pilvedes

Pilvedes is the inessive plural form of the Estonian noun pilv, meaning cloud. It denotes being inside or among clouds and is used in meteorological descriptions, travel writing, and descriptive prose. The corresponding singular inessive is pilves ("in the cloud"), and the nominative plural is pilved ("clouds"). Pilvedes appears when the location phrase refers to more than one cloud or to cloud cover as a collective space.

In usage, pilvedes is common in weather reporting and scientific or descriptive texts that describe conditions aloft. It can also appear in poetry or fiction to convey atmosphere or height. The form marks a plural subject or object in the inessive case, aligning with other Estonian inessive plural constructions for location.

Examples:

- Päike paistab pilvedes. (The sun shines in the clouds.)

- Lennuk hõljub pilvedes. (The airplane glides in the clouds.)

- Ta oli pilvedes ja unistas tulevikust. (He/she was in the clouds, i.e., daydreaming.)

In figurative use, pilvedes often conveys distance, elevation, or daydreaming, similar to sayings in other languages about being "in the clouds." The term remains primarily a grammatical form but also appears in poetic and colloquial contexts to evoke atmosphere or imagination.

See also:

- pilv (cloud)

- inessive case in Estonian grammar

Pilvedes thus functions as a standard grammatical form with literal meteorological uses and occasional figurative meanings in Estonian.