fjölda

Fjölda is the genitive form of the Icelandic noun fjöldi, which denotes a large number, quantity, or crowd. Fjöldi is used to refer to counts of people or things and to the general notion of amount. The genitive fjölda is used in constructions meaning “of many” or “a large number of,” typically preceding another noun in the genitive: fjölda manna meaning “a large number of people,” or fjölda fyrirtækja meaning “a large number of companies.”

Etymology and form: The word fjöldi originates from Old Norse fjǫld, meaning “crowd” or “people.” The modern Icelandic genitive form is fjölda, produced through regular inflection of fjöldi.

Usage notes: In descriptive or statistical prose, fjölda emphasizes abundance rather than a precise count. It is common in written Icelandic to express scale, especially in demographic, economic, or survey contexts, where fjölda modifies a following noun in the genitive (as in fjölda manna, fjölda fyrirtækja).

See also: fjöldi; Icelandic grammar; Old Norse language.