painiketta

Painiketta is a Finnish noun meaning a button or control that is pressed to operate a device. The term is commonly used for physical push-buttons on machines, panels, remote controls, and other user interfaces, as well as for touch-sensitive controls that are pressed or tapped to initiate an action. It contrasts with näppäin, which more often refers to keys on a keyboard or keypad, whereas painike tends to denote a standalone button on a device or panel. The word stems from the verb painaa, “to press,” with the suffix -ke forming a noun that denotes the device itself.

In usage, painike appears in many compound forms such as virtapainike (power button), äänipainike (volume button), and hätäpainike (emergency stop button). The plural is painikkeet, and the partitive singular is painiketta, which is typically used when the button is the object of an action, for example in imperative phrases like Paina painiketta.

In technical contexts, painike is a standard label in user manuals, product specifications, and diagrams to describe a control element activated by pressing. The term covers both traditional mechanical buttons and modern touch-based controls that function as push-buttons in practice.

Overall, painike is a foundational term in Finnish for discussing user interfaces and device operation. It is widely understood across contexts from consumer electronics to industrial controls, and it forms part of many common compound names that describe specific controls on devices.