signaatti

Signaatti is a Finnish noun used primarily in technical contexts to denote a signal or indicator in a system. In everyday Finnish, the more common term is signaali, but signaatti appears in technical literature, standards, and academic discussion to refer to the observable waveform that carries information or the measurable output of a device. The word is most often encountered in fields such as telecommunications, control engineering, signal processing, and instrumentation.

Etymology and distinctions are not always fixed, and usage can vary by author or discipline. Signaatti is broadly connected to the concept of a sign or signal, with signaali serving as the everyday term for a signal, and signaatti sometimes adopted to emphasize the functional or measurable aspect of the signal within a system. In practice, many texts treat the two terms as overlapping or interchangeable in general discussion, while preferring signaatti for more formal or technical descriptions.

In application, signaatti commonly appears in descriptions of signal flow, where it denotes the actual waveform that is observed, recorded, or transmitted, as opposed to underlying data formats, protocols, or stimulation sources. It may also appear in documentation and standards to describe specifications related to amplitude, timing, modulation, and other characteristics of the signal.

See also: Signaali.