kompiuterin

Kompiuterin is the genitive singular form of the Finnish loanword kompiuter, historically used to refer to a computer. In contemporary Finnish, the standard term for the machine is tietokone, whose genitive is tietokoneen. Therefore kompiuterin tends to appear mainly in older texts or in contexts where the English-derived form kompiuter is used instead of the native word.

The word kompiuter originates from the English computer, reflecting Finland’s early adoption of computing technology. Over time, the more widely accepted Finnish term tietokone gained dominance in everyday language, technical writing, and education. As a result, kompiuterin is now relatively uncommon in modern Finnish outside of historical references, retro computing discussions, or stylistic choices that preserve older terminology.

In usage, kompiuterin appears in phrases indicating possession or association, such as kompiuterin muisti (the computer’s memory) or kompiuterin käyttöjärjestelmä (the computer’s operating system). However, these ideas are more commonly expressed with tietokoneen instead, for example tietokoneen muisti or tietokoneen käyttöjärjestelmä. The distinction mainly matters in tone and register: kompiuterin signals a more historical or informal register, while tietokoneen is neutral and standard in modern Finnish.

See also: Tietokone, Finnish language terms for computing, History of computing in Finland.