imetä

Imetä is a Finnish verb meaning "to breastfeed" or "to suckle." It is used to describe the act by which a mammal feeds its young by nursing at the breast. The term applies in everyday, medical and scientific contexts and can refer to humans as well as other mammals.

In Finnish usage, the infinitive form is imetä; common finite forms include imetän (I breastfeed) in the present tense and imetin (I breastfed) in the past tense. The related noun imetys denotes breastfeeding or nursing and is used in discussions of infant care, health policy and lactation support.

References to imetä often appear in public health guidance and parenting literature, where breastfeeding is discussed in relation to nutrition, mother–infant bonding and recommendations from health organizations. The word also occurs in compound terms and phrases concerning practical and medical aspects, such as imetysapu (breastfeeding support) and imetyshäiriö (breastfeeding difficulty).

As a basic lexical item in Finnish, imetä is neutral in register and commonly understood across dialects and contexts. It is part of wider vocabulary related to childbirth, infant care and lactation, and figures in both informal conversations among caregivers and more formal materials produced by healthcare providers.