Estonian has been ranked as the world's 2nd most difficult language to learn - by whom, I can't remember. Whether it is actually true and, if so, particular to the language, or more a question of language group, I do not know (all other things being equal, an Asian will find French harder to learn than a Spaniard, for example). What I have found, tackling my first non-Indo-European language, is that its vocabulary, even basic, has no stickies (remembering the German "Milch" for "milk" is easier than the Estonian "Piim"; ditto French "crème" for "cream", than "koor"). Everything must be learned laboriously by rote, and I ain't a spring chicken no more.
As an exercise, I decided to find out what Tallinn street names mean. Here it is, but please take note: this is a work in progress and the present version is certainly packed to the gills with errors. Any comments and corrections welcome. Please send to simon :: at :: simonhamilton.com
Back to the language. Wikipedia describes Estonian as a "transitional form from an agglutinating language to an inflected language", an opinion most of us would find hard to argue with. For non-specialists, you tack on endings to give meaning to the word. In English, you may say "into the garden", "through the garden" or "I like the garden", garden remains the same; in Estonian... Well, look at the following table:
| Nominative | aed | garden |
| Genitive | aia | garden's, of the garden |
| Partitive | aeda | e.g. hoeing the garden |
| Illative | aiasse or aeda | into the garden |
| Inessive | aias | in the garden |
| Elative | aiast | from, out of the garden |
| Allative | aiale | to the garden |
| Adessive | aial | upon, on the garden |
| Ablative | aialt | from, off the garden |
| Translative | aiaks | for, as the garden |
| Essive | aiana | as the garden |
| Terminative | aiani | up to, until the garden |
| Abessive | aiata | without the garden |
| Comitative | aiaga | with the garden |
... and yes, there are a multitude of exceptions, long forms, short forms, and 14 more cases in the plural. Those who went through the agonies of Latin will remember its five dastardly declensions, or basic noun types (rosa, rosa, rosam... res, rei, rem...). Estonian has almost 600. It is also reputed to have eight dialects (Northern: Central, Eastern, Western and Island; Southern: Tartu, Mulgi, Võru and Seto), and no-one has yet finalised a standard spelling reform. Do you really want to know 126 ways of writing "aquarium"?
The list is in two parts:
Since once you've gathered that Kiriku tänav means "church street" it will add little to the depths of your knowledge to discover that Kiriku tee means "church road".
A typical street name will be of the "street of X" type, and so the word will be in the genitive case. Next to it, in brackets, I put the nominative form. Sometimes one genitive will correspond to two or more different words. If the reason for such a name is not very clear, I include the other versions too. And if the name is already in the nominative, I put an "0". For example, the compound word garden-path, Aiatee, is already nominative, if it were two words as it is in Aia it would have its corresponding case.
Aas: Meadow, pasture
Allee: Avenue, alley, parkway, lane, walk, path
Haljak: Green, grassplot
Jalg: Foot (of hill, mountain, but see, e.g. Mäealuse)
Järv: Lake
Kael: Lit. Neck: passageway
Käik: Passage, alley, gang
Lõik: Cut, passage
Maantee: Road, highroad, highway
Ots: End
Passaaž: Mall, arcade, gallery
Plats: Square
Puiestee: Avenue, boulevard
Põik: Short for põiktänav, minor road crossing another
Tee: Road, lane, track
Tiik: Pond
Torn: Tower
Trepp: Steps or staircase
Turg: Market
: Street, term originally used for a village lane
: Lit. Street without an exit: One-way street, cul-de-sac, dead end (street)
Vaateplats: Viewing-point, belvedere
Väljak: Place, square, also court (tennis), course (golf)
Värav: Gate, gateway
Puiestik: Grove, park, small wood
Geographically located somewhere in the middle of Scandiavians, Russians and South American Indians, the Estonians have their own particular notion of alphabetical order (see below). Bracketed letters are only used in foreign proper names or quoted words, and letters in grey are used to indicate pronunciation of foreign words. As to W, Villem Väravad's software does not even separate it from V, hence the muddle towards the end. Here it is...
To return to the alphabetical key, click on any headword.
1. Liin (1. Liin): 1st line.
2. Liin (2. Liin): 2nd line.
3. Liin (3. Liin): 3rd line.
4. Liin (4. Liin): 4th line.
5. Liin (5. Liin): 5th line.
Aasa (Aas): Meadow.
Aate (Aade): Idea.
Aaviku (Aaviku): Town in various Estonian maakonnad (≈ counties), including Tallinn's Harjumaa. Possibly with loss of initial H, meaning alder grove. Aaviku is also, incidentally, the genitive of Johannes Aavik (1880-1973), Estonian linguist and inventor of numerous reforms and neologisms.
Abaja (Abajas): Cove, creek, inlet, bight, pool or quagmire.
Abara (Abar): Three-part net for catching small fish.
Adamsoni A. (Amandus Heinrich Adamson, 1855-1929): Sculptor, studied under Carpeaux in Paris, creator of the Russalka monument, using his 17-year-old girlfriend as model.
Adra (Ader): Plough.
Aedlinn (0): Garden city, garden suburb.
Aedvere (Aedvere): Aed means garden, but the -vere suffix occurring in at least 89 place-names (as well as hidden/embedded in others) deserves an entry of its own (but won't get it). Estonian linguists have been discussing its meaning for about a hundred years and are still not certain. Various suggestions have been made for its derivation: Gothic: fera and OHG: fiara (region, area); Finnish: verho (covering), vero (verosta in place of), vuori, vaara (hill); Estonian: vare (ruin), veri (blood), pere (farm, family, household), -kõrve (forest), veer: veere (brink, border, edge, slope), *vēri (deciduous forest; note for non-linguists, the asterisk indicates a hypothetical form), *veere: *veerde (?),*veri: *veren (wood, woody hill). Not easy. An interesting angle comes from the taxation list compiled for Danish King Valdemar II in 1220-1241, Liber Census Daniae (LCD): the settlement name "Serueueræ", for example, looks very much like a Latinised name. Given the LCD was written in Latin and "probably based on the notes of Danish priests" (www.estonica.org), we have two weak links (Danish clerks hearing Estonian names and their re-transcription into possibly faulty dog Latin). Perhaps the "ueræ" suffix is the result of fortuitous convergence between (conceiving) a Latin suffix -ver < vergo, -ěre, meaning to be turned towards, to incline or lean, and veere meaning about the same, where the two weak links may have prevented hearing a less obvious "Estonian" genitive. Either way, Estonian linguist Valdek Pall concludes that "the spreading of the -vere-names was connected with slash-and-burn agriculture", and Marja Kallasmaa also proposes the hypothesis that both veer: veere and *veere: *veerde were slash-and-burn terms. To conclude, with no certainty, my personal suggestion is that, since swiddeners were unlikely to build homes on top of the swidden, but nearby, -vere may possibly have meant "by or beside a swidden". Ten years down the road, it will be interesting to see how embarassingly wrong I may be…
Aedvilja (Aedvili): Fruit and vegetables.
Aegna (Aegna): Island off the coast of Tallinn.
Ahingu (Ahing): Fishing-spear.
Ahju (Ahi): Stove or oven.
Ahtri (Ahter): Stern, poop.
Ahvena (Ahven): Perch, Perca fluviatilis.
Aia (Aed): Garden, fence, enclosure, run.
Aiandi (Aiand): Market garden.
Aianduse (Aiandus): Gardening, horticulture.
Aiaotsa (Aiaots): The end of the garden (Top/Tip of the fence?).
Aiatee (Aiatee): Garden path.
Aida (Ait): Outbuilding, storehouse, granary.
Aisa (Ais): Shaft (of draught vehicle), thill.
Akadeemia (Akadeemia): Academy.
Alajaama (Alajaam): Electrical substation.
Alasi (Alasi): Anvil.
Alemaa (Alemaa): Assart, grubbed land, forest-clearing, swidden.
Alevi (Alev): Small market-town, "borough", "second-degree urban settlement".
Algi (Alk): Auk, razorbill.
Alle A. (August Alle, 1890-1952): Son of a stone-mason, studied medicine and law. Poet, columnist and publicist. Editor of the Estonian literary journal Looming (Creation) from 1948.
Allika (Allikas): Spring, source, fountain, wellspring, fountainhead.
Alliksoo (Alliksoo): Proper name, literallly source of a bog.
Altmetsa (Altmets): Low-lying part of a wood, dell.
Alvari (Alvar): 1) Limestone region covered with thin soil and stunted vegetation; 2) Man's first name.
Amarülluse (Amarüllus): Amaryllis.
Amburi (Ambur): Archer, bowman, Sagittarius.
Andrekse (?): Possibly after Andreas, 15th-C master-builder supervising rebuilding of St Olaf's church.
Angerja (Angerjas): Eel.
Angerpisti (Angerpist): Dropwort.
Ankru (Ankur): Anchor.
Anni (And): Gift, present, talent, endowment.
Ao (Agu): Early dawn, daybreak.
Apteegi (Apteek): Chemist's, pharmacy, apothecary's.
Arbu (Arp): Lot, magic contrivance.
Armatuuri (Armatuur): Fixture, (light-)fitting, framework, mounting accessories.
Arnika (Arnika): Arnica.
Artelli (Artell): Artel, workers' guild.
Aru (Aru): Dry upland meadow or grassland. Also means reason, mind, intellect, understanding or wits, or Aru (Arro) manor house (gen/spec?).
Arukaskede (Arukask): Silver or lowland birches (pl.).
Aruküla (Aruküla): Hamlet in Harjumaa, with manor house and giant erratic boulder. Lit. Upland meadow village, shieling.
Asalea (Asalea): Azalea.
Asfaldi (Asfalt): Asphalt.
Assauwe torn (?):
Asso õu (?):
Astangu (Astang): Terrace, cliff, escarpment, bluff.
Astilbe (Astilbe): A variety of saxifrage, sometimes known as spirea.
Astla (Astel): Barbed spear, thorn, spine, sting.
Astri (Aster): Aster.
Asula (Asula): Dwelling, settlement, urban community, any populated place.
Asunduse (Asundus): Settlement, colony.
Auli (Aul): Long-tailed duck, Clangula hyemalis.
Auna (Aun): Shock or stack of sheaves or peat.
Auru (Aur): Steam, vapour - "Auru ära laskma": to let off steam.
Auto (Auto): Car, automobile, motorcar.
Begoonia (Begoonia): Begonia.
Bensiini (Bensiin): Petrol, gas, gasoline.
Betooni (Betoon): Concrete.
Bornhöhe E. (Eduard Bornhöhe, 1862-1923): Real name Eduard Brunberg, writer of bestselling historical adventure stories and translator of Robinson Crusoe into Estonian. His novel Viimne reliikvia (The Last Relic, 1969) was made into what is now a cult film or bane of Christmas viewing according to viewpoint.
Bremeni (Bremen): Bremen, former Hanseatic town in Germany.
Brookus (Brookus): Latinised name of 14th-C city father Wolmar Brockhusen.
Börsi (Börs): Exchange, stock exchange.
Dominiiklaste hoov (0): Dominican friars.
Dunkri (?): Possibly from Dunker, old Germanic name for someone who lived near a swamp, possibly….
Edela (Edel): South-west, south-western, south-westerly.
Edu (Edu): Success, progress, advancement.
Eerikneeme (Eerikneem): Eric's Cape (point, headland, foreland) on Aegna island, location of one of Estonia's occasional stone labyrinths built by Swedish settlers during the early medieval ages.
Eevardi (Eevard): Man's first name.
Eha (Eha): Red sunset sky or glow.
Ehitajate (Ehitaja): Builders, constructors, shipwrights (pl.).
Ehituse (Ehitus): Building, construction.
Ehte (Ehe): Adornment, ornament, piece of jewellery.
Elektri (Elekter): Electricity.
Elektroni (Elektron): Electron.
Endla (Endla): Name of a lake, bog, basin, region and nature reserve in central Estonia, home to the white-tailed eagle, golden eagle and osprey. The lake is home also to Juta, the Maid of Järve, a Muse-like fairy capable of evoking the past.
Enela (Enelas): Spirea, meadowsweet.
Energia (Energia): Energy.
Eppingi Torn (0): Epping, wealthy burgher of Tallinn, tower chief, date uncertain.
Erika (Erika): Woman's first name.
Esku (Esku): Village in central Estonia.
Estonia (Estonia): Known previously as Peters-Promenade (Peter's Promenade), Vene turu promenaad (Russian-Market Promenade), Promenaad (Promenade), Der Ring/Ringstraße (Ring Road, part of, along with Mere pst and others but don't ask which), Gogoli puiestee (Gogol Avenue), Karjavärava puiestee (Cattle gate avenue), Vabaduse puiestee (Freedom/Independence avenue), Viruvärava puiestee (Viru gate avenue).
Faehlmanni F.R. (Friedrich Robert Faehlmann, 1798-1850): Founder of the "Learned Estonian Society" and originator of the Kalevipoeg idea, converting a rather malevolent giant of Estonian folklore into a king.
Falgi (Falk):
Falgi park ():
Falgi õu ():
Filmi (Film): Film, cinema, movies.
Filtri (Filter): Filter.
Forelli (Forell): Trout.
Gerbera (Gerbera): Gerbera, ornamental plants of the sunflower family, fifth cut flower in the world.
Gildi (Gild): Guild.
Glehni N.v. (Count Nikolai von Glehn, 1841-1923): Founder of the then town, now Tallinn suburb, of Nõmme.
Gonsiori (Jakob Johann Gonsior): 19th-C Tallinn alderman and lawyer, orphanage founder and funder.
Graniidi (Graniit): Granite.
Grusbeke Tagune Torn (): "Behind Grusbeke's tower", Grusbeke being a wealthy burgher of Tallinn.
Gümnaasiumi (Gümnaasium): Secondary school, high school.
Haabersti (0): Manor house close to Tallinn, originally named Habers, or Habris/Habres, from the German Hafer, oats.
Haava (Haab): The harilik haab is Populus tremula, the aspen; other varieties include hõbe haab, Populus alba, the white poplar or abele; and hall haab, Populus canescens canescens, the grey poplar.
Haaviku (Haavik): Aspen grove.
Hagudi (Hagudi (Haggud)): Birthplace of Adam Johann Ritter von (knight of) Krusenstern, Baltic German admiral and explorer leading the first Russian circumnavigation around the globe in 1803-1806.
Haigru (Haigur): Heron, egret.
Haldja (Haldjas): Guardian, fairy, spirit, elf, pixie.
Haljas (0): Green, verdant, open.
Halla (Hall): Hoarfrost.
Halli (Hall): 1) Grey: "Ootasin nii et halliks läksin", I waited so long I went grey; 2) Grey horse; 3) Covered market.
Hallikivi (Hallikivi): Grey stone.
Hallivanamehe (Hallivanamees): Literally "grey old man". Two possibilities paraphrased from Kivi: 1) There used to be a very sharp curve here resulting in numerous accidents. Given the abstemious nature of Estonian drivers, any mishap had to be due to Ülemiste Vanake leaping into the middle of the road (but then again he was a liquid spirit); 2) The curve, then street, where a grey-bearded old codger used to live until his house was demolished. To which I add the possibility of a mutation from hallivatimees or hallivammusemees), meaning soldier (grey-coat), or wolf (grey-coated chap).
Halu (Halg): Billet, piece of firewood.
Hane (Hani): Goose (also figurative, simpleton, pigeon).
Hange (Hang): Snowdrift, bank of snow.
