Seitsemän

Seitsemän is the Finnish word for the cardinal number seven. It is used in both spoken and written language to denote a quantity of seven units, and it appears in a variety of contexts ranging from everyday counting to formal mathematical expressions. The ordinal form of the word is “seitsemäs,” equivalent to “seventh” in English.

Etymologically, seitsemän derives from Proto-Finnic *seka-män, which is related to the Proto-Uralic root *se̮kʷe, meaning “seven.” Cognates can be found in other Finnic languages, such as Estonian “seitse,” and in more distant Uralic languages, reflecting a common ancestral term for this numeral.

In Finnish grammar, seitsemän functions as a numeral adjective and can be inflected for case, following the declension patterns of other cardinal numbers. For example, the partitive form is seitsemää, the genitive is seitsemän, and the illative is seitsemeen. The word can also serve as a noun in expressions like “seitsemän” meaning “the number seven” itself.

The numeral holds cultural significance in Finland. Traditional Finnish games such as “seitsemän korttia” (seven cards) and folk sayings often reference the number. In folklore, the number seven appears in myths and proverbs, symbolizing completeness or luck, similar to its role in many other cultures.

In mathematics, seitsemän is a prime number, the fourth smallest prime after two, three, and five. Its square, 49, is known as “neljäkymmentä­yhdeksän.” The binary representation of sieben is 111, and in Roman numerals it is VII. The number is also used in timekeeping (seven o’clock) and in the Finnish education system to denote the seventh grade (seitsemäs luokka).