hammas (Finnish)
Where does "hammas" come from?
The Finnish word 'hammas' originated from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵómbʰos, meaning 'tooth,' which was derived from a word for biting. This root journeyed into Proto-Balto-Slavic as *źámbas before being borrowed into Proto-Finnic. Over time, it replaced the native Uralic term for teeth and evolved into the contemporary Finnish word used to describe everything from anatomical teeth to the jagged cogs on a gear.
Full etymology tree
- hammas (Finnish), 'tooth (hard, calcareous structure present in the mouth of many vertebrate animals)'
- inherited *hambas (Proto-Finnic), 'tooth'
- borrowed *źámbas (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'tooth'
- inherited *ǵómbʰos (Proto-Indo-European), 'tooth'
- derived *ǵembʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to bite'
- suffix *-os (Proto-Indo-European), 'Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs.'
- inherited *ǵómbʰos (Proto-Indo-European), 'tooth'
- borrowed *źámbas (Proto-Balto-Slavic), 'tooth'
- inherited *hambas (Proto-Finnic), 'tooth'
Ancestors
- *hambas (Proto-Finnic)
- *źámbas (Proto-Balto-Slavic)
- *ǵómbʰos (Proto-Indo-European)
Cognates and doublets
- kampa (Finnish)
- zobs (Latvian)
- žambas (Lithuanian)
- *zǫbъ (Proto-Slavic)
Descendants and derived words
- ajan hammas (Finnish)
- alahammas (Finnish)
- etuhammas (Finnish)
- hammasäänne (Finnish)
- hammasahven (Finnish)
- hammasaihe (Finnish)
- hammasajos (Finnish)
- hammasalveoli (Finnish)
- hammasemali (Finnish)
- hammaseroosio (Finnish)
- hammashaapa (Finnish)
- hammasharja (Finnish)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris