musta

Musta is the Finnish word for the color black. It functions as both an adjective and, in some contexts, a noun referring to the color itself. In everyday language it is used to describe objects that appear black, as in musta auto (a black car) or musta koira (a black dog). The word can also appear in phrases that name a color option, such as in product descriptions or design discussions.

In Finnish, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case, but not in gender. The base form musta is used in the nominative singular, for example musta auto. In the plural nominative it becomes mustat autot. In the partitive singular, which is common with mass or uncountable nouns, the form is mustaa, as in haluan mustaa kahvia (I want black coffee). Adjectives also take various case endings for other grammatical cases, while preserving the general sense of color.

The word musta is a native Finnish color term and is widely used across contexts, from everyday speech to literature. It is often contrasted with tumma, a related word meaning dark or dim, which can describe shade without signaling a pure, full black. In contemporary usage, musta also appears in compounds and idioms, for example to describe a blacklist as musta lista in modern Finnish.