niittää

Niittää is a Finnish verb meaning to harvest by cutting standing crops, typically cereals such as wheat or barley, as well as grasses used for forage. The action of harvesting by cutting is referred to as niittäminen, and the harvest itself as niitto. The related noun niittäjä denotes a person who harvests, i.e., a harvester.

Usage and scope: Niittäminen covers both grain harvesting and haymaking. The timing depends on crop maturity and weather, usually late summer to early autumn in Finland. Traditionally, niittäminen was done with hand tools like a scythe or sickle; today it is primarily carried out with field machinery, including mowers and combine harvesters that cut, thresh, and separate grain in one pass. For hay production, grasses are cut and left to dry in the field before collection.

Notes and related terms: The noun form niitto refers to the harvest or mowing operation. Related terms include niittäjä (the harvester) and niittäminen (the act of harvesting). It is easy to confuse niittää with similar-looking words such as niitty (meadow), which is etymologically distinct.

See also: niitto, niittäjä, niittäminen.