Hansu (Possibly Käsu Hans, ? - 1715/1734): One of the earlier poets in the Estonian vernacular, author of the lament Oh! ma waene Tardo liin (Oh Tartu! Poor City of Mine) in 1708.
Hao (Hagu): Stick, twig, small branch used for firewood, brushwood.
Haraka (Harakas): Magpie.
Hargi (Hark): Fork, pitchfork, prong.
Hariduse (Haridus): Education, training, schooling.
Harju (0): Of or corresponding to Harjumaa (county, inhabitants...) in northern Estonia. Possibly from the Finnish for ridge, harja ‘peak; crest of a mountain’, cf. Karelian, harja, harju ‘peak, crest (of a mountain); hillock, hill; sandy shoal’, and Olonets Karelian harju ‘heights; the top of a hill or crest of a furrow’, but cf. also Finnish harju ‘sandy bank or shoal’ and Karelian, harja, harju ‘sandy shoal’.
Harjumägi (0): Harju hill.
Harjuorg (0): Harju valley.
Harjuväräva (0): Harju gate.
Harksaba (Harksaba): Kite (bird). Lit. forktail.
Harku (0): Small town SW of Tallinn.
Harusambla (Harusammal?): Not traced. Possibly a misreading or misprint of karusambla, or maybe an unrecorded name for one of the broom mosses, Dicranum spp., whose stems fork (haru = branch, fork, prong).
Hauka (Haugas): Hawk (bird).
Havi (Haug): Pike (fish).
Heina (Hein): Hay.
Heinamaa (Heinamaa): Hayfield, grassland, meadow.
Heki (Hekk): 1) Hedge; 2) Fence; 3) Bullfinch or; 4) Stern (of boat).
Helbe (Helves): Flake.
Hellemanni ():
Helme (Helmes): Bead.
Helmiku (Helmik): Melick, grass of the fescue family.
Herilase (Herilane): Wasp.
Hermanni K.A. (Karl August Hermann, 1851-1909): Composer, linguist, journalist and important musical character during Estonia's period of awakening (1850-1918).
Herne (Hernes): Pea.
Hiidtamme (Hiidtamm): Giant oak (??? Poss corruption of hiietamm?).
Hiie (Hiis): Grove, sacred grove.
Hiiela (?): Place of the sacred grove.
Hiiu (Hiid): Of or from Hiiumaa. Hiiu is also the genitive of hiid, giant, but any references to "Giantland" are due to popular etymology (i.e. completely wrong); it is more reasonably suggested that the name comes from its sacred groves, see Hiie.
Hiiu-Maleva (Hiiu-Malev): Giant army, great host.
Hiiu-Suurtüki (Hiiu-Suurtükk): Giant cannon.
Hinke (0): Said to be named after a 14th-C stable-boy, Hindrik.
Hirve (Hirv): Deer, stag, hart.
Hobujaama (Hobu(se)(posti)jaam): Stage, posting-stage.
Hoburaua (Hobu(se)raud): Horseshoe.
Hobusepea (Hobusepea): Horse's head.
Hommiku (Hommik): Morning.
Hoo (Hoog): Momentum, impetus, swing, bout, attack, seizure, dash, verve... - "hiigla hooga", quite a nice way of saying "impetuously".
Hooldekodu (Hooldekodu): Nursing-home.
Hospidali (Hospidal): Hospital, infirmary.
Hospitali (Hospital): Hospital, infirmary (alternative spelling).
Humala (Humal): Hop, hop-plant.
Hundipea (Hundipea): Wolf's head.
Hunditubaka (Hunditubakas): Hawkweed, lit. Wolf's tobacco.
Hõbeda (Hõbe): Silver.
Hõbekuuse (Hõbekuusk): Silver spruce.
Hõberebase (Hõberebane): Silver fox.
Hõimu (Hõim): Kin, relative, tribe, clan.
Hälli (Häll): Cradle, cot.
Hämar (Hämar): Dusky, crepuscular, nebulous, vague, shadowy.
Hämariku (Hämarik): Dusk, nightfall, the personification of dusk.
Härgmäe (Härgmäe): Ergeme in northern Latvia, site of a battle where Ivan the Terrible's army decisively defeated the Livonian Order on 2nd August 1560, leading eventually to its dissolution.
Härjapea (Härjapea): Ox-head, name of river that used to flow through Tallinn from Ülemiste Lake, converted into sewage canal in 1937.
Härma M. (Miina Härma (Hermann), 1864-1941): Music teacher, organist, prolific composer (over 200 choral songs, 10 cavatinas, a canto, "Kalev and Linda" and more), choral and orchestral conductor. Received initial musical education from Hermann (no relation).
Härmatise (Härmatis): Frost, hoarfrost, rime.
Hüübi (Hüüp): Bittern.
Ida (Ida): East, eastern, easterly.
Idakaare (Idakaar): East, eastern point on the horizon.
Iirise (Iiris): Iris.
Ilmarise (Ilmarine): Mythological gentleman: god of fire, weather (ilm = weather) and smithing. However, this raises an interesting point. The genitive of ilm is ilma and this is associated more with earth, the world: ilmale tooma means to give birth, to bring into the world; ilmaelu means life, existence. Given the importance of the genitive in declining Estonian words, perhaps this tense was the original word or name. Apart from Tallinn and other conglomerations (Pelgulinn) ending in -linn, all towns in Estonia are named using the genitive, and this makes sense. The descriptor is of something, the word is not the object itself.
Ilo (0): 1) Name of literary magazine published in the 1920s; 2) Person's first name; 3) Alternative spelling of ilu, beauty.
Ilvese (Ilves): Lynx, wildcat.
Imanta (Imanta): Name of Estonian choral society founded in Riga, 1880.
Inseneri (Insener): Engineer.
Instituudi (Instituut): Institute.
Invaliidi (Invaliid): Invalid, cripple, disabled serviceman.
Iru (Iru): 1) Hill some 8 km east of modern-day Talllin; 2) Rocky pillar on Iru Hill itselt into which Linda, Kalevipoeg's mother, having been abducted and possibly raped by a Finnish sorcerer, was turned (a boulder, known variously as the Old Woman of Iru, or Iru’s Stepmother, was broken up and used in building a Russian military airfield during WWI); 3) Site of a pre-Bronze age (±3000 BP) Corded-ware settlement in the Tallinn area.
Irusilla (Irusild): Iru bridge.
Islandi (Island): Iceland.
Iva (Iva): Grain, corn, morsel - "Ma ei ole täna iva hamba alla saanud": I haven't had a bite to eat all day.
Jaagu (Jaak): Proper name: James.
Jaama (Jaam): Station, depot, terminus.
Jaaniku (Jaanik): St. John's Eve, Midsummer Eve bonfire and festivities (23rd June).
Jaanilille (Jaanilill): Bird's-eye primrose, Primula farinosa (alternative name for Pääsusilm.
Jahe (Jahe): Cool, chilly, parky.
Jahimehe (Jahimees): Hunter, huntsman, gunner.
Jahu (Jahu): Flour, meal.
Jakobi (0): Suggested as named (in 1882) after local house-owner/landlord and retired soldier Mart Jakob.
Jakobsoni C.R. (Carl Robert Jakobson, 1841-1882): Writer and teacher. One of the important persons in Estonian national awakening. Depicted on the 500-crown banknotes where, interestingly, his beard seems to improve with each printing.
Jalaka (Jalakas): Elm.
Jannseni J.V. (Johann Voldemar Jannsen, 1819–1890): Father of Lydia Koidula, publisher of first Estonian newspaper, Postimees (Postman), conductor and chairman of the Vanemuine male choir, and co-organiser (with Jakobson) of the first Estonian Song Festival in Tartu, June 18-20 1869.
Jasmiini (Jasmiin): Jasmine.
Joa (Juga): Waterfall, cascade.
Joone (Joon): Line, stripe.
Jugapuu (Jugapuu): Yew, yew tree. Lit. Waterfall tree.
Juhkentali (Juhkental): Corruption of Joachimsthal (Joachim's valley, Estonian Joaorg), a secondary manor house on the Joala estate.
Juhtme (Juhe): Lead, wire, conductor.
Jumika (Jumikas): Knapweed, centaury.
Juurdeveo (Juurdevedu): Conveyance, transport, supply.
Jõe (Jõgi): River.
Jõekalda (Jõekallas): Riverbank, riverside.
Jõeküla (Jõeküla): River village, riverside village.
Jõeoti (Jõeott): River bear.
Jõhvika (Jõhvikas): Cranberry, mossberry.
Järve (Järve): Lake.
Järvekalda (Järvekallas): Lakeside.
Järveotsa (Järveots): Lake's end.
Järvevana (): Old man of the lake, another nickname for Ülemiste Vanake, a mythological character living in lake Ülemiste.
Jääraku (Jäärak): Ravine.
Kaali (Kaal(ikas)): Swede, turnip, rape, rutabaga.
Kaare (Kaar): Arc, curve, bow, bend, swath, compass point.
Kaarla (Kaarel): Cloudberry, or bakeapple, Rubus chamaemorus, aka rabamurakas.
Kaarlepere (): Charles family farm, family, household.
Kaarli (Kaarel): Personal name: Charles.
Kaarna (Kaaren): Raven.
Kaasiku (Kaasik): 1) Birch wood, birch forest, birch grove; 2) Singer of old folk songs at weddings (archaic).
Kabli (Kabli): Hoe, mattock.
Kadaka (Kadakas): Juniper.
Kadri (Kadri): Kate, "Katie" - "Kadriks käima" (to go "Katieing"), when "kadrisants" dress up in light-coloured women's clothes (both men and women) and go from door to door asking gifts (of food, wool, etc.) in exchange for songs and good wishes on St Catherine's day, Nov. 24th. The cult of St Catherine (martyred on the famous wheel), supposedly of 4th-C Alexandria (no evidence she even existed), started in the 9th C and was banned by the Holy See in 1969.
Kadrioru (Kadriorg): Catherine's valley, after the lady who began life as Martha Skavronskaya, 1683/84(?)-1727, daughter of a Lithuanian peasant, adopted by Glück, the Lutheran pastor who translated the Bible into Latvian, was pressed into becoming laundress to the Russian army, became mistress first to Prince Menshikov then to Peter the Great whom she later married, becoming Catherine I, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias (no relation to Catherine the Great).
Kaera (Kaer): Oat.
Kaeravälja (Kaeraväli): Oatfield.
Kaevu (Kaev): Well - "Vanasse kaevu ei või sülitada enne kui veel uut valmis ei ole": don't spit in your old well until your new one's dug.
Kaevuri (Kaevur): Miner, digger.
Kagu (Kagu): South-east, south-eastern, south-easterly.
Kaheküla (Kaheküla): Double village.
Kahlu (Kahl): Tuft, bunch, truss.
Kahu (Kahk): Slight rustle, whisper.
Kahva (Kahv): 1) Landing-net, net for catching fish or crayfish; 2) Handle, haft; 3) Pale, pallid.
Kai (Kai): Quay, wharf.
Kailu (Kail): Ledum, march tea.
Kaisla (Kaisel): Bulrush.
Kaitse (Kaitse): Protection, defence.
Kaja (Kaja): Echo.
Kajaka (Kajakas): Gull, seagull, mew.
Kakumäe (Kakumäe): Loaf or bannock hill, owl hill.
Kaladi (Kaladi): Slat of wood used in net-making.
Kalamaja (Kalamaja): Fisherman's hut.
Kalamehe (Kalamees): Fisherman, angler.
Kalaranna (Kalarand): Fishing-beach.
Kalasadama (Kalasadam): Fish harbour, fish port.
Kalavälja (Kalaväli): Fishfield? Perhaps a place where fish were laid out to dry.
Kalda (Kallas): Shore, bank, riverside, etc.
Kalevala (Kalevala): Finnish epic compiled by Elias Lönnrot in the 19th century, sharing several features with (or lending to) Estonia's Kalevipoeg. The "Kalev" part of the name (lit. "fishing") seems clearly related to the proto Finno-Ugric *kala, fish (cf. Estonian & Finnish kala, Hungarian hal, Sami guöllé) and even Altaic (Tungusic: kul, salmon; Khalka Mongolian: xalim, whale). Clearly a very old word.
Kalevi (Kalev): Estonia's epic hero of uncertain identity, the same name being used to describe the man and his son. Kalev stories pre-date the separation of Finns and Estonians. Possibly also an early name of Tallinn: the Eastern Slavs knew it as Kolyvan, and 12th-C Arab cartographer Al Idrisi (أبو عبد الله محمد الإدريسي), descendent of Muhammed, included a town called Qlwny.
Kalevipoja (Kalevipoeg): Title and eponymous hero of Kreutzwald's (see Kreutzwaldi) mammoth poem, said by many to trigger the sense of (Romantic) nationalism in Estonia, by others vice versa.
Kalju (Kalju): Rock, boulder.
Kallaku (Kallak): Incline, slope, rake.
Kallaste (Kallas): Shores, banks, riversides, etc.
Kalmistu (Kalmistu): Cemetery, graveyard, burual ground, churchyard.
Kalmuse (Kalmus): Calamus, sweet flag, Acorus calamus.
Kaluri (Kalur): Fisherman.
Kammelja (Kammeljas): Not the "camellias" I was expecting: turbot, Scophthalmus maximus. Beware when buying flowers. (They're "kameelia" BTW.).
Kanali (Kanal): Canal, watercourse, duct.
Kanarbiku (Kanarbik): Heather, heath, brier.
Kandle (Kannel): Estonian zither, with strings of horsehair (usu. 4) or metal (usu. 7). Exquisite to listen to.
Kanepi (Kanep): Hemp.
Kangru (Kangur): 1) Weaver; 2) Heap of granite.
Kannikese (Kannikene): Violet, pansy.
Kannustiiva (Kannustiib): White letter hairstreak, Strymonidia w-album, or black hairstreak butterfly, Strymonidia pruni.
Kantsi (Kants): Citadel, stronghold, bulwark, tower.
Kanuti (Kanut): Canute, Knut, named after the St Canute's Guild.
Kanuti aed (Kanuti aed):
Kapi A. (Artur Kapp, 1878-1952): Composer and organ virtuoso, born in Suure-Jaani (Big John's), one-time director of the Astrakhan Music School and leader of the Estonian Academic Society of Music Artists.
Kappeli J. (Johannes Kappel, 1855-1907): Composer, studied at St-Petersburg Conservatory and remained in Russia.
Kari (Kari): Reef, rocky islet, shelf.
Karja (Kari): Cattle (also flock, pack, troop, crowd).
Karjamaa (Karjamaa): Pasture, grazing-land.
Karjavärava (Karjavärav): Cattle gate (in the sense of passage into a city, not the former Nordic sense of "way", "street" (cf. Swedish gata), such as Fisher gate or Carter gate in Nottingham, etc.).
Karnapi (): Area in the southern rim of Aegna island, bordering Karnepi kõrgendik, or Karnep Heights.
Karu (Karu): Bear.
Karukella (Karukell): Small pasqueflower.
Karusambla (Karusammal): Hair cap moss, Polytrichum spp..
Karuse (Karune): Hairy, shaggy.
Karusmarja (Karusmari): Gooseberry.
Karuvildiku (Karuvildik): Not quite sure here: felt boot made from bear fur? Possibly a regional variant of a moss.
Kase (Kask): Birch, birch-tree.
Kasemäe (Kasemägi): Birch hill, birch knoll.
Kaskede (Kask): Birches, birch-trees.
Kassi (Kass): Cat.
Kassikäpa (Kassikäpp): Catsfoot, cat's-ear, Antennaria spp..
