totaalne

Totaalne is an Estonian adjective meaning total, complete, or overall. It describes something that encompasses all parts or aspects, or that reaches the utmost degree of a property. The word is formed from the root totaal, a loanword corresponding to the international term total, with the standard Estonian adjectival suffix -ne. The origin is linked to European words for total, tracing back through linguistic history to Latin totus and related forms.

In grammar, totaalne behaves like other adjectives and agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case. For example, you can encounter phrases such as totaalne kontroll (singular) and inflected forms in other cases, such as totaalse kontrolli (genitive). The adverbial form is totaalselt, meaning completely. Common synonyms or near-synonyms include täielik and kogu, though totaalne often carries a stronger emphasis on wholeness or absoluteness.

Usage-wise, totaalne is typically employed in formal, analytical, or emphatic contexts to express absoluteness rather than mere extent. It can describe tangible things, such as totaalne kahju (total damage), or abstract states, such as totaalse kontrolli all (under total control). While it appears more in journalism, academic writing, and policy discourse, it also appears in literary or descriptive prose when a high degree of completeness is intended.

See also: täielik, kogu, tervik.