världens

Världens is the Swedish possessive form of the noun värld, meaning “the world” or “world.” It functions as a genitive marker that denotes possession or association when placed before another noun. The form is created by adding the suffix -s to the definite form of the noun, so the typical sequence is the definite noun followed by the noun it describes, as in världens befolkning (“the world’s population”) or världens största ö (“the world’s largest island”).

Etymology and relation to related terms: värld stems from Old Norse verǫld, meaning “world” or “age.” The word is cognate with Danish verden and Norwegian verden, and it shares roots with related Germanic terms for the concept of the world.

Usage and stylistic notes: In Swedish, the possessive -s is a clitic that attaches to the noun’s definite form. The phrase världens X indicates that X belongs to or is associated with the world. It is normally written in lowercase unless it begins a sentence or appears in a title. There is no separate plural possessive form; plurality is expressed by the noun following världens.

Common usages: In journalism, science, and culture, världens is frequently encountered in phrases describing global quantities, comparisons, or phenomena—e.g., världens befolkning (the world’s population), världens klimat (the world’s climate). The construction is neutral and widely accepted in standard Swedish prose.

See also: värld (world), världens (possessive form), nordic languages’ equivalents like värld, verden, verden.