Tehislikud

Tehislikud is Estonian an adjective meaning artificial or synthetic, and it is the plural nominative form of tehislik used to describe plural nouns. It is commonly employed to refer to things that are not of natural origin or that are created by humans, for example tehislikud materjalid (synthetic materials) or tehislikud olendid (artificial beings).

The word tehislik is formed from the base tehis- meaning artificial or man-made, combined with the adjectival suffix -lik. The corresponding noun tehislikkus denotes artificiality. In Estonian, adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in number and case, so tehislik describes singular nouns as tehislik and plural nouns as tehislikud, with the rest of the word ending changing by case as usual.

Tehislikud is widely used across fields such as science, technology and philosophy, where distinctions between natural and man-made phenomena are important. It commonly appears in discussions of materials, environments, systems and organisms that are created or significantly altered by human activity. In everyday language, tehislikud may describe things like artificial lighting, synthetic fabrics or other man-made features of modern life, as a contrast to looduslikud (natural) alternatives.

Related terms include tehislikkus (artificiality) and tehisintellekt (artificial intelligence). Synonyms or near-synonyms in Estonian include kunstlik. The concept is often contrasted with looduslik, meaning natural, to discuss authenticity, sustainability and the impact of human intervention.