vihkimisenä

Vihkimisenä is the translative form of the Finnish noun vihkiminen. In Finnish grammar the translative case expresses a change of state or, more broadly, the role or capacity in which someone or something acts. Therefore vihkimisenä conveys the idea of acting “in the capacity of” or “as the officiant” in connection with a vihkiminen, such as an ordination or a wedding ceremony. The precise meaning depends on context and is most common in formal or ecclesiastical language.

Vihkiminen itself has two principal senses in Finnish. It can refer to ordination or consecration within a religious tradition, for example the ordination of clergy. It can also denote a wedding ceremony—the act by which two people are united in marriage. The translative vihkimisenä is used to describe a person’s role in such a ceremony, or the act performed in that capacity, in formal descriptions or legal-historical texts.

Usage notes: vihkimisenä is a specialized term and typically appears in official, legal, or historical Finnish rather than in everyday speech. When translating into English, vihkiminen is usually rendered as ordination/consecration (religious sense) or wedding ceremony (civil or liturgical sense), with vihkimisenä indicating “in the capacity of” or “as the officiant” in those contexts. See also vihkiminen.