Kassisaba (Kassisaba): Cat's tail, spiked speedwell (name, too, of a late-19th-C slum).
Kastani (Kastan): Chestnut.
Kaste (Kaste): Dew, sauce.
Kasteheina (Kastehein): Bent (type of grass).
Kastevarre (Kastevars): Hair grass.
Kastiku (Kastik): Small reed, vaulting-box.
Kasvu (Kasv): Growth, increase, height, stature.
Katariina (Katariina): Catherine.
Katleri ():
Katoliku (indeclinable): Catholic.
Katusepapi (Katusepapp): Roofing felt, tar paper.
Kauba (Kaup): Goods, wares, merchandise.
Kaubamaja (Kaubamaja): Department store.
Kauge (Kauge): Far, far off, distant, remote.
Kauka (Kaugas): Shirt pocket, pouch.
Kauna (Kaun): Pod, hull, legume.
Kaunis (Kaunis): Beautiful, lovely, pretty.
Kaupmehe (Kaupmees): Merchant, trader.
Kauri (Kaur): Loon (although there's at least one village in Estonia called Kauri after the man's name Kaur).
Keava (Keava): Hamlet in Raplamaa.
Kedriku (Kedrik): Bombyx, the silk-worm.
Keemia (Keemia): Chemistry.
Keeru (Keerd): Lay, turn, coil.
Keevise (Keevis): Weld.
Keldrimäe (Keldrimägi): Hill of the cellar, of the vault???.
Kelluka (Kellukas): Bellflower, harebell, bluebell.
Kelmiküla (Kelmiküla): Rogue's village, scampstown (a slum in the late 19th-C).
Kentmanni (Wilhelm Eugen Leonhard Kentmann, 1861-1938): Baltic-German theologian, OR Kentmann ???, author of Geograahwia kaardid koolilaste geograahwia-raamatu lisaks (Maps for a geography textbook, 1884). The street was also known for a short period (1939-1940) as K. Pätsi [after independent Estonia's first president] and, for a day or so in 1942, as H. Göringi.
Kerese P. (Paul Keres, 1916-1975): Estonian Chess-Master, for some, "the Paganini of chess", for Spassky the "Pope of chess", for others, a face on a 5-kroon note.
Kesk-Ameerika (Kesk-Ameerika): Central America.
Kesk-Kalamaja (Kesk-Kalamaja): Mid-fisherman's hut.
Keskküla (Keskküla): Mid-village, name of ruined manor house in Läänemaa county.
Kesklinn (0): Town centre.
Kesk-Luha (Kesk-Luha): Mid-waterside meadow.
Kesk-Sõjamäe (Kesk-Sõjamägi): Central military vantage point.
Kesktee (Kesktee): Middle road, happy medium.
Keskuse (Keskus): Centre.
Kessi (Kess): Net bag (bag for putting nets in), backpack, pouch, wallet or basket made from birch bark or bast.
Ketraja (Ketraja): Spinner.
Ketta (Ketas): Disk, discus, puck.
Kevade (Kevad): Spring (season).
Kibuvitsa (Kibuvits): Dog rose.
Kiek in de Kök (0): Look (or "peep", if you really want) in the kitchen, from Low Saxon "kijk in de keuken". The most likely explanation is that its uncommon height of 38 m set it so far above the neighbouring houses' chimneys that the guards could, theoretically, see straight down into the kitchens; alternatively the height let them see what the enemy was cooking, since their kitchens would be furthest from the front. Take yer pick.
Kihnu (Kihnu): Island about 10 km off the coast of Pärnu, western Estonia: pop.: ±560, 16.4 km².
Kiige (Kiik): Swing, now an Estonian sport, kiiking, where the participant must swing across the top bar. Having killed at least 3 children in the past 800 years, Europe has deemed Estonia's traditional swings unsafe, and therefore illegal. Cars, on the other hand….
Kiini (Kiin): 1) Gadfly, botfly; 2) Chopping-knife, billhook.
Kiire (Kiire): Quick, fast, swift, nimble, urgent….
Kiisa (Kiisk): Eurasian Ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus (fish).
Kiive (): Alternative or dialectal name for lapwing, or plover.
Kilbi (Kilp): Shield, badge.
Kilde (): ???.
Killustiku (Killustik): Rubble, breakstone, cheed, crushed aggregate, chippings.
Kilu (Kilu): Baltic sprat, brisling.
Kinga (King): Shoe.
Kirde (Kirre): North-east, north-easterly.
Kiriku (Kirik): Church.
Kirilase (Kirilane): Almost certainly a shortened form of kasekirilane the Kentish Glory moth, Endromis versicolora. If not, then poss. A neologism for a typesetter, writer, font-worker. Poss. another name for ladybird, lepatriinu, aka kirilind,. Poss. short for "kiriöölane", beautiful yellow underwing moth, or small dark yellow underwing moth. Poss. also "k" omitted from "kiriklane", churchman. Perhaps also from Farmer's name, derived from Russian Kiril?
Kirsi (Kirss): Cherry.
Kitsas (Kitsas): Narrow, close, tight.
Kitseaed (Kitseaed): Goat garden.
Kitseküla (Kitseküla): Goat's village, goatsville (a slum in the late 19th-C).
Kitzbergi A. (August Kitzberg, 1855-1927): Author and playwright.
Kiuru (Kiur): Pipit.
Kivi (Kivi): Stone, rock, boulder (one of the oldest words common to Finno-Ugric languages, cf.: kivi (Finnish, Karelian & Veps), кӱ Mari, кев (kev) Mordvin, kő - more apparent in the accusative case: kővet (Hungarian), and geađgi (Northern Sami).
Kiviaia (Kiviaed): Stone wall (around garden, house, field).
Kivila (): Place of stone; uncertain too: kiviküla, stone village, was a slightly pejorative way of saying town.
Kivimurru (Kivimurd): Quarry (lit. "of broken stone").
Kivimäe (Kivimägi): Stone mountain.
Kiviranna (Kivirand): Stone waterfront.
Kiviriku (Kivirik): Saxifrage.
Kivisilla (Kivisild): Stone bridge, once a suburb of Tallinn (now, roughly, the Tornimäe, Maakri, Tartu mnt, Rävala… area).
Klaasi (Klaas): Glass.
Klooga (0): Manor house in Keila, Harjumaa.
Kloostri (Klooster): Abbey, cloister, monastery, convent.
Kloostrimetsa (Kloostrimets): Abbey woods.
Klubi (Klubi): Club.
Kodu (Kodu): Home, hearth, dwelling.
Kohila (0): Manor house in Hager, Harjumaa.
Kohtu (Kohus): Law court, tribunal.
Kohtuotsa vaateplats (0): Viewing platform at the end of Kohtu street.
Koidiku (Koidik): Dawn, daybreak.
Koidu (Koit): Dawn, aurora.
Koidula L. (Lydia Koidula, 1843-1886): Lydia of the Dawn, sobriquet of Lydia Emilie Florentine Jannsen, Estonian kirjaneitsi (maiden of letters), poet and journalist. By tradition, every All-Estonian Song Festival since 1869 closes with her Mu Isamaa on Minu Arm (My Fatherland is My Love).
Kolde (Kolle): Hearth, fireplace, grate.
Koldrohu (Koldrohi): Common kidney vetch, lady's finger.
Kollane (Kollane): Yellow.
Komandandi (Komandant): Commandant.
Komandandi aed (Komandandi aed):
Komeedi (Komeet): Comet.
Kompassi (Kompass): Compass.
Koogu (Kook): Hook, bucket pole (for drawing water from wells).
Kooli (Kool): School.
Koorti J. (Jaan Koort , 1883-1935): Jugendstil sculptor, painter and ceramicist.
Kopli (Koppel): Enclosure, paddock, run.
Kopliranna (Koplirand): Kopli beach.
Koralli (Korall): Coral.
Korgi (Kork): Cork, plug, stopper.
Kose (Kosk): Waterfall, rapids.
Kosemetsa (Kosemets): Woods by the (or with) rapids.
Koskla (Koskel): Merganser.
Kotka (Kotkas): Eagle.
Kotkapoja (Kotkapoeg): Eaglet.
Kotlepi (): Possibly Johann Kotlep, retainer at the manor house where Kreutzwald’s parents worked and from whom he is reputed to have first heard Kalevipoeg stories (see Kreutzwaldi)???.
Kotzebue (Otto von Kotzebue, 1787-1846): Baltic German born in Tallinn, completed three circumnavigations of the globe in Russian service. The north Alaskan town of Kotzebue (known as Qikiqtagruk, or "place shaped like a long island", in Inupiaq) was named after him.
Kraavi (Kraav): Ditch, trench, fosse.
Kreegi (Kreek): Bullace, wild damson.
Kressi (Kress): Cress.
Kreutzwaldi F.R. (Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald, 1803-1882): Shoemaker's son, doctor and Estonian national poet, compiler of the Kalevipoeg, Estonia's epic poem about the Son of Kalev, giant hero of the past, and vehicle for the National Awakening after 600 years of serfdom. Once known as Romanov Prospect.
Kristeni ():
Kristiina (Kristiina): Proper name: Christina.
Kristiine (0): After Queen Christina of Sweden, 1626-1689.
Kruusa (Kruus): Gravel, shingle, ballast.
Kruusaranna (Kruusarand): Shingle beach.
Kuberneri aed (Kuberneri aed): Governor.
Kubu (Koo): Bundle, truss, faggot.
Kudu (Kudu): Spawn (konnakudu = frogspawn).
Kuhja (Kuhi): Heap, pile, stack.
Kuhlbarsi F. (Friedrich Kuhlbars, 1841-1924): Schoolteacher and author of lyrics to Eestimaa, mu isamaa (Estonia, my fatherland), the Estonian Scouts' anthem.
Kuiv (Kuiv): Dry - "Kuival olema": to be on the rocks.
Kuke (Kukk): Cock, rooster.
Kuldjalatorn (0): Golden leg/foot tower. Estonians do not distinguish feet from legs, or hands from arms, rather confusing at times.
Kuldnoka (Kuldnokk): Starling.
Kuldtiiva (Kuldtiib): Scarce Copper, Large Copper or Small Copper butterfly.
Kuljuse (Kuljus): Sleigh-bell.
Kullassepa (Kullassep): Goldsmith, jeweller.
Kullerkupu (Kullerkupp): Globeflower.
Kullese (Kulles): Tadpole or, believe it or not, bluish grey cow.
Kulli (Kull): Harrier (hawk).
Kumalase (Kumalane [also Kimalane]): Bumblebee [also Kimalane].
Kume (Kume): Hollow, dull, glimmering (go figure...).
Kummeli (Kummel): Camomile.
Kunderi J. (Juhan Kunder, 1852-1888): Writer known mainly for fairy tales, e.g. Eesti Muinasjutud (Estonian Fairytales).
Kungla (0): A sort of pseudomythological Estonian Arcady that found its way into 19th-C Estonian writers' minds and books.
Kuninga (Kuningas): King.
Kupra (Kupar): Boll, capsule (on plant).
Kura (Kura): Uncertain: Village on the coast of S Estonia (possibly related to Courland some 100 km south); bay about 48 km ENE of Tallinn, bay on N coast of Hiiumaa; the Lithuanian bay known locally as Left, or, of interest only to a very bizarre minority of people who need to get out more often, a river in Georgia whose name Kura is derived from Kurosh, the Persian pronunciation of Cyrus the Great. And maybe not….
Kure (Kurg): Crane (bird).
Kurekannuse (Kurekannus): Possibly crane's spur (a plant?)? Both Kurg and Annus are personal names.
Kuremarja (Kuremari): Cranberry, fenberry.
Kurepõllu (Kurepõld): Crane's field.
Kurereha (Kurereha): Geranium, crane's bill.
Kurikneeme (Kurikneem): Kurik's Cape (point, headland, foreland) on Aegna island.
Kuristiku (Kuristik): Gorge, gulch, gully, ravine, precipice.
Kurmu (Kurm): Corner, nook, out-of-the-way place.
Kurni (Kurn): Game involving 6 wooden pins to be knocked down by a cudgel, the pin itself. Russian game of Gorodki.
Kuru (Kuru): Gullet, pass, corner, nook, narrow passageway.
Kuslapuu (Kuslapuu): Honeysuckle, woodbine.
Kuuli (Kuul): Bullet, shot.
Kuunari (Kuunari): Schooner.
Kuuse (Kuusk): Spruce.
Kuusekese (Kuusekene): Little spruce.
Kuusenõmme (Kuusenõmme): Spruce marsh or moor.
Kuusiku (Kuusik): Spruce wood, spruce grove.
Kvartsi (Kvarts): Quartz, silex.
Kõdra (Kõder): Hull, pod.
Kõivu (Kõiv): Birch (dialectical).
Kõla (Kõla): 1) Sound, tone, ring, resonance; 2) Instrument used in belt-weaving.
Kõlviku (Kõlvik): Arable land.
Kõnnu (Kõnd): Wasteland, desert, desolate.
Kõrge (Kõrge): High, tall.
Kõrgepinge (Kõrgepinge): High tension, high voltage.
Kõrkja (Kõrkjas): Bulrush, clubrush, deer grass.
Kõrre (Kõrs): Stalk, straw.
Kõue (Kõu): Thunder.
Kõver (Kõver): Curved, bent, warped, devious - "Naerust kõveras olema": to double up laughing.
Käba (Käba): Piece of bark used as float on fishing-line or net.
Käbi (Käbi): Cone (e.g. pine- or other); strobila (larval stage of jellyfish). "Käbi ei kuku kännust kaugele": a chip off the old block. Note the abundance of k's, a letter occupying a special place in Estonian heart. There are, by my reckoning, some 5700 four-lettered words starting with K in Estonian. Try and remember ten….
Käbliku (Käblik): Wren (bird with the loveliest Latin name: Troglodytes troglodytes!).
Käia (Käi): Grindstone.
Kännu (Känd): Stump, stub.
Käo (Kägu): Cuckoo.
Käokannu (Käokannus): Toadflax.
Käokeele (Käokeel): Platanthera, butterfly orchid.
Käokinga (Käoking): Aconite, wolfsbane.
Käokäpa (Käokäpp): Cowslip.
Käolina (Käolina): Popular name for "Hair cap moss" see Karusammal above.
Kärberi K. (Kristjan Kärber): Builder, author of the illustrated 40-page classic Telliste kiirladumine ehitustel (speedy brick-stacking for the building trade), and worker-hero, nominated Honorary Citizen in 1972 for "recognising the special merits for Tallinn in the revolutionary movement in the struggle for the Soviet power, for gaining outstanding results in the economical and cultural work" (sic). Wow, all that.
Kärbi (Kärp): Ermine, Mustela erminea, aka stoat.
Kärestiku (Kärestik): Rapids.
Kärje (Kärg): Honeycomb.
Kärneri (Kärner): Gardener.
Käru (Käru): Barrow, pushcart.
Kätki (Kätki): Cradle.
Käänu (Kään): Turn, bend, crook.
Köie (Köis): Rope, cable.
Köismäe torn (0): Rope hill, named after a former suburb of the same name specialised in its manufacture.
Köleri J. (Johann Köler, 1826-1899): Painter, aka Ivan Petrovich Köler-Viliandi, worked mainly in St Petersburg. Noted for ‘Come to Me All Ye Who Labour’ (1879), a huge painting in the Tallinn Kaarli Kirik, attached to the wall by some 5000 nails.
Köömne (Köömen): Caraway, cumin.
Külaniidu (Külaniit): Village meadow.
Külavahe (Külavahe): Around the village, empty space in the village.
