meeste

Meeste is the genitive plural form of the Estonian noun mees, meaning "man." It translates as "of men" or "men's" and is used to indicate possession or association in noun phrases, similar to how English uses an apostrophe-s or "of" phrases.

Grammatical notes: In Estonian, the noun meess declines as follows for the main cases: Nominative singular meis is “mees”; Genitive singular “mehe”; Partitive singular “meest.” For the plural, Nominative “mehed”; Genitive plural “meeste”; Partitive plural “mehi.” The form “meeste” is specifically the genitive plural and is commonly used after other words or numerals to express ownership or relation to men, for example in phrases like “meeste riided” (men’s clothes) or “meeste hulgas” (among men).

Usage and examples: Meeste hulgas on palju spordihuvilisi (Among men there are many sports enthusiasts). Meeste arv kasvab vanusega (The number of men is growing with age). These constructions show how the genitive plural functions with nouns in possessive or distributive phrases, as well as in postpositional expressions.

Etymology: Meeste derives from the Estonian word mees (man) with the genitive plural suffix -este, a common pattern for masculine nouns in Estonian to indicate belonging or relation to multiple individuals.

See also: Mees, mehed, meeste.