tilfella

Tilfella is a noun encountered in Scandinavian languages, especially Norwegian and Danish, where it denotes a case, instance, or occurrence. In everyday usage it refers to a particular event or situation under discussion. In English translations, it is commonly rendered as case or instance, depending on context.

Etymology and cognates: The word is related to Swedish tillfälle and Danish tilfælde, both meaning an occasion, event, or contingency. In Norwegian Bokmål, the standard indefinite singular is tilfelle, with tilfellet as the definite form and tilfeller as the plural. The form tilfella appears in some dialects or nonstandard spellings, but it is not regular in standard Norwegian.

Usage and scope: Tilfella, when used, generally aligns with the broad sense of "case" or "instance" in law, statistics, philosophy, and everyday discourse. It does not constitute a distinct legal term in most jurisdictions; instead, it is one of several words for a specific occurrence, and its precise meaning depends on the surrounding context.

See also and notes: Related terms include tillfälle (Swedish), tilfelle (Norwegian), tilfellet (Norwegian definite form), and tilfeller (Norwegian plural). Dictionaries and reference grammars typically list standard Norwegian and Danish forms, while tilfella is often described as dialectal or nonstandard usage.