Määritelmänä

Määritelmä is a Finnish noun meaning definition. The word Määritelmänä is its essive form, used to express “as a definition” or “in the role of a definition.” In Finnish grammar, the essive case marks a temporary state or a role, and it is formed with the suffix -na or -nä. For words like määritelmä the form becomes määritelmänä, which shows the term’s function or status within a clause.

Usage and function

Määritelmänä is commonly used in formal or instructional writing, such as definitions, glossaries, textbooks, and academic prose. It introduces how a term or concept is understood or used in a given context. The structure often appears at the start of a sentence or clause that states a definition or a characterization: Määritelmänä termi tarkoittaa seuraavaa. The construction highlights the term’s role rather than proposing a transformation or change.

Distinctions

The essive form differs from the translative form -ksi, which conveys becoming into something. For example, määritelmäksi would mean “to become a definition” or “as a definition in the sense of becoming,” a nuance that is less common in definitional contexts. Määritelmänä, by contrast, stays in the sense of “as a definition” rather than indicating a process of becoming.

Etymology and related forms

Määritelmä comes from the verb määritellä (to define). The essive form attaches to the stem to indicate a current role or state, yielding määritelmänä. Related forms describe other grammatical functions, such as genitive or partitive forms of määritelmä, depending on the sentence structure.