Ülejääk

Ülejääk is an Estonian noun that denotes the amount that remains after a process or activity—a surplus, remainder, or residue. It is used in everyday language to describe leftovers and in technical contexts such as economics, accounting, production planning, agriculture, and science. The term is typically contrasted with deficit in discussions of shortages or undersupply.

Etymology and usage: The word is formed from the prefix üle- meaning over or excess and jääk meaning remainder or what remains. It has long-standing use in Estonian and appears in both formal and technical registers.

Contexts and examples: Common collocations include riigi ülejääk (state budget surplus), toote ülejääk (product surplus), and energiasüsteemi ülejääk (energy surplus). In agriculture or industry, readers may encounter varude ülejäägid referring to stock surpluses. In everyday speech, people may describe food or other items as ülejääk when they are leftovers.

Grammar: In the singular, nominative is ülejääk. The genitive is ülejäägi, and the partitive is ülejääki. The plural is ülejäägid. The word follows standard Estonian noun declension patterns.

See also: jääk, defitsiit, eelarve, bilanss.