Piirteiltään

Piirteiltään is a Finnish adverbial form derived from the noun piirre, meaning feature or characteristic. The word consists of the plural stem piirte-, the instructive case ending -ltA, and the third person singular possessive suffix -än. It literally means "by its features" or "in terms of characteristics."

The form functions adverbially to describe the inherent qualities or attributes of a subject. For example, in the phrase talo on piirteiltään jugendia, it indicates the house is Art Nouveau in its architectural features. Similarly, hän on luonteeltaan ja piirteiltään ystävällinen translates to "he is kind in nature and character."

Grammatically, piirteiltään belongs to a class of Finnish adverbials formed with the instructive case and possessive suffixes. The instructive case typically expresses means or instrument, while the possessive suffix adds a reflexive quality, indicating the features belong to the subject itself. The form is invariable and does not inflect further.

Common collocations include luonteeltaan ja piirteiltään (in nature and character) and rakenteeltaan ja piirteiltään (in structure and features). The word appears frequently in descriptive contexts across written Finnish, particularly in formal, academic, or technical texts where precise characterization is required.