vieras

Vieras is a Finnish word with several related uses in everyday language. As a noun, vieras can mean a guest—someone invited to visit or stay—as well as a stranger, or a person not known to the speaker. As an adjective, it means foreign or unfamiliar and is used to describe things that originate outside the speaker’s country or community, such as a foreign language or a foreign country.

In common phrases, vieras appears in both literal and figurative senses. Examples include vieras maa for a foreign country and vieras kieli for a foreign language. The concept of hospitality is closely linked to the noun form, with the compound vieraanvaraisuus referring to hospitality toward guests and the social norm of treating visitors with courtesy.

Usage and nuance are largely determined by context. When the meaning is about social interaction, vieras typically refers to a person who is visiting or someone the speaker does not know well. When describing objects, cultures, or practices, the sense is more often the foreign or unfamiliar meaning. The word is well integrated into Finnish grammar and morphology, forming common compounds and adjectives that appear across formal and informal language.

Overall, vieras functions as a basic and versatile term in Finnish, capturing both the idea of a guest or stranger and the broader notion of foreignness in everyday speech.