lepä

Lepää is a Finnish verb meaning to rest or to lie down. It is primarily found in literary, historical, and dialectal usage; in everyday standard Finnish, the more common verb for resting is levätä. Lepää is closely linked to the noun lepo (rest, repose) and appears in expressions that denote peaceful rest, as well as in poetry and on epitaphs, for example lepää rauhassa meaning rest in peace.

Etymology and usage history: The word belongs to the core Finnish lexicon and derives from lepo, sharing a common ancestry with related Finnic terms for rest. It is attested in older Finnish texts and survives today mainly in elevated or ceremonial language. In modern prose, lepää is rarer and often reserved for stylistic effect or quotation.

Grammatical notes: Lepää is classified as an -ä verb, and its present-tense forms follow regular patterns for this class. The third-person singular present is lepää, as in Hän lepää. Other common present forms include Me lepäämme (we rest) and He lepäävät (they rest). The form distribution reflects standard Finnish verb conjugation, with tense and mood conveyed through suffixes rather than separate words.

Usage context: In contemporary Finnish, lepää tends to appear in formal, poetic, or historic contexts. It is also widely recognized from the epitaph lepää rauhassa and from classical phrases in literature. For everyday meaning, speakers typically prefer levätä or lie down descriptions.

See also: lepo, levätä, rest in peace.