Külma (Külm): Cold, wintry, chilly, bleak.
Külmallika (Külmallikas): Cold spring, cold source.
Külvi (Külv): Sowing, freshly-sown field.
Künka (Küngas): Mount, small hill - "Künkakuningas", King of the castle.
Künkamaa (Künkamaa): Hilly country.
Künnapuu (Künnapuu): European white elm, fluttering elm.
Künni (Künd): Ploughing.
Küti (Kütt): Hunter, trapper.
Küüvitsa (Küüvits): Andromeda (poisonous plant).
Laagna (0): Small town close to Narva on the Russian border.
Laagri (Laager): Camp.
Laane (Laas): Primeval forest.
Laaniku (Laanik): Mountain fern moss (Hylocomium splendens).
Laboratooriumi (Laboratoorium): Laboratory.
Laeva (Laev): Ship, boat, vessel.
Laevastiku (Laevastik): Fleet, navy.
Lagedi (0): Manor house outside Tallinn first mentioned in 14th century, named derived from lage, open, clear.
Lageloo (Lagelood): Naked islet, bleak alvar.
Lagle (Lagle): Goose.
Lahe (Laht): Bay, bight, gulf, cove, inlet.
Lai (Lai): Broad, wide. In the middle ages, Lai was known as Platea (longa/sancti) monialium, loosely translated as "(holy) enclosed nuns' (long) high street".
Laiaküla (Laiaküla): Scattered village community.
Laikmaa A. (Ants Laikmaa, 1866–1942): Painter (known as Hans Laipman until 1935. Estonians have a history of chronic name-changing).
Laine (Laine): Wave, billow; woman's name.
Laki (Lakk): Lacquer, varnish; broad-brimmed hat.
Lambi (Lamp): Lamp, light, primitive lamp.
Landi (Lant): Trolling-spoon (spinning-bait for catching pike, etc.), lure, fly.
Landskronetorn (0): Crown of the land (mixture of German and Scandinavian). Poss. Derived from Landskrona, town in S Sweden.
Laose (Laos): Ruin, disintegration, decay.
Lasnamäe (0): One of the greyer neighbourhoods of Tallinn, essentially consisting of acres of workers' accommodation. Lit. "wooden shovel" or "baker's peel" hill.
Laste (Laps): Children.
Lastekodu (Lastekodu): Children's home, orphanage, foundling-hospital, baby farm.
Latika (Latikas): Common, carp or bronze bream, Abramis brama.
Laugu (Lauk): Coot.
Lauka (Laugas): Bog-pool.
Lauliku (Laulik): Poet, bard, singer, songbook.
Laulu (Laul): Song, singing, ditty, ballad.
Laulupeo (Laulupidu): Song festival (one of the great events in the Estonian calendar). Try and imagine over 100,000 people all singing the same songs, usually from memory, for hours on end. In comparison, a recent survey found that the average Brit knew 4.74 words of Auld Lang Syne.
Lauri (): Perhaps Märt Laur, Estonia bass soloist; Possibly short for Lauritspäev, St Lawrence's Day (3rd-C martyr, reputed to have been roasted on a griddle, but probably just decapitated with a plain old sword).
Lauripere (Lauripere): Laur farm, family, household.
Lauteri A. (Ants Lauter, 1894-1973): Actor, star of famous Estonian pic: Mehe ei nuta (Men don't cry).
Lavamaa (Lavamaa): Tableland, mesa.
Lee (Lee): Hearth.
Leediku (Leedik): Pyralid meal moth (numerous species).
Leedri (Leeder): Elder (tree).
Leegi (Leek): Flame, blaze.
Leesika (Leesikas): Bearberry.
Leete (Leede): Sands, sandbank, podzol.
Leevikese (Leevikene): Bullfinch.
Lehe (Leht): Leaf, sheet (of paper).
Lehiku (Lehik): Bastard toadflax.
Lehise (Lehine): Leafy.
Lehiste (Lehis): Larches.
Lehola (0): Stronghold of Lembit close to present-day town of Suure-Jaani.
Lehtmäe (Lehtmägi): Leaf hill.
Lehtpuu (Lehtpuu): Deciduous tree.
Leigeri (Leiger): Folk hero of Hiiumaa island and brother of Suur Tõll (Big Tõll). Said to have attempted to build a bridge to Saaremaa to allow his brother to come and partake of his famous sauna and cabbages. Idea vetoed by a local golem with an interest in ferries.
Leina (Lein): Mourning, grief, weeping.
Lembitu (Lembit): Lembit of Lehola: Estonian leader in fight against German Brethren of the Sword, died 1217. Poem written by Kreutzwald (see Kreutzwaldi).
Lemle (Lemmel): Duckweed (gibbous or otherwise).
Lemmiku (Lemmik): Favourite, darling.
Lennujaama (Lennujaam): Airport.
Lennuki (Lennuk): 1) Aircraft; 2) Name of Kavevipoeg's ship, later given to one of two Russian destroyers hijacked by British and offered to Estonia during WWI.
Lepa (Lepp): Alder (also fish or seal blood; or, in the Saare (island) dialect, a reddish colour); lepa is thought to be a primitive word designating red (today punane), as seen, e.g., in lepatriinu, lepalind, the redstart; and a red pigment, lilacinone, has also been extracted from the pale through vibrant pink- to lilac-coloured toadstool lepariisikas, Lactarius lilacinus; recent research suggests it may also be a very early loan-word from Indo-European meaning "paint" (neighbouring Lithuanian is said to be (one of) the most primitive Indo-European languages).
Lepatriinu (Lepatriinu): Ladybird (ladybug), see Lepa.
Lepiku (Lepik): Alder grove.
Lesta (Lest): Flounder.
Liblika (Liblikas): Butterfly.
Liikuri (Liikur): Vehicle.
Liilia (Liilia): Lily, asphodel.
Liimi (Liim): Glue, gum.
Liiva (Liiv): Sand, gravel - "Liiva Hannus", John o'Sand: death.
Liivalaia (Liivalai): 1) Sandy avenue, sandy channel; 2) Sandy expanse.
Liivaluite (Liivaluide): Sand dune, sand drift.
Liivametsa (Liivamets): Sandy wood.
Liivamäe (Liivamägi): Sandy hill, mountain.
Liivaoja (Liivaoja): Sandy brook.
Liivaranna (Liivarand): Sandy beach, sandy shore.
Liiviku (Liivik): Sandy region.
Lille (Lill): Flower.
Lilleherne (Lill(e)herne): Sweet pea.
Lilleküla (Lilleküla): Flower village.
Lillepi park ():
Lillevälja (Lilleväli): Field of flowers.
Lina (Lina): Flax, sheet.
Linda (0): Linda, wife of Kalev; hence mother of Kalevipoeg; also daughter of Taara.
Lindakivi (Lindakivi): Boulder in Lake Ülemiste. One of the stones Kalev's mother was carrying to his grave that fell out of her apron-pocket. She sat on it and wept, creating the lake.
Lindamägi (Lindamägi): Linda's mountain or hill. Linda was wife of Kalev, mother of the epic hero Kalevipoeg (see Kreutzwaldi).
Linnamäe (Linnamägi): Hill with a stronghold.
Linnu (Lind): Bird, fowl, poultry - "linnu viisil elama": to live from hand to mouth; lit. to live in the way of a bird.
Lobjaka (Lobjakas): Slush, slosh.
Lodjapuu (Lodjapuu): Guelder rose, snowball tree.
Lodumetsa (Lodumets): Wet peatland forest, swamp forest.
Loewenschede ():
Logi (Logi): Log (e.g. ship's).
Lohu (Lohk): Pit, depression.
Loigu (Loik): Puddle.
Loite (Loide): Fire, blaze.
Loitsu (Loits): Spell, charm, incantation.
Loo (Lood): Rocky islet, alvar.
Loode (Loe): North-west, northwesterly (also high tide, neap tide).
Looga (Look): Horse-bow, arch, crook.
Looklev (Looklev): Winding, serpentine.
Loometsa (Loomets): Possibly forest swathe, or wood on limestone with stunted trees.
Loomuse (Loomus): Nature, character, being.
Loopealse (Loopealne): On top of the rocky islet.
Lootsi (Loots): Pilot.
Lootuse (Lootus): Hope, expectation.
Lossi (Loss): Castle.
Lossihoov (0): Castle courtyard.
Lubja (Lubi): Lime, quicklime.
Lucca (0): Town in Tuscany, Italy.
Luha (Luht): Waterside meadow, bottom-land meadow, sedgy meadow, marsh, wetland.
Luige (Luik): Swan.
Luise (0): 1) Woman's name: Louisa; 2) Short for luiskamine, a) whetting, b) fibbing, soft-soaping?.
Luisu (Luisk): Whetstone for scythes.
Luite (Luide): Dune, sand-drift.
Lume (Lumi): Snow.
Lumikellukese (Lumikelluke(ne)): Snowdrop.
Lumiku (Lumik): White admiral (butterfly).
Lummu (Lumm): Charm, spell, bewitchment, glamour.
Luste (Luste): Brome grass.
Lõhe (Lõhe): Salmon.
Lõhmuse (Lõhmus): Linden, lime tree.
Lõikuse (Lõikus): Harvest, reaping.
Lõime (Lõim): Warp (of fabric); annual ring (of tree).
Lõimise (Lõimis): Grading-curve, granulometric composition (if you really want a cool address to bring potential seduction partners to, this is the one: "Come back to my place for a drink, I live at 14b Granulometric Composition Rd...").
Lõkke (Lõke): Blaze, fire, bonfire, campfire.
Lõo (Lõo): Yellow corydalis, hollowwort, which, for those curious enough, is called "flee yn thoo" in Manx...
Lõokese (Lõokene): or Lõokannus, and probably others: Lõo.
Lõosilma (Lõosilm): Forget-me-not.
Lõuka (Lõugas): 1) Inglenook; 2) Little bay or creek.
Lõuna (Lõuna): South, southern, southerly (also: lunch, noon).
Lõõtsa (Lõõts): Bellows.
Läike (Läige): Shine, gleam, polish.
Lätte (Läte): Source, spring, fountain.
Lääne (Lääs): West, western, westerly.
Läänekaare (Läänekaar): West, western point on the horizon.
Läänemere (Läänemeri): The Baltic Sea.
Läänemuul (0): Western mole, jetty.
Lühike (Lühike(ne)): Short.
Lükati (Lükati): Slide, slide-rule.
Lüli (Lüli): Link, vertebra, segment.
Maakri (Carl Ludvig Macker (Mecker)): 18th-C dean of the weavers' guild.
Maarjaheina (Maarjahein): Sweet vernal grass.
Maarjamäe (Maarjamägi): Mary's mount.
Maasika (Maasikas): Strawberry.
Madala (Madal): Shoal, shallow.
Madara (Madar): Bedstraw, goosegrass.
Magasini (Magasin): Storehouse, warehouse.
Magdaleena (Magdaleena): Magdalene.
Mahla (Mahl): Juice, sap.
Mahtra (Mahtra): Fight, quarrel, brawl.
Mai (Mai): May (month).
Maikellukese (Maikellukene): Lily of the valley (lit. Little May bell).
Mailase (Mailane): Speedwell, veronica.
Maimu (Maim): Baby fish, stickleback, baby anything.
Maisi (Mais): Maize, Indian corn.
Majaka (Majakas): Lighthouse, beacon.
Maleva (Malev): Archaic term for army; Military unit of the Kaitseliit, or defence alliance, originally an underground movement created during the German occupation of WWI.
Malmi (Malm): Malm.
Maneeži (Maneež): Manège, riding-ground.
Marana (Maran): Cinquefoil.
Marati (Marat): Jean-Paul Marat, 1743-1793, French revolutionary, and clothing factory named after him by Sovietised workers.
Mardi (Mart): Martin, relating to St Martin's day, Martinmas.
Mardipere (): Possibly, gang of children who dress up in masks and costumes on St Martin's Day (11th Nov) and go from house to house in a sort of Trick or Treat, cf Kadri; possibly Martin's home(stead).
Mardi-pere ():
Margareeta (Margareet???): Margaret (named after the "fat" tower nearby).
Marja (Mari): 1) Berry; 2) Roe (of fish).
Marjamaa (Marjamaa): Berry patch (in a wood), lit. Berryland.
Marsi (Marss): 1) Mars (the planet); 2) March; 3) Maintop. NB: Mars, the Roman god, would be Mars in the nominative.
Marta (Marta): Martha, woman's name.
Martsa (Martsa): Village in Ida-Virumaa.
Masina (Masin): Machine, engine.
Masti (Mast): Mast.
Matka (Matk): Journey, tour, voyage.
Mayeri ():
Mehaanika (Mehaanika): Mechanics.
Meika (Meigas): Common Wood-Pigeon.
Meistri (Meister): Master, foreman, champion - "Iga asja peale meister": Jack-of-all-trades.
Meleka (Melekas): Alternative name for õõnetuvi, stock dove or pigeon. Other names include: hall utt, hutt, huut-ütt, hütt, kuugitaja, kuutaja, kähklane, kühklane, küüklane, laanetuvi, lõigas, meelekas, meelikas, mehik(as), mehike, mehka, mehuk(as), mehuke, meigas, melgas, mellekene, meltsas, meokas, meoke, meos, metstui, metstuvi, metsutt, meukas, meuke, miegas, moigas, mõegas, mõigas, mõlsas, mõo, mõukas, mõõgas, mälakas, mältsas, mölsas, möltsas, puuk, põldpüü, põllutuvi, sootaja, tootaja, tuutaja, tütt, udutaja, uhkur, utikana, utt, utu, utukana, utukukk, utulind, utumargus, uudut, uuhütt, uurlup.
Mere (Meri): Sea, ocean.
Meremehe (Meremees): Seaman, sailor, seafarer.
Meriaia haljak (0): Nautical garden, seaside gardens….
Merihärja (Merihärg): Sculpin (fish).
Merimetsa (Merimets): Woods beside the sea.
Merirahu (Merirahu): Peace of the sea.
Merivälja (Meriväli): Open land by the sea.
Mesika (Mesikas): Melilot.
Mesila (Mesila): Apiary (lit. place of honey).
Metalli (Metall): Metal.
Metsa (Mets): Wood, forest; "Mine metsa!": Lit. Go into the woods: Go to hell! Get lost!.
Metsakasti (Metsakast): Forest (wooden, bark?) box, crate, hutch.
Metsakooli (Metsakool): 1) Forestry school; 2) Open-air school for unhealthy children.
Metsanurga M. (Mait Metsanurk, 1879-1957): Pseudonym of Eduard Hubel, writer. Born in Metsnuka (corner of the woods), Tartumaa.
Metsavahi (Metsavaht): Game warden, ranger.
Metsaveere (Metsaveere): Logging slide.
Metsise (Metsis): Western Capercaillie.
Metsniku (Metsnik): Forester, woodman, gamekeeper.
Miiduranna (0): Village in Harjumaa.
Mineraali (Mineraal): Mineral.
Mirta ():
Mooni (Moon): Poppy.
Moora (Moor): Moor.
Moskva (Moskva): Moscow.
Mugula (Mugul): Bulb, tuber.
Muhu (Muhu): Island between Estonia and Saaremaa. Also bump, swelling and bubonic boil???, but one hopes the municipal naming authorities do not have quite so much imagination.
Mulla (Muld): Earth, soil.
Munga (Munk): Monk, friar.
Munkade Tagune Torn (0): Tower behind the monks.
Muraka (Murakas): Blackberry, bramble.
Mureli (Murel): Morello cherry.
