vaurio

Vaurio is a Finnish noun meaning damage or impairment. It denotes a degradation of normal condition or function in an object, structure, or living organism, usually resulting from an external event, wear, or deterioration. The term is common in everyday language as well as in technical fields such as engineering, medicine, and law. In practice, vaurio describes the damage itself rather than the act that caused it; for example, rakennusvauriot (building damage), autovaurio (car damage), or brain damage expressed as aivovaurio. It can also refer to impairment of function in systems or machines.

Severity is described with adjectives like lievä (minor) or vakava (serious). The verb vaurioitua means to become damaged, and related noun forms include expressions that refer to the harm caused by the damage. In insurance and industry contexts, vaurio is a standard term used in reporting and assessment of physical harm to property or equipment.

Compared with vahinko, which more broadly denotes harm, loss, or an adverse event, vaurio emphasizes the resulting degraded condition of the thing affected. Etymology is native to Finnish; the word is widely understood in Finnish-speaking contexts. See also: vahinko; vaurioituminen; injury; damage.