the surrounding words that describe its function or sector. The plural form is laitokset, and possessive forms follow standard Finnish grammar (for example laitoksen in the genitive). Laitos is a common term in Finnish official language and everyday speech when referring to specialized facilities or organizational units.