Muru (Muru): Grass, turf.
Musimägi (0): Kiss Hill, or Snoggers' Mountain, informal name of Virumägi (cf. Musumägi).
Mustakivi (Mustakivi): Black stone.
Mustamäe (Mustamäe (Must mägi)): Black hill, black mountain. Although use of the word "mountain" is questionable. Most capital cities have buildings taller than Estonia's highest mountains. .
Mustika (Mustikas): Bilberry, whortleberry, blaeberry, blueberry.
Mustjuure (Mustjuur): Viper's grass.
Mustjõe (Mustjõgi): Black river.
Musumägi (0): Kiss Hill, or Snoggers' Mountain, informal name of Virumägi (cf. Musimägi).
Muti (Mutt): Mole (not the facial sort); old crone; type of dragnet; game of cards; holes for cord along edge of a sail, although which one they're referring to I have no idea.
Muuga (Muuk): 1) Tongue-tied, clumsy; 2) Harbour town a few miles east of Tallinn (to which they probably are referring).
Muuluka (Muulukas): Green pine strawberry.
Mõigu (Mõik): Utricle (presumably the plant, not a "small bladder" or chamber of the inner ear…).
Mõisa (Mõis): Country estate, manor.
Mõisapõllu (Mõisapõld): Fields of a manorial estate.
Mõrra (Mõrd): Weel, fish snare, fish trap.
Mõtuse (Mõtus): Alternative name for metsis: Western Capercaillie.
Mõõna (Mõõn): Ebb, ebb tide.
Mäe (Mägi): Mountain, hill, mound, molehill… Since the highest point in Estonia is Suur Munamägi (big egg hill), culminating at the giddy height of 317 m above sea level (318 at low tide), any toponym involving mägi or mäe can, at most, only refer to a hill. However, our natural generosity will allow the occasional mountain.
Mäealuse (Mäealus): Foot of the mountain, bottom of the hill.
Mäekalda (Mäekallas): Upper slope, upper bankside, one of the most beautiful streets in Tallinn.
Mäekõrtsi (Mäekõrts): Hill tavern.
Mäeküla (0): Village and lake in Viljandimaa, and village in almost every other county too.
Mäepealse (Mäepealne): On top of the mountain.
Mägra (Mäger): Badger.
Mähe (): Apparently derived from the name of a farm belonging to the Estonian equivalent of a yeoman, or small-freeholding farmer of status below that of gentleman, originally recorded as Meheperre, the latter part of the compound possibly an early spelling of pere, farm, family, household.
Mähe aedlinn ():
Mähe-Kaasiku (Mähe???-Kaasik): Mähe birch grove.
Mändmetsa J. (0): Jakob Mändmets, 1871-1930, writer.
Mängu (Mäng): Play, game, hand, toy.
Männi (Mänd): Pine.
Männiku (Männik): Pine wood, pine grove.
Männiliiva (Männiliiv): Pine sand. What is that and why would anyone use it to name a street?.
Männimetsa (Männimets): Pine forest.
Männimäe (Männimägi): Pine knoll.
Männipark (0): Pine park.
Möldre (0): Small town in Valgamaa and Võrumaa; possibly Hugo-Johannes Möldre, 1896-1983, soldier and politician; possibly Vassili Mölder-Proletaarlane, 1878-1943, poet and revolutionary with 8 years inside for agitprop.
Mündi (Münd): 1) Small coin; 2) Mint (plant); 3) Timbre (musical). Probably all three.
Müta (Mütt): Wooden stirring stick; long pole with hoof-shaped end used to scare fish (presumably equiphobic) into a net.
Müürivahe (Müürivahe): Space behind the city wall.
Naadi (Naat): Goutweed, ground elder.
Naaritsa (Naarits): Mink.
Nabra (Naber): Shock of corn, stook.
Naeri (Naeris): Turnip.
Nafta (Nafta): Mineral oil, petroleum, naphtha.
Narva (0): Town on Russian border. Known as A. Hitleri under German occupation from 1941-1944, a detail which later Soviet censors omitted to recall in their records….
Nata (Natt): Crawfish net.
Neeme (Neem): Cape, headland, foreland.
Neemiku (Neemik): Small cape.
Neitsi Torn (0): Virgin's tower, used to incarcerate prostitutes during the Middle Ages.
Neiuvaiba (Neiuvaip): Epipactis, helleborine (lit. maiden's covering, carpet or tapestry).
Nelgi (Nelk): Pink, dianthus, carnation.
Nepi (Nepp): Snipe; but also NEP, unlikely though.
Nigli (Nigli): Lesser or small sand eel, Ammodytes tobianus, better known as väike tobias.
Niguliste (0): Nicolas, presumed dead around 350 CE, relics nicked by Italian merchants in 1087; patron of sailors, children, unwed girls, apothecaries, merchants, pawnbrokers and perfumiers, and patron saint of Russia. Saint's day: Dec. 6, evolution into Santa Claus began during Middle Ages.
Niidi (Niit): Thread, filament.
Niidu (Niit): Meadow, hayfield.
Niine (Niin): Bass, bast, phloem, inner bark of lime trees.
Niinepuu (Niinepuu): Small-leaved lime (better known as pärnapuu).
Nirgi (Nirk): Weasel.
Nisu (Nisu): Wheat.
Nooda (Noot): Seine, sweep net, dragnet.
Noole (Nool): Arrow, shaft.
Nugise (Nugis): Pine marten.
Nulu (Nulg): Fir (tree).
Nunnadetagune (0): Behind the nuns.
Nunnatorn (0): Nun's Tower.
Nunne (0): Possibly corruption of Nunna, from Nunn: Nun, after one of its gates, Porta Monialium. Another gate was the Porta Stupae, from caulking-tow. Tallinn has, after all, always been a port.
Nurklik (Nurklik): Angular.
Nurme (Nurm): Meadow, field, pasture.
(Nurmenukk): Cowslip.
Nurmiku (Nurmik): 1) Milk-churn; 2) Wire grass.
Nõelasilm (0): Eye of the needle.
Nõeliku (Nõelik): Needle case.
Nõgikikka (Nõgikikas): Black woodpecker. Another bird with more names than feathers. I spare you the details.
Nõlva (Nõlv): Slope, declivity.
Nõlvaku (Nõlvak): Slope, declivity.
Nõmme (Nõmm): Heath, moor, moorland.
Nõmme-Kase (Nõmme-Kask): Birch moorland.
Nõo (Nõbu/Nõgu): 1) ??? Cousin; 2) ??? Concavity, depression, hollow.
Nõva (Nõva): Gully, bed, channel.
Näituse (Näitus): Exhibition, show.
Näsiniine (Näsiniin): Mezereon, spring-flowering shrub, Daphne mezereon>, with poisonous berries.
Oblika (Oblikas): Sorrel, dock.
Odra (Oder): Barley.
Ogaliku (Ogalik): 1) Stickleback; 2) Thunbergia.
Oja (Oja): Brook, small stream.
Ojakääru (Ojakäär(d)): Winding brook.
Ojaveere (Ojaveer): Brookside.
Oksa (Oks): Branch, limb, bough.
Olevi (Olev): An alliterative poetic variant of the epic hero Kalev, or, according to Kreutzwald, one of his son's (Kalevipoeg's), cousins and fighting companions (see Sulevi, Kreutzwaldi), or a giant and/or cryptic stranger who built St Olaf's Church in Tallinn (and died as he planted the spire).
Olevimägi (Olevimägi): Olev's mountain or hill.
Oleviste (Olevist?): Olev's, after the church (built by Olev the giant. Please do not doubt this.) alongside which it runs; church reputed to be the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625, when the spire burnt down after lightning.
Oomi (Oom): Ohm.
Orase (Oras): Young crop, first shoots of grain.
Orava (Orav): Squirrel.
Oru (Org): Valley.
Osja (Osi): Equisetum, horsetail.
Osmussaare (Osmussaar): Island ("malm island") 7.5 km off the NW coast of Estonia, 4 km long, uninhabited since the Soviet deportation of 12 farming families, now a nature reserve.
Oti (Ott): Old name for bear (but see alternative genitive in ??? Otepää, town in southern Estonia).
Otsa G. (Georg Ots, 1920-1975): Estonian baritone, beautiful, smooth voice.
Otsatalu (Otsatalu): End-farm.
Otse (0): Direct, straight.
Paabusilma (Paabusilm): 1) Peacock's eye; 2) Probably one of the saturnid moths: kevad-paabusilm, the Emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia); hiid-paabusilm, the Great Peacock Moth (Saturnia pyri), etc., but possibly päeva-paabusilm too, the peacock butterfly (Inachis io).
Paadi (Paat): Boat.
Paagi (Paak): 1) Beacon, buoy; 2) Lump; 3) Tank, cistern.
Paakspuu (Paakspuu): Alder buckthorn.
Paasiku (Paasik): Flagstone.
Paavli (0): Paul, probably the saint.
Padriku (Padrik): Thicket, coppice.
Padu (Padu): Low, wet place or waterlogged ground.
Pae (Pass): Limestone.
Paekaare (Paekaar): Limestone point.
Paekalda (Paekallas): 1) Limestone bank or bluff; 2) Klint, glint.
Paekivi (Paekivi): Limestone, flagstone.
Paerohu (Paeroht): Limestone green (as in grass over/that grows on limestone).
Paevälja (Paeväli): Limestone sheet (expanse of limestone???).
Pagari (Pagar): Baker.
Paide (0): Town in Järvemaa, south-east of Tallinn.
Paiselehe (Paiseleht): Coltsfoot.
Paiste (Paiste): Shine, gleam.
Paisu (Pais): Dam, weir.
Paju (Paju): Willow, withy.
Pajude (Paju): Willows, withies.
Pajustiku (Pajustik): Willow plot, osier.
Pakase (Pakane): Severe cold, frost, "Pakasetaat", lit. "old man frost", Jack Frost.
Paks Margareeta (0): Fat Margaret.
Palderjani (Palderjan): Valerian.
Paldiski (0): Town, port and former Soviet nuclear submarine training centre entirely fenced off with barbed wire, close to Tallinn. Originally a Swedish settlement (there were many in Estonia at one time) called Rågervik, the Russians adopted it as naval base in the 18th century, calling it Балтийский Порт (Baltiyskiy, or Baltic, Port), which Estonians pronounced as Paldiski.
Paljandi (Paljand): Denuded place.
Paljassaare (Paljassaar): Bare, bleak island.
Pallasti (Pallast): Ballast.
Palli (Pall): 1) Ball; 2) Bale; 3) Rating; 4) Beaufort number.
Palu (Palu): Low meadow or forest.
Palusambla (Palusammal): Feather Moss, Schreber's Moss, Pleurozium schreberi.
Paneeli (Paneel): Panel.
Panga (Pank): Bank.
Papli (Pappel): Poplar.
Paplite (Paplid): Poplars.
Pardi (Part): Duck.
Pargi (Park): Park.
Parmu (Parm): Horsefly, gadfly.
Parve (Parv): 1) Flock, school, swarm; 2) Raft.
Patkuli (Dietrich Friedrich Patkul): Vice-governor of Tallinn from 1707-1710 (?), possibly related to the infamous Johann Reinhold von Patkul. ??? Or Woldemar Karl Friedrich Reinhold von Patkul, Commander of Tallinn 1828-1854, and Honorary Citizen.
Pebre (Peber): Broken or crushed hay and seeds at bottom of hayrick.
Pedaja (Pedajas): Pine.
Pelgulinn (0): Tallinn district: town of asylum, refuge, shelter (late-19th-C slum).
Pelguranna (Pelgurand): Shore of refuge.
Pesa (Pesa): Nest.
Peterburi (0): St Petersburg, aka Leningrad.
Petrooleumi (Petrooleum): Petroleum.
Pidu (Pidu): Festival, feast, banquet, public celebration.
Pihlaka (Pihlakas): Whitebeam (tree).
Pihlametsa (Pihlamets): Whitebeam wood, grove.
Piibelehe (Piibeleht): Lily of the valley; devil's-bit scabious.
Piibri (Piiber): Beaver.
Piiri (Piir): Border, boundary.
Piiritsa (Piirits): Net-making needle.
Piiskopi (Piiskop): Bishop.
Pikaliiva (Pikaliiv): Long sand.
Pikk (Pikk): Full name Pikk jalg (lit. long leg/foot), One of the oldest streets in Tallinn, previously known as Strantstrate (beach road) (1362); Platea stagnalis (main road by the pond) (1375), as well as Ranna tänav (beach road again), Mere tänav (sea road)… No.20 was a Soviet phone-tapping centre, and No.59 a KGB interrogation centre. An Estonian joke has it that this was the tallest building in the country: from its cellars you could see Siberia.
Pikk Hermann (0): Tall Hermann, (there's a second Pikk Herman (one "n") in Tartu, known also as Kuraditorn (devil's tower) or Kuivtorn (dry tower).
Pikri (Pikker): Thunder.
Pikse (Pikne): Lightning, flash of lightning, thunderstorm.
Piksepeni (Piksepeni): Woolly bear: caterpillar of the (scarlet) tiger moth Callimorpha dominula, the tiger moth itself, but probably used, as its English counterpart, for a variety of hairy caterpillars.
Pilliroo (Pilliroog): Reed, bulrush.
Pilstickeri (0): Arrow-sharpener (German? Pil = Pfeil?).
Pilve (Pilv): Cloud.
Pilviku (Pilvik): Russula.
Pinna P. (Paul Pinna, 1884–1949): Estonian actor so famous he even had a brand of cigarettes named after him.
Pirita (0): After Saint Bridget of Sweden, 1303-1373; the Brigittine sisters first arrived in Estonia in 1412; the convent, host to the annual Birgitta Music Festival, currently numbers 8 nuns, of Mexican or Indian origin.
Pirni (Pirn): 1) Pear; 2) Lightbulb - "Kellelegi pirni panema": To make someone wake up, lit. ???.
Planeedi (Planeet): Planet.
Plangu (Plank): Plank, board.
Plate torn (0): A wealthy burgher of Tallinn, tower chief.
Ploomi (Ploom): Plum, prune.
Pohla (Pohl): Cowberry, red whortleberry.
Pojengi (Pojeng): Peony.
Politseiaed (Politseiaed): Police garden.
Poru (Poru): 1) Stone used as anchor; 2) Alternative spelling for porro, leek.
Poska J. (Jaan Poska, 1866–1920): Main signatory to the Treaty of Tartu on 2nd February 1920 between Estonia and the Russian SFSR recognising Estonia de jure, the latter relinquishing (Art.2) ‘for ever all rights of sovereignty formerly held by Russia over the Esthonian people and territory...’, Mayor of Tallinn 1913-1917.
Postitalu (Postitalu): Rural sub-post-office.
Preesi (Prees): Brooch: these are the famous, usually silver, I believe, gently-conical brooches, ranging in size from ±5 to 18 cm diameter, that Estonian women wear on the breast of their traditional dress.
Prii (Prii): Free, gratis and for nothing.
Priimula (Priimula): Primrose, primula.
Priisle (0): Town (suburb now?) a couple of km WSW of Tallinn.
Printsu (0): Estonianised name of popular singer P.R. Nelson.
Pronksi (Pronks): Bronze.
Puhangu (Puhang): Gust, puff, blast, outbreak.
Puhke (Puhe): 1) Rest, repose; 2) Outbreak, budding, blooming.
Puhkekodu (Puhkekodu): Rest-home, convalescence home.
Puhma (Puhm(as)): Shrub, bush.
Puju (Puju): Mugwort.
