viimeaikaisuus

Viimeaikaisuus is a Finnish noun that denotes the state or quality of being recent, i.e., close in time to the present moment. The term is formed from the adjective viimeaikainen, meaning “recent,” with the suffix -uus- that creates abstract nouns. In everyday Finnish, viimeaikaisuus is used to describe phenomena, information, or events that have occurred not long ago.

The concept appears across disciplines such as journalism, science, and historiography. In these contexts, viimeaikaisuus signals timeliness and relevance tied to a particular reference time. For example, viimeaikaiset tutkimukset (recent studies) or viimeaikaiset uutiset (recent news) refer to material produced within a recent period. In cognitive science and memory research, related ideas concern how recency affects processing and recall, often discussed in terms of the recency effect rather than a direct use of the noun itself.

Conceptually, viimeaikaisuus is contextual and relative; what counts as recent depends on the reference time and the domain. Because “now” advances, the boundary of what is considered recent shifts over time. Writers may specify the intended timeframe to avoid ambiguity, such as specifying a window like the past year or the last few months.

In cross-linguistic use, viimeaikaisuus corresponds to the English concept of recency or recentness. It is closely related to ideas of temporal proximity and relevance, while remaining a characteristic primarily used in Finnish-language discourse. See also: recency, temporal proximity, recency bias.