koillista

Koillista is a Finnish inflected form derived from the adjective-noun koillinen, which means northeast. In Finnish grammar, koillista is the partitive singular form used when the associated noun is in the partitive case. It functions as a descriptor indicating a relation to the northeast rather than as a standalone lexical word.

The form appears mainly in descriptive phrases, particularly in meteorological and geographical contexts where the noun it modifies is in partitive. For example, koillista tuulta means a wind from the northeast, koillista suuntaa denotes a northeast direction, and koillista aluetta can refer to a northeastern portion of an area. In these uses, koillista together with the partitive noun conveys partial or unspecified quantity or extent related to the northeast.

Koillista is not typically used as an independent adverb or as a general directional marker. For directional movement or orientation, Finnish uses other forms such as koilliseen (into the northeast), koillisesti (northeasterly), or koillinen when referring to the northeast as a region or concept. Koillista thus remains mainly a grammatical form encountered in constructed phrases describing northeast-related attributes or phenomena.

See also: koillinen, koilliseen, koillisesti. Depending on context, other related expressions may include references to geographic directions or meteorological descriptions that employ the same root koill-, the Finnish element for northeast.