Puki (Pukk): 1) Buck, he-goat; 2) Trestle.
Punane (Punane): Red.
Pune (Pune): 1) Origano; 2) Twist, twisted yarn.
Punga (Pung): Bud, shoot, burgeon.
Puraviku (Puravik): Edible boletus mushroom.
Purde (Purre): Footbridge, plank or tree-trunk across a stream.
Purje (Puri): Sail.
Puu (Puu): Tree, wood.
Puusepa (Puusepp): Carpenter (lit. woodsmith).
Puuvilja (Puuvili): 1) Fruit; 2) Windfall.
Puuvilla (Puuvill): Cotton.
Põdra (Põder): Elk.
Põdrajuure (Põdrajuur): Seseli.
Põdrakanepi (Põdrakanep): Willowherb (lit. elk's hemp).
Põhja (Põhja): North, northern, northerly.
Põhjakaare (Põhjakaar): North, northern point on the horizon.
Põhja-Tallinn (0): North-Tallinn.
Põlde (Põld): Perhaps a village in southern Estonia, on Latvian border.
Põldma (): Possible misspelling of põldmaa, arable land; surname of various Estonians: Janno Põldma, animated film cameraman, Jaak, tennis-player, etc.
Põldmarja (Põldmari): Blackberry, bramble.
Põlendiku (Põlendik): Burnt woodland.
Põllu (Põld): Field, arable land, pasture.
Põllumäe (Põllumägi): Hillfield.
Põlluääre (Põlluäär): Edge of the field.
Põõsa (Põõsas): Bush, shrub.
Päevakoera (Päevakoer): Garden tiger moth, Arctia caja, or cream-spot tiger moth, Arctia villica, (päevakoer, lit. day dog).
Pähkli (Pähkel): Nut, hazelnut.
Päikese (Päike(ne)): Sun.
Pärituule (Pärituul): Fair wind, wind due astern.
Pärja (Pärg): Wreath, garland.
Pärna J. (Jakob Pärn, 1843-1916): Popular writer of children's books.
Pärnade (Pärn): Lime trees, lindens.
Pärnamäe (Pärnamägi): Lime hill.
Pärniku (Pärnik): Lime grove.
Pärnu (0): Estonia's Summer Capital, coastal town in the south-west.
Pääsküla (Pääsküla): Possibly Hieracium zizianum, one of the thousand-odd hawkweeds, this one known variously as pääsküla karutubakas (bear's tobacco), or zizi hunditubakas (wolf's tobacco). Pääsküla itself could mean "escape/salvation village", possibly indicating a hospice or asylum, but could also be derived from the former spelling of head, pää (pea), hence "main village". Either way, a suburb of Tallinn renowned for its landfill and its library.
Pääsukese (Pääsuke(ne)): Swallow, martin. The suitsupääsuke, or barn swallow, Hirundo rustica, is Estonia's national bird.
Pääsusaba (Pääsusaba): Swallowtail (butterfly).
Pääsusilma (Pääsusilm): Bird's-eye primrose, Primula farinosa (alternative name for Jaanilill).
Pühavaimu (Pühavaim): Holy Spirit.
Püssirohu (Püssirohi): Gunpowder.
Püü (Püü): Ptarmigan.
Raadiku (Raadik): Stony, unproductive ground.
Raba (Raba): Bog, swamp, fen.
Raekoja (Raekoda): Town hall.
Rahe (Rahe): Hail.
Rahnu (Rahn): Large lump, chunk, block, stump, log, large piece of boulder, boulder.
Rahu (Rahu): Quiet, tranquility, calm, peace, truce; reef; also Rahk/Rähk: shingle, gravel, rubble, scree.
Rahukohtu (Rahukoht): Place of quiet.
Rahumäe (Rahumägi): Quiet hill.
Rahvakooli (Rahvakool): State primary or elementary school.
Raie (Raie): Cutting, hewing, chopping trees, lumbering.
Raja (Raja): 1) Boundary, border; 2) Path, walk.
Rajametsa (Rajamets): Border forest.
Rajapere (): Boundary farm, family, household.
Raku (Rakk): 1) Bladder, air-bladder, cell in beehive, blister; 2) Small wooden pail.
Randla (Randla): Shore (alternative form of rand), or place by the beach.
Randvere (0): Manor house and town in Harjumaa (German name: Randefer), see Aedvere, but here probably "beside, alongside the beach".
Rangu (0): Village in Raplamaa.
Ranna (Rand): Beach (or, like a famous riverside street in London: strand).
Rannamõisa (Rannamõis): Manor by the beach, stately home in Keila, Harjumaa (German name: Strandhof).
Rannamäe (Rannamägi): Slope to the beach, beach hill.
Rannaniidu (Rannaniit): Meadow near the sea.
Ranniku (Rannik): Coastal.
Rao (Raag): Leafless or dead branch.
Rapla (0): County town of Raplamaa, 48 km south of Tallinn.
Rataskaevu (Rataskaev): Wheel well, well with windlass for winding up water.
Ratta (Ratas): Wheel.
Raua (Raud): Iron.
Raua K. (Kristjan Raud, 1865-1943): Painter best known for his depictions of the Kalevipoeg. His cheery face adorns the 1-crown note.
Raudalu (): Village a few km south of Tallinn, also known as Kangru/Kangro.
Raudrohu (Raudrohi): Milfoil, yarrow, sneezewort.
Raudtee (Raudtee): Railway.
Ravi (Ravi): Cure, treatment, therapy.
Ravila (Ravila): Health establishment, sanatorium.
Rebase (Rebane): Fox.
Rebasesaba (Rebasesaba): Foxtail, flower or not.
Redise (Redis): Radish.
Regati (Regatt): Regatta.
Reha (Reha): Rake.
Reimani V. (Villem Reiman, 1861-1917): Pastor, poet and co-founder of Tartu-based newspaper Postimees.
Reinvaldi A. (Ado Reinvald, 1847-1922): An uneducated peasant and a God-gifted poet from Viljandi.
Reisijate (Reisija): Travellers, passengers.
Remmelga (Remmelgas): Willow.
Reseeda (Reseeda): Mignonette, reseda.
Retke (Retk): Excursion, outing, expedition.
Riisika (Riisikas): Milk mushroom.
Risti (Rist): 1) Cross; 2) Clubs (card suit).
Ristiku (Ristik): 1) Perpendicular; 2) Grating; 3) Clover.
Rivi (Rivi): Rank, file, row.
Rocca al Mare (0): Name of summer estate of the Girard de Soucanton family of Kunda (originally French Provençal), apparently named after the erratic boulder in the sea nearby. Possibly an allusion to the Venetian fort named Rocca al Mare, fortress on the sea, (known in Turkish as Koules) built around 1540 in Heraklion (Ηρακλειον, city of Hercules) on the Greek island of Crete. It is also said to relate to a poem written by Adelbert von Chamisso (Louis Charles Adelaide de Chamisso), 1781-1838, German poet and botanist of French aristocratic extraction, in his collection Salas y Gomez (title said to be painted on the side of the boulder) named after Sala y Gómez, a tiny (770 m wide) volcanic island 360 km ENE of Easter Island visited on Otto von Kotzebue's 1815-1818 voyage to the South Sea and Bering’s Straits aboard the Russian ship Rurik. Its shape too, with a little imagination, could also resemble the square Venetian fortress.
Roheline (Roheline): Green.
Rohu (Roht): Herbal, grassy, graminaceous.
Rohula (0): Place of grass, place where grass is, ??? formerly Aia (garden) and Rohuaia (grass garden).
Rohumaa (Rohumaa): Grassland.
Ronga (Ronk): Raven, corbie.
Roo (Rood/Roog): 1a) Fishbone 1b) Bony framework of the nose (yes, they have a word for that); 2a) Rasping final note of a cockcrow (…); 2b) Reed, cane.
Roolahe (Roolaht): Reedy cove.
Roopa (Roobas): Rut.
Roosi (Roos): Rose.
Roosikrantsi (Roosikrants): Rosary.
Roostiku (Roostik): Thicket of reeds, reed bed.
Roseni (0): Possibly after the Swedish von Rosen family, various members. Axel von Rosen (1624-1675/80), builder of the Von Rosen palace, now the Swedish Embassy, was later governor of Estonia.
Rotermanni (0): Four-generation dynasty of industrialists, Christian (insert second name here) Rotermann, running businesses as diverse as building materials, a department store, factories for iron- and woodworking, raw flax and starch processing, distilling, flour-milling and baking, macaroni, as well as trading grain, buying from as far away as Western Siberia, and the salt stored in the present-day architectural museum.
Rukki (Rukis): Rye.
Rukkilille (Rukkilill): Cornflower, Estonia's national flower.
Rulli (Rull): Roll, bobbin, reel, scroll.
Rumbi (Rumb): Rhumb, loxodromic curve, any of the compass's 36 points.
Rummu (Rumm): Hub, nave.
Rutu (Rutt): Haste, hurry.
Rõika (Rõigas): Radish, black radish.
Rõugu (Rõuk): 1) One of the upright stakes in the back of a farm cart holding the sides in place; 2) A-shaped rack for stacking hay.
Rõõmu (Rõõm): Joy, pleasure, delight.
Räga (Räga): Brush heap, tangle caused by fallen trees in a forest.
Rähkloo (Rähklood): Shingly islet.
Rähni (Rähn): Woodpecker.
Räime (Räim): Baltic herring.
Räitsaka (Räitsakas): Large wet snowflake, moist snow.
Rändrahnu (Rändrahn): Erratic boulder.
Räni (Räni): Silicon.
Rännaku (Rännak): Wandering, excursion.
Rästa (Rästas): Thrush.
Rätsepa (Rätsep): Tailor.
Rävala (0): Or Revalia, historical (±12/13th-C) county of Estonia, later used as name for Tallinn: Reval.
Räägu (Rääk): Corncrake.
Ründi (Rünt): Gudgeon, groundling.
Rünga (Rünk): 1) Block, crag; 2) Bank of clouds.
Rünka (Rüngas): 1) Block, crag; 2) Bank of clouds.
Rüütli (Rüütel): Knight, cavalier.
Saadu (A) Saadu; B) Saad; C) Saat): 1) Acquisition, something got - "kuidas saadud, nõnda läinud": easy come, easy go; 2) Cock, stack, rick; or 3) Suite, entourage.
Saagi (Saak): Crops, harvest; yield, returns; plunder, booty; catch, haul.
Saani (Saan): Sleigh, sledge.
Saare (Saar): Island (also ash-tree), or raised part of bog, or grove in swamp.
Saaremaa (Saaremaa): Island off the west coast of Estonia (lit. island land - isle land - island).
Saarepiiga (Saarepiiga): Island girl, Saaremaa girl.
Saarepuu (Saarepuu): Ash tree.
Saariku (Saarik): 1) Ash grove; 2) Small island.
Saarma (Saarmas): Otter.
Saarvahtra (Saarvaher): Box elder, ash-leaved maple.
Sadama (Sadam): Harbour, port, haven.
Sae (Saag): Saw.
Saeveski (Saeveski): Sawmill.
Sagari (0): Possibly Peeter Sagar, 1889-1930, schoolteacher, author and correspondent to Postimees newspaper.
Saha (Sahk): Plough.
Saha-Loo (0): Peat bog and site of fossil fields dating back to mid Bronze Age (14th-11th-C BCE).
Saiakang (Saiakang): White bread passage (or vaulted archway).
Sakala (0): Province in southern Estonia, dating back to 12th century.
Saku (Sakk): 1) Tree stump; 2) Wisp of straw; 3) More realistically: town close to Tallinn, its brewery and beer.
Salati (Salat): Salad, lettuce.
Salme (Salm): Strait between two islands.
Salu (Salu): Grove, coppice, wood; or, unlikely, from salg, denial. "Disavowal Street" anybody?.
Salve (Salv): 1) Bin, hopper; 2) curb of a well.
Sambla (Sammal): Moss.
Samblajuure (Samblajuur): Moss root.
Sambliku (Samblik): Lichen; mossy place.
Sammu (Samm): Step, footstep, measure.
Sanatooriumi (Sanatoorium): Sanatorium.
Sanglepa (Sanglepp): Common or Black alder.
Sarapiku (Sarapik): Hazel wood or coppice.
Sarapuu (Sarapuu): Hazel.
Sarra (Sard): Field scaffold for drying flaxseed or hay; skeleton.
Sarve (Sarv): Horn, antler; also French horn, English horn, cornet.
Saturni (Saturn): Saturn.
Saue (Sau): Clay, also the name of a town SW of Tallinn.
Sauna (Saun): 1) Bath-house, sauna; 2) Small farm, cottage.
Saunatorn (0): Sauna tower.
Saviliiva (Saviliiv): Sandy clay.
Seebi (Seep): Soap.
Seedri (Seeder): Cedar.
Seegihoov (0): Workhouse yard.
Seemne (Seeme): Seed.
Seene (Seen): Mushroom.
Seli (0): Lake/bog in Ida-Virumaa.
Selise (Selis): Headrope.
Seljaku (Seljak): Bank, ridge (from back: selg, selja).
Selleri (Seller): Celery.
Sepa (Sepp): Smith, blacksmith (also "yeast" in some dialects).
Sepapaja (Sepapaja): Smithy, blacksmith's shop or forge.
Sepapere (Sepapere): Blacksmith farm, family, household.
Sepise (Sepis): Wrought-iron object, forging.
Serva (Serv): Rim, edge, border, hem, selvage.
Sibulaküla (Sibulaküla): Onion village.
Side (Side): Communication, contact, liaison.
Sihi (Siht): Aim, objective, direction.
Siia (Siig): Whitefish, laveret.
Siidisaba (Siidisaba): Waxwing, chatterer.
Siili (Siil): Hedgehog.
Siire (Nimet?): Transfer, transmission.
Sikupilli (Sikupill): Bagpipe(s) (lit. goat's instrument) (another late-19th-C slum).
Sikuti (Sikuti): Pulling device; drive apparatus; pulling instrument for catching fish.
Silgu (Silk): Baltic herring, small and/or salted or otherwise - "olla nagu silgud pütis": to be packed like sardines.
Silikaltsiidi (Silikaltsiit): Silicalcite, possibly calcium silicate, a hardening material used in bricks and a very romantic name to give any street.
Silla (Sild): Bridge.
Sillaku ():
Silmiku (Silmik): Satyr, Wood-Nymph (sorry: butterflies), something with eyes.
Silmu (Silm): Lamprey.
Silva ():
Sinika (Sinikas): Bog whortleberry.
Siniladva (Sinilatv): Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum).
Sinilille (Sinilill): Hepatica, sweet violet.
Sinimäe (Sinimägi): Blue mountain.
Sinirebase (Sinirebane): Blue, arctic or ice fox.
Sinitiiva (Sinitiib): Take your pick: Kevad-sinitiib: Holly blue (Celastrina argiolus). Kukeharja-sinitiib: Chequered Blue (Scolitantides orion), Liivatee-sinitiib: (Eastern) Baton Blue (Pseudophilotes vicrama), Lutserni-sinitiib: Green-underside Blue (Glaucopsyche alexis), Niidu-sinitiib: Mazarine blue (Cyaniris semiargus), Siilak-sinitiib: Short-tailed Blue (Everes argiades), Tähnik-sinitiib: large blue (Maculinea arion), Attentive readers will have already gathered I have a soft spot for butterflies.
Sipelga (Sipelgas): Ant.
Sirbi (Sirp): Sickle - "sirp ja vasar": sickle and hammer.
Sireli (Sirel): Lilac, syringa.
Sirge (Sirge): Straight, upright, erect, lank.
Sirptiiva (Sirptiib): Hook-tip moth, dozens of 'em.
Sisaski (Sisask): Another name for ööbik, nightingale.
Sitsi (Sits): Derived, they say, from Hindi: printed cotton or calico.
Sitska (?): Uncertain. Estonian surname, but whose? Possibly Jaan Sitska, author of several books, historical, pedagogical….
Smuuli J. (Juhan Smuul, 1922-1971): People's Writer and winner of the Stalin Prize (1952) and Lenin Prize (1961). The Estonian SSR State Prize was named after him, an honour he shared with Aram Khatchaturian for the Armenian SSR State Prize.
Sompa (): Poss. Manor house in Jõhvi, Võrumaa county, administrative district of Kõhtla-Järve, industrial town renowned for its exciting oil shale.
Soo (Soo): Swamp, march, bog.
Sooheina (Soohein): Marsh hay.
Sookaskede (Sookask): Downy birches.
Soolahe (Soolaht): Marshy inlet or bay.
Soone (Soon): Vessel, vein, artery; groove, slot; lode, vein.
Sooputke (Sooputk): Milkweed.
Sooranna (Soorand): Edge of a marsh.
Soosambla (Soosammal): Angled paludella moss or tufted fen-moss, Paludella squarrosa.
Soovildiku (Soovildik): Ribbed Bog Moss, aka Tufted Moss or Glow Moss.
Soovõha (Soovõhk): Bog arum.
Spordi (Sport): Sport, athletics, exercise.
Staadioni (Staadion): Stadium.
Stoltingi torn (): Perhaps a corruption of Danish "Storting", parliament, tower, perhaps related to German Stolz, pride?.
Suislepa (0): Village and name of two manor houses near Võrtsjärv (lake).
Suitsu (Suits): 1) Smoke, vapour, fume; 2) Fag, snout, coffin nail.
Sule (Sulg): Feather, pen, nib.
Sulevi (Sulev): Either an alliterative poetic variant of the epic hero Kalev, or, according to Kreutzwald, one of his son's (Kalevipoeg's), cousins and fighting companions (see Olevi, Kreutzwaldi).
Sulevimägi (Sulevimägi): Sulev's mountain or hill.
Sumba (Sump): Corf, well in a fishing-boat.
Supluse (Suplus): Bathing, dip, swim.
Suru (Suru): 1) Swarming of gnats; 2) Press, throng; 3) Hawk-moth.
(0): Great coastal gate.
Suur-Ameerika (0): Great, large America.
Suurekivi (Suurekivi): Large stone.
Suurevälja (Suur väli): Big field ("the great outdoors" maybe?).
Suurgildi (Suurgild): Merchants' guild (lit. big guild).
Suur-Karja (0): Literally, "big-cattle", road once leading to pasture outside down, formerly known as Platea Pecorum ≈ Cattle gate.
Suur-Kloostri (Suur-Klooster): Great Abbey (convent, monastery, cloister…).
Suur-Laagri (Suur-Laager): Great camp.
Suur-Paala (0): Great Paala, Paala: said to be a river near Viljandi, and site of the battle where Lembit, unwisely, lost his head.
Suur-Patarei (Suur-Patarei): Big battery.
Suur-Sõjamäe (Suur-Sõjamägi): Great military vantage point.
Suurtüki (Suurtükk): Big gun, cannon.
Suusa (Suusk): Ski.
Suve (Suvi): Summer.
Suvila (Suvila): Summer cottage, house (nothing to do with villas, lit. summer place).
Sõbra (Sõber): Friend.
Sõjakooli (Sõjakool): Military school, academy.
Sõjamäe (Sõjamägi): Soldiers' knoll, martial mountain, battle bump, whatever; I think I'll opt for "military vantage point".
Sõle (Sõlg): Brooch, ouch, pin. Often silver, ranging from an almost-closed horseshoe shaped fastener to the >15-cm circular boss worn by women on the chest when attired in traditional dress.
Sõlme (Sõlm): Knot, loop.
Sõmera (Sõmer): Gravelly, shingly, gritty.
Sõnajala (Sõnajalg): Fern (lit. leg- or foot-word). Oddly, Estonian does not differentiate foot from leg (both jalg) or hand from arm (both käsi), then again the English seem unable to distinguish the stomach (part of the digestive tube) from the abdomen.
Sõpruse (Sõprus): Friendship.
Sõstra (Sõstar): Currant.
Sõstramäe (Sõstramägi): Currant (or dark berry more likely) hill.
Sõudebaasi (Sõudebaas): Rowing base.
Sõõru (Sõõrd): 1) Small fenced meadow; 2) The flow of milk from a teat.
Sädeme (Säde): Spark, sparkle.
Säina (Säinas): Ide, or orfe, freshwater fish.
Särgava E. (Ernst Peterson-Särgava, 1868-1958): Writer.
Särje (Särg): roach (fish).
Särjesilma (Särjesilm): Pond crowfoot.
Sääse (Sääsk): Gnat. A pedant or a hair-splitter (and why do I know this one?) is a sääsekurnaja, literally a gnat-strainer or gnat-distresser….
Söe (Süsi): Coal, charcoal, carbonic.
Söödi (Sööt): 1) Feed, fodder, bait; 2) Fallow land.
Süda P. (Peeter Süda, 1883-1920): Organist and composer, born on Saaremaa. His collection of folksongs and library are now housed in the Estonian Theatre and Music Museum. NB: whereas süda, heart, declines normally as süda, südame, südant, for the person's name it is süda, süda, süda. Odd.
Südalinn (0): Town centre, lit. town heart.
Sügise (Sügis): Autumn, fall.
Sügislase (Sügislane): Lemonia dumi (Autumn silkworm moth?).
Süsta (Süst): Canoe, folding-boat.
Sütiste J. (Juhan Sütiste (Schütz), 1899-1945): Realist poet of modern urban life.
Šnelli (Schnell): Tallinn's town gardener in the 18th century.
Taani Kuninga aed (Taani Kuninga aed): King of Denmark.
Taara (0): Supreme god in Estonian folklore, also known as Uku, or Tharapita (possibly related to the Norse Thor), related to various other Finno-Ugric cognates, probably derived from a word meaning "high". Also poetic name for Tartu: Taaralinn (Taaratown).
Taela (Tael): Tinder, touchwood.
Taevakivi (Taevakivi): Sky stone, meteorite perhaps?.
Tagamaa (Tagamaa): Hinterland, back country, heartland.
Taime (Taim): Plant, vegetable.
Tallinna (Tallinn): Capital of Estonia, presumed derived from "Taani Linn", Danish town/castle. Other suggestions have included "Talu-linna" (farm/house/farmstead town/castle) and "Tali-linna" (winter town/castle).
Tallitorn (0): Stable (as in horses') tower.
Taludevahe (0): Between the farms.
Talve (Talv (alt. form: tali)): Winter.
Talviku (Talvik): 1) Umbellate wintergreen; 2) Cow born in winter; 3) Yellowhammer.
Tamme (Tamm): Oak.
Tammede (Tamm): Oaks.
Tammepärja (Tammepärg): Garland of oak leaves.
Tammeõue (Tammeõu): Oak yard.
Tammiku (Tammik): Oak grove.
Tammsaare A.H. (Anton Hansen Tammsaare, 1878-1940): One of the most outstanding Estonian novelists, author of the 5-volume masterpiece, Tõde ja Õigus (Truth and Justice, 1926-1933).
Tanuma (Tanum): Village lane between houses or fences.
Tare (Tare): Main dwelling room in old-fashioned farmhouse (possibly single-roomed, sometimes also used for drying grain).
Tarja (Tari): Wickerwork, basketwork, something made of wicker (fish-drying stand, bottom of sled, wattled stable partition…), bead embroidery at edge of skirt; bundle; bunch (of grapes).
Tarna (Tarn): Sedge, carex, a species of grass rendered immortal by Edgar Valter, humorous illustrator and creator of the Poku characters (ask you local bookseller).
Tartu (0): University town in southern central Estonia, settled since 5th-C CE, known previously as Dorpat, Tharbata, Yuryev. Ruled by the Poles in the 16th century, the city received its red and white flag from Stephen Bathory (István Báthory), King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, one-time Prince of Transylvania, and uncle of Erzsébet Báthory, sometimes known as Countess Dracula for her extremely questionable employment of girls whose blood was said to provide her with eternal youth (possibly, like France's Gilles de Rais, framed for financial reasons). Happily, Tartoons are given to gentler occupations such as grammar.
Tasuja (Tasuja): Avenger, one who repays.
Tatari (Tatar): Tartar, Tatar.
Teatri (Teater): Theatre.
Tedre (Teder): Black grouse.
Tedrepere (Tedrepere): Family of black grouse.
Tehnika (Tehnika): Technical science, technology, engineering; technique, equipment.
Teisepere (Teis(e)pere): Neighbours (although most people say naaber these days); lit. second family.
Teivi (Teib): Dace (fish).
Telliskivi (Telliskivi): Brick, tile.
Terase (Terane): Steel; fig. knife.
Tervise (Tervis): Health, constitution.
Tihase (Tihane): Tit (the bird…).
Tihniku (Tihnik): Thicket, coppice, copse.
Tiigi (Tiik): Pond.
Tiigiveski (Tiigiveski): Pond mill.
Tiiru (Tiir): 1) Rifle range; 2) Gland; 3) Colic or gripes; 4) Round, circle, twirl.
Tiiva (Tiib): Wing, flank, blade, vane.
Tildri (Tilder): Redshank, greenshank, sandpiper.
Timuti (Timut): Timothy grass, cat's-tail.
Tina (Tina): Tin (sometimes lead).
Tindi (Tint): Ink; smelt - "Täis kui tint": as drunk as a lord (possibly related to the ink cap mushroom, aka the "lawyer's wig", which rapidly deliquesces to release its spores, spilling a lot of ink along with its seed.
Tirgu (Tirk): Murre (guillemot-like bird).
Tiskre (0): Residential area some 12 km west of Tallinn.
Tiskrevälja (Tiskreväli): Area/land outside/around Tiskre estate.
Tobiase R. (Rudolf Tobias, 1873–1918): First Estonian professional composer, whose Julius Caesar was the country's first symphonic work.
Tohu (1) Toht 2) Tohk 3) Tohu): 1) Birch bark [the earliest written document in Finno-Ugric - Tohtkiri (birch bark letter) nr 292 - was carved on birch bark] 2) Stern of small boat 3) Mist, haze.
Tolli (Toll): 1) Customs, duty; 2) Inch.
Tolmuka (Tolmukas): Stamen.
Tondi (0): Disappointingly, not from tont, ghost or spectre, but Dunte, a 17th-C municipal official… (See Vaimu).
Tondiraba (Tondiraba): Said to be "Ghost's mire/fen/marsh", but quite possibly not (see above).
Tooma (Toomas): Named after the pond, Tooma, it runs by. Probably derived from the name, Toomas (Thomas), but vaguely possible from toom (bringing or fetching), the sort of thing people used to do with pond water.
Toomapere (Toomapere): Thomas's farm, family, household.
Toome (Toom): Either cathedral hill or short form of Toomingas.
Toomiku (Toomik): Bird cherry grove.
Toominga (Toomingas): Bird cherry tree.
Toom-Kooli (Toom-Kool): Cathedral school.
Toom-Kuninga (Toom-Kuningas): Cathedral king.
Toompark (0): Cathedral park.
Toompea (0): Cathedral (sometimes known as Castle) hill (lit. head).
Toompuiestee (0): Cathedral hill avenue.
Toom-Rüütli (Toom-Rüütel): Cathedral knight.
Toonela (Toonela): Realm of the dead, exact location uncertain.
Tormi (Torm): Storm.
Torni (Torn): 1) Tower, steeple, turret; 2) Rook (castle) in chess.
Tornide (XXX): Plural of Torn (above)
Tornimäe (0): Although it means Tower Hill, there's neither one nor tother in sight. Apparently named after a certain Adam Tornimäe, a worker who rented a property from St John's Almshouse, Jaani Seek, in the early 17th C, long enough for it to become known as Tornimäe Maja (house), the rest is history.
Torupilli (Torupill): Bagpipes.
Trahteri (Trahter): Public house, tavern.
Treiali (Treial): Lathe-operator, turner.
Trepi (Trepp): Staircase, flight of stairs, doorsteps.
Trummi (Trumm): Drum.
Tuha (Tuhk): Ash, cinders (Cinderella is thus Tuhkatriinu).
Tuhkru (Tuhkur): Polecat.
Tuisu (Tuisk): Snowstorm, blizzard.
Tuki (Tukk): Firebrand, piece of smouldering wood (not to be confused with tukk > tuka, tuft of hair, bang [US], forelock, or tukk > tuku, nap, forty winks, or tükk > tüki, piece, lump, chunk, etc.
Tulbi (Tulp): Tulip.
Tulbiaia (0): Tulip garden.
Tulekivi (Tulekivi): Flint (lit. firestone).
Tuleraua (Tuleraud): Fire steel, for striking fire from flint.
Tuleviku (Tulevik): Future, time to come, future tense.
Tulika (Tulikas): Buttercup (Would you order a taxi from "Buttercup"?).
Tulimulla (Tulimuld): Scorched earth.
Tuluste (Tulused (pl.)): Flint and steel (pl.).
Tungla (Tungal): 1) Firebrand; 2) Smut, blight, rust (plant mould or fungus).
Turba (Turbas): Peat.
Turbasambla (Turbasammal): Sphagnum moss, lit. peat moss.
Tursa (Tursk): Cod.
Turu (Turg): Market.
Tuukri (Tuuker): Diver (i.e. involving diving-dress, -helmet, -etc).
Tuule (Tuul): Wind.
Tuulekivi (): Possibly: variant of a dialectal word for windmill, tuulõkivi/tuulkivi in parts of Võrumaa and Muhu island, lit. windstone.
Tuulemaa (0): Collection of poetry written by (Gustav Suits (1883-1956) in 1913 where he portrays Estonia, literally and metaphorically, as a "land of wind".
Tuulemurru (Tuulemurd): Windfall, wind breakage (in a wood).
Tuulemäe (Tuulemägi): Windy mountain, windy hill, windswept peak, dare I say it… wuthering heights?.
Tuuleveski (Tuuleveski): Windmill.
Tuuliku (Tuulik): Windmill.
Tuuslari (Tuuslar): Wise man, sorcerer or witch who knows how to raise the winds (perhaps due to conflation???), possibly by whistling; sorcerer from Finland who tried to rape Kalev's mother Linda.
Tuvi (Tuvi): Pigeon, dove.
Tõllu (Suur-Tõll): Legendary character who lived on the island of Saaremaa and spent much of his time throwing rocks at people, notably Vanatühi, Lord of the Underworld, literally "Old Empty" although sometimes translated as "useless old bugger" (see also Leiger).
Tõnismäe (Tõnismägi): St Anthony's mountain or hill. See Tõnismägi.
Tõnismägi (0): St Anthony's mountain or hill. Not to be confused with Tõnis Mägi (b. 1948), singer & pop musician. See Tõnismäe.
Tõnu (0): Tony, Anthony.
Tõru (Tõru): Acorn.
Tõusu (Tõus): Flood, or rising, tide; rise, upsurge, advance, boom.
Tähe (Täht): 1) Star; 2) Letter.
Tähesaju (Tähesadu): Meteorite shower (lit. starfall).
Tähetorni (Tähetorn): Observatory.
Tähtpea (Tähtpea): Scabious, gipsy rose, mournful widow, flowers all.
Täpiku (Täpik): Dotted or speckled.
Töökoja (Töökoda): Workshop, shop.
Tööstuse (Tööstus): Industry, manufacture; workshop, plant, factory.
Türi (0): Town in Järvamaa.
Türnpu K. (Konstantin Türnpu, 1865-1927): Conductor of various male choral groups.
Tüve (Tüvi): Stem, stalk, trunk, stock.
Ubalehe (Ubaleht): Buck or bog bean, Menyanthes trifoliata, a flowering plant of bogs and marshes.
Udeselja (Udeselg): Lit. Downy-back, moths of the lutestring and related families (Common Lutestring, Ochropacha duplaris, Poplar Lutestring, Tethea or, Satin Lutestring, Tetheella fluctuosa, Buff Arches, Habrosyne pyritoides, Yellow Horned, Achlya flavicornis, Figure of Eighty, Tethea ocularis, Peach Blossom, Thyatira batis).
Ugala (): One-time province of south-eastern Estonia, otherwise known as Ugaunia (most accurate), Ugandi, Ugania and Ungannia, present-day counties of Tartu, Põlva, Võru and Valga. The Latvian for Estonia is Igaunija.
Ujuki (Ujuk): Float, floater, bob (fishing or otherwise).
Uku (0): Mythological character: possibly a sky or thunder god, a weather and lightning sprite, or an alternative name for the more fictional mythological supreme god Taara, possibly related to Thor.
Umboja (Umboja): A brook which stops before entering a body of water.
Uneliblika (Uneliblikas): Large Chequered Skipper, Heteropterus morpheus (someone in the Tallinn Street name commission really likes butterflies).
Unna (Und): Trimmer (fishing device, a form of disk-shaped float from which the line descends???).
Urva (Urb): Catkin.
Ussilaka (Ussilakk): Truelove, or herb paris (not the city Paris, but from Latin par, paris, equal), due to its regular leaves, poisonous. Lit. Snake's umbrella.
Ussimäe (Ussimägi): Snake Hill, name of an ancient stronghold on the northern coast of Estonia, close to Kunda.
Uue Maailma (Uus Maailm): New world.
Uuepere (Uuspere): New farm, family, household.
Uus (0): New.
Uus Tatari (Uus Tatar): New Tartary, New Tatary.
Uus Turg (0): New market.
Uus-Kalamaja (Uus-Kalamaja): New fisherman's hut.
Uuslinna (Uuslinn): Newtown.
Uus-Maleva (Uus-Malev): New army (see
Uus-Pilliroo (Uus-Pilliroo): New reed, bulrush.
Uus-Sadama (Uus-Sadam): New harbour, port, haven.
Uustalu (Uustalu): New farm, farmstead.
Vaablase (Vaablane): Sawfly, hornet.
Vaagi (Vaag): Weighing-scales (see Vae).
Vaalu (Vaal): Wing of a (seine) net.
Vaarika (Vaarikas): Raspberry.
Vaate (Vaade): 1) Look, glance, eye; 2) Sight, spectacle, view, opinion, retrospect.
Vabaduse (Vabadus): Freedom, independence.
Vabarna (Vabarn): Alternative name for raspberry (see Vaarikas).
Vabaõhukooli (Vabaõhukool): Open-air school.
Vabaõhumuuseumi (Vabaõhumuuseum): Open-air museum.
Vabe (Vabe): Pole upon which nets are hung to dry.
Vabriku (Vabrik): Factory.
Vae (Vaag): Weighing-scales (Note: not content to have the most staggering number of declension types, 69, 1??? or 594), or possibly because of having them, many Estonian words can be declined in various ways (see Vaagi). If asked to choose, just say no: decline).
Vahe (Vahe): Interval, gap, middle, space in between; difference; Ma ei oska siin vahet: I can't tell the difference.
Vahepere (): Farm, family, household in the middle.
Vahtra (Vaher): Maple.
Vahtramäe (Vahtramägi): Maple mountain.
Vahtriku (Vahtrik): Maple forest.
Vaigu (Vaik): Resin, pitch.
Vaikne (0): Pacific (ocean).
Vaimu (Vaim): 1) Spirit, ghost, apparition; 2) Mind, mental power; 3) Woman farm labourer on corvée duty. Earliest records (17th-C) give the German name Spukgasse/Spukstrasse. The Russians knew it as ??? Strashnaya ulitsa (scary street). The Soviets, anti-superstitious and prosaic to the last, renamed it Vana (Old).
Vainu (Vainu): Grassplot; village green or common.
Vainutalu (Vainutalu): Farmstead or place by the common.
Vaksiku (Vaksik): Looper, caterpillar (and adult) of the Geometer moths. Bit complicated this one: vaksik comes from vaks a span. So possibly derived from another language, probably German, Spanner (word also used for shoe-trees and peeping-toms). But since the Latin (geometer, lit. land-measurer), English (looper, spanworm or inchworm) and Swedish names (mätarlarv, lit. measuring-larva and mätarfjäril, measuring-butterfly) all imply a similar notion, it may have arisen from simply observing their typical looping gait. Family includes Biston betularia of English "pollution as evolutionary agent" fame.
Valdeku (0): Estonian first name. Street previously known as "Punatähe", Red Star.
Valge (Valge): White.
Valgevase (Valgevask): Brass (lit. white copper).
Valguse (Valgus): Light, lighting, illumination.
Valguta (0): Name of 17th-C manor house in Tartumaa, (from German, Walguta).
Valli (Vall): 1) Wall, rampart, earthwork; 2) Halyard.
Valukoja (Valukoda): Foundry, forge.
Valve (Valve): Watch, lookout, surveillance, duty.
Vambola (0): Name given to one of two Russian destroyers hijacked by British and given to Estonia during WWI.
Vana turg (Vana turg): Old market.
Vana-Kalamaja (Vana-Kalamaja): Old fisherman's hut.
Vana-Kuuli (Vana-Kuul): Old bullet, old shot, old ball.
Vanalinn (Vanalinn): Oldtown.
Vana-Lõuna (Vana-Lõuna): Old-south, -southern, -southerly ("Old-Lunch", Lõuna, one hopes, is less likely).
Vana-Mustamäe (Vana-Mustamäe (Must mägi)): Old black hill, mountain.
Vana-Narva (Vana-Narva): Old Narva.
Vana-Posti (Vana-Post): 1) Old Post, or mail 2) Old Post, or stake; 3) Old Post, or sentry.
Vana-Pärnu (Vana-Pärnu): Old Pärnu (coastal town in SW Estonia).
Vana-Pääsküla (Vana-Pääsküla): See Pääsküla: old "escape/salvation village" or old "main village".
Vana-Rannamõisa (Vana-Rannamõis): Old Rannamõis.
Vana-Silla (Vana-Sild): Old bridge.
Vana-Tartu (Vana-Tartu): Old Tartu, university town in SE Estonia.
Vanaturu kael (0): Neck of the old market.
Vana-Veerenni (Vana-Veerenn): Old channel, gutter.
Vana-Viru (Vana-Viru): Old Viru.
Vanemuise (Vanemuine): God of music created by Faehlmann and Weizenberg in their Estonian mythology, name derived from Finnish Väinämöinen of folklore and Kalevala fame, giving its name to theatre in Tartu.
Vaniku (Vanik): Wreath, garland, .
Varbola (0): Town and hillfort: largest-known stronghold in 11th-to-13th-C Estonia.
Varese (Vares): Crow.
Variku (Varik): Brushwood, dense shrubbery.
Varju (Vari): 1) Shade, shadow; screen, cloak; 2) Shelter.
Varjulille (Varjulill): Woodruff, squinancy wort.
Varraku (Varrak): 1) Kalevipoeg character: the Lappish sage. Name derived from Varjaag, Estonian for Varangian (Old East Slavic: Varyag), the Viking traders, pirates, mercenaries (to 11-13th-C Kievan and Novgorodian princes among others), known mainly as bodyguard to the Byzantine Emperors; 2) Name of Estonian publisher.
Varre (Vars): Stalk, stem; handle, stock, pedicle.
Varsaallika (Varsaallikas): Foal's/Colt's/Filly's source/spring. Name of a spring feeding a river which once drained into the Tallinna Laht, Tallinn Bay or Bight.
Vasara (Vasar): Hammer.
Vase (Vask): Copper.
Vati (Vatt): 1) Short jacket, clothes; 2) wadding, padding, cotton wool (Fr. ouate); 3) an electrical Watt (be careful with your abbreviations).
Veduri (Vedur): Locomotive, iron horse.
Vee (Vesi): Water.
Veerenni (Veerenn): Channel, gutter, lit. water groove, channel.
Veeriku (Veerik): 1) Roller, something that rolls (the Rolling Stones would be Veerevad Kivid); 2) Edging, binding of a (traditional) skirt; or 3) if you believe Kreutzwald, a blood blister (from vere, blood) Kalevipoeg got between the toes from dancing too much.
Veerise (Veeris): Pebble.
Veetorni (Veetorn): Water-tower.
Vehema ():
Weizenbergi A. (August Weizenberg, 1837-1921): Sculptor and wide-ranging artist, writing fiction, poetry, composing songs, etc. His 17 years in Rome gave him his taste for classical aesthetics.
Vene (Vene): Russian (also an archaic term for a dugout canoe).
Vesikaare (Vesikaare): West-northwest.
Vesikupu (Vesikupu): Water lily, nenuphar.
Vesioina (Vesioina): Hydraulic ram.
Vesiravila (Vesiravila): Hydropathic, hydropathy establishment.
Vesiroosi (Vesiroosi): Water-lily.
Vesiveski (Vesiveski): Watermill.
Vesivärava (Vesivärav): Watergate.
Veski (Veski): Mill: "See on vesi tema veskile": that's grist (lit. water) to his mill.
Veskimetsa (): Mill in/near/by the woods.
Veskimäe (): Mill hill.
Veskitammi (): Weir, milldam.
Vesse (0): Vesse (or Wesse), leader of the Jüriöö ülestõus (St. George’s Night Uprising) against the German invaders, beginning on 23rd April 1343.
Vete (): Waters, singular: vee: "olema vee ahjus", to have water in the oven, to be on your uppers, to be hard up.
Viadukti (): Viaduct.
Videviku (): 1) Twilight, gloaming, dusk, owllight; 2) Accordiing to Kreutzwald, the Moon's spouse; 3) One of the world's creator's three servants, a cowmaid, with whom the moon fell in love with and lay, "mouth to mouth and lip to lip", as a result of which, one of her oxen was eaten by a wolf.
Wiedemanni F.J. (Ferdinand Johann Wiedemann, 1805-1887): Linguist, the first to describe Estonian's peculiar opposition of three phonological quantities (for more details, ask a native, they probably won't know either); compiler of various dictionaries or grammars: northern coastal Estonian, Võru, Livonian, Syjranisch…
Vigla (): 1) Pitchfork; 2) Primitive gimlet.
Vihu (): 1) Sheaf (of leaves, etc.; 2) Part, fascicle.
Vihuri (): Whirlwind.
Viidika (): Bleak, Alburnus alburnus (a fish, for those in doubt).
Viige (): ???.
Viimsi (): Name of a manor house (German: Wiems) located a few km east of Tallinn, first mentioned in 1471.
Viiralti E. (Eduard Viiralt): One of Estonia's more outstanding artists, born in St Petersburg province, Viiralt spent most of his life in Paris (and, buried in Père-Lachaise, death too), travelling widely, leaving a significant collection of drawings and prints.
Viirpuu (): Hawthorn, blackthorn.
Vikerkaare (): Rainbow.
Vikerlase (): Estonian viking. Vikerlased (Vikings), was the first Estonian opera to be written, premièred in Tartu's Vanamuise theatre on 8th Sept. 1928.
Viki (): 1) Common vetch; 2) limestone paste; 3) bung, spigot.
Vilde E. (Eduard Vilde): Prolific writer (33 volumes of novels, stories, plays, travelogues and humorous pieces), considered the first modern European in Estonia, and acclaimed as one of its greatest writers. There is a sculpture of him sitting next to his namesake Oscar Wilde outside the former Wilde printing house now pub in Vallikraavi (moat, counterscarp) in Tartu.
Vilisuu (): Now rarely-used bogey-man type threat for children: Ära mine õue, vilisuu tuleb!, Don't go out, the (literally) fruit-mouth is coming!.
Viljaku (Karl Viljaku, 1887-1917): Possibly, Estonian folklorist.
Viljandi (): Town in southern Estonia first mentioned in 1283. Major fortification of the Hanseatic Livonian Order, today home to the annual July Viljandi Folk Music Festival.
Villardi (): Uncertain, known as Willase in 1875 after local peasant farmer Karl Willase (< willane/villane, woollen) or Wilas, but recorded as Villari in an 1885 Tallinn guide book and suggested (by Kivi) as named (erroneously) after local landlord Willert, then renamed Villardi from 1923 (with a brief interlude (1950-1991) named after Joosep Laar, one of the 11 Estonians ever to receive a Gold Star of Honour by the Soviet Union), one year after a physical map of Estonia drawn by a certain Ad. Villard was published in Tallinn, suggesting a logical sequence of minor copying errors.
Villkäpa (): Probably hele-villkäpp, the pale tussock moth, Calliteara pudibunda, but other candidates include tume-villkäpp or tuhk-villkäpp, the dark tussock moth, Dicallomera fascelina, the puu-villkäpp, Gynaephora selenitica, the puuse-villkäpp, Calliteara abietis and so on until you want to give up insects for good.
Vilmsi J. (Jüri Vilmsi): Along with former President Konstantin Päts (no street named after him, although see Kentmanni) and Konstanti Konik, one of the three members of the "Rescue Committee" which proclaimed Estonian independence on the 24 February 1918, assumed executed in Helsinki by German Expeditionary Forces in April the same year.
Vilu (): Cool weather; cool, chilly, shade.
Vimma (): 1) Vimba, a species of Eurasian carp (Vimba vimba), also known as vimm, vimmakala, vemmakala, sirt, sirk, kottsuu, podust, podus; 2) Grudge, ill-feeling; 3) Incubation (disease); 4) Hunch (e.g. on the back).
Vindi (): 1) Finch; 2) Endless screw (probably not what you think); 3) Card game.
Vineeri (): Plywood, veneer.
Virbi (): Name of a marsh/bog on Saaremaa, or point on N tip of Naissaar, site of lighthouse dating back to 1788, (name probably of Swedish origin).
Virmalise (): Aurora borealis, northern lights (usually plural in Estonian too).
Viru Väljak (0): Viru Square, formerly known as Stalin Square, Russian market... The name Viru is very deep-rooted in the Estonian consciousness. Virland is mentioned in various Icelandic sagas, Viro is Finnish for Estonia, and Finnish vireä means lively, vivacious, hale and hearty, etc., so it may well have originated from self-designation as "true/real beings/people" (as opposed to the next-door neighbours) or, going further back, the Finno-Ugric proto word for "live", "life", *elä (questionably related to the Etruscan "vital", "lively", ala), cf. too, Hungarian elev-en, "lively". The Võru people/language in SE Estonia may well be derived from the same source. The two present-day counties of Ida-Viru and Lääne-Viru cover the approximate original homeland of the Vironians.
Virumägi (0): Viru Hill.
Viruväräva mägi (): Viru gate.
Virve (): Flicker (sound, light or wave), wavering, ripple.
Wismari (): Baltic Sea port in Germany dating back to pre 12th-C, one of the earliest Hanseatic League towns. Used as setting for Nosferatu, the 1922 Dracula film.
Vismeistri ():
Viