väike

Väike is an Estonian adjective meaning small, little, or minor. It is a common descriptive word used to express size, amount, or degree and can modify a noun directly (for example, väike maja) or appear in compound words such as väikeettevõte meaning a small business.

In Estonian, adjectives agree with the noun they modify in number and case. The base form is väike (singular nominative). Other forms include väikese in the genitive singular and väikeset in the partitive singular. In the plural, the nominative form is väikesed, and adjectives also take appropriate endings to match case in other numbers and forms. For example: väike koer (a small dog) and väikesed koerad (small dogs).

Väike is frequently used in everyday language and in common expressions to denote relatively small size or degree. It can also function as a prefix in compound nouns to convey a smaller version or a smaller-scale category, as in väikeettevõte (small business).

Etymologically, väike is a native Estonian word with cognates within the Finnic language family, though its forms and usage vary across languages. It remains one of the most frequently used adjectives in standard Estonian, appearing in literature, media, and everyday speech.

See also: Estonian language, Estonian grammar, Finnic languages.