Finnland (Old Norse)
Where does "Finnland" come from?
The Old Norse proper noun 'Finnland' is a compound word built from 'finnar' meaning 'Sami, Finns' and 'land'[1]. The second element traces back through Proto-Germanic '*landą' to Proto-Indo-European '*lendʰ-' meaning 'land, heath'[2][4]. The first element derives from Proto-Germanic '*finnaz'[3], whose ultimate origins remain disputed[5].
Open questions
- The etymology of the Proto-Germanic form finnaz is disputed, with a possible connection to an unattested form meaning to travel by foot or walk. [3] [5]
Full etymology tree
- Finnland (Old Norse), 'Finland (a country in Northern Europe)'
- compound finnr (Old Norse), 'an exonym by Swedes and Norwegians for Sámi people across Arctic Scandinavia'
- inherited *finnnaz (Proto-Germanic)
- derived *finniz (Proto-Germanic)
- derived *fēnþniz (Proto-Germanic)
- derived *fanþijaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to travel by foot, walk'
- derived *fēnþniz (Proto-Germanic)
- derived *finniz (Proto-Germanic)
- inherited *finnnaz (Proto-Germanic)
- compound land (Old Norse), 'land'
- inherited *landą (Proto-Germanic), 'land, area of ground'
- inherited *lendʰ- (Proto-Indo-European), 'land, heath'
- inherited *landą (Proto-Germanic), 'land, area of ground'
- compound finnr (Old Norse), 'an exonym by Swedes and Norwegians for Sámi people across Arctic Scandinavia'
Ancestors
- finnr (Old Norse)
- land (Old Norse)
Descendants and derived words
- Finland (Danish)
- Finland (English)
- Finnland (Faroese)
- Finnland (German)
- Finland (Norwegian Nynorsk)
- Finland (Swedish)
Sources
- Finnland (Old Norse) - Wiktionary
- land (Old Norse) - Wiktionary
- finnr (Old Norse) - Wiktionary
- landą (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- finnaz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris