määrittelemää

Määrittelemä is a Finnish term derived from the verb määritellä, meaning to define. It functions as a participial adjective used to describe nouns and is commonly found in formal, technical, or academic Finnish. The sense of määrittelemä is typically close to “defined” or “defining,” indicating that the noun it modifies is specified by a definition, criterion, or formal description.

In practice, määrittelemä is used to attach a defining quality or role to a noun, often in contexts such as mathematics, logic, philosophy, linguistics, and law. For example, määrittelemä käsite can be translated as “the concept defined (by the definition)” and määrittelemä ehto as “the defining/defining condition.” The form can appear in various positions within a sentence, just like other participial adjectives, and it agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case.

The word contrasts with the more general adjective määritelty, which also means “defined” but emphasizes the state resulting from definition rather than the act or process of defining. Määrittelemä, by contrast, often highlights the criteria, boundaries, or rules that establish the definition itself.

As a language note, määrittelemä is relatively common in written Finnish where precision matters, such as academic texts, technical articles, and formal discussions. It is part of a family of related terms built from määritelmä (definition) and määrite (definitional criterion), reflecting Finnish practice of using participial adjectives to convey nuance about specification and definition.

See also: määritelmä, määrite, määritelty, määritellä.