kolleegide

Kolleegide is the genitive plural form of the Estonian noun kolleeg, meaning "of colleagues" or "the colleagues." It is a grammatical form rather than a standalone noun, used to express possession, association, or relation to a group of people who share a workplace or professional field. The base word kolleeg refers to a person who works with others in the same organization or field.

Etymology: Kolleeg originates from the German Kollege, which in turn traces back to the Latin collega meaning partner or associate. In Estonian, the genitive plural ending -ide is attached to the foreign-derived noun to indicate belonging or relation to multiple individuals.

Usage: Kolleegide is used in phrases that denote belonging to or relating to a group of colleagues. For example, "Meie kolleegide arv on 12" means "The number of our colleagues is 12," and "Kõigi kolleegide vahel on hea koostöö" means "Among all the colleagues there is good cooperation." The form illustrates how Estonian employs inflection to express relational meaning without creating separate possessive constructions.

See also: kolleeg, kolleegid, kollega.