läpinäkyvät

Läpinäkyvät is Finnish for the plural nominative form of the adjective läpinäkyvä, meaning transparent or see-through. It describes objects, materials, or concepts that allow light to pass through with minimal scattering, or that are open and easy to understand. In physics and material science, läpinäkyvät materials include glass, clear plastics, or liquids; in everyday language, anything physically transparent can be described as läpinäkyvä, for example läpinäkyvät lasit or muovit.

In figurative use, läpinäkyvä also denotes openness and clarity in information and governance. Phrases such as läpinäkyvät käytännöt (transparent practices), läpinäkyvä hallinto (transparent governance), and läpinäkyvä tiedonjakaminen (open information sharing) are common.

Grammatical note: läpinäkyvä is an adjective. Its plural nominative form is läpinäkyvät, used with plural nouns; the singular nominative is läpinäkyvä. The corresponding adverb is läpinäkyvästi. The related noun is läpinäkyvyys, meaning transparency or clarity of processes.

Etymology: from läpi meaning through and näkyvä meaning visible, literally “visible through,” hence see-through. Related terms include läpinäkyvyys (transparency) and läpinäkymä, though the latter is less common.