Merkintöjä

Merkintöjä is Finnish for notes, annotations, markings, or entries. The word is the plural form of merkintä, which refers to a short remark, a written note, marginalia, or an entry in a list or ledger. The term covers both informal observations and formal annotations used to clarify, describe, or categorize content. In everyday language, merkintöjä can mean any remark added to information to provide context or classification.

Common contexts include editing and publishing (marginalia, footnotes, and reviewer comments), schooling and evaluation (teacher feedback on assignments), administration and accounting (ledger entries), and information technology or data management (metadata, tags, or labels attached to data). The phrase tehdä merkintöjä means to make notes, while antaa merkintä can refer to giving an indication or remark about a subject.

Merkintöjä can also denote visual marks on a surface (for example, scratches or labels) or entries in a register. In specialist disciplines such as mathematics or linguistics, merkintä is used to refer to notation or symbols, with notaatio being the corresponding loanword for precise terminology in technical contexts. The exact sense depends on context and field of use.

Related terms include merkintä (singular) and merkinnät (plural), and the broader concept of annotation or marginalia in editing. The term is widely understood in Finland and appears in dictionaries, educational material, and professional texts to describe notes, marks, or records appended to other information.