yleispätevän

yleispätevän is the genitive singular form of the Finnish adjective yleispätevä, meaning universally applicable or general-purpose. The term is formed from yleis- (general) and pätevä (able, capable), and it is used to indicate broad applicability rather than context-specific suitability. In Finnish, attributive adjectives agree with the nouns they describe, so yleispätevän appears in phrases such as yleispätevän ratkaisutapauksen or yleispätevän periaatteen, depending on the noun involved.

Usage of yleispätevän is common in technical, scientific, and policy discussions where a concept, rule, or solution is intended to function across many situations. It emphasizes flexibility and wide relevance, contrasting with narrowly tailored or domain-specific alternatives. The nuance can carry a normative tone, suggesting that a given approach is suitable beyond its original scope, though it may not always capture every particular case.

Examples of usage include phrases like yleispätevän ratkaisun etsiminen (the search for a universally applicable solution), yleispätevän periaatteen noudattaminen (adherence to a general principle), or yleispätevän ohjeen soveltaminen (application of general guidelines). In practice, the term appears in discussions about standards, guidelines, and methodologies intended to be broadly useful rather than limited to a single domain.

See also: yleispätevä, yleiskäyttöinen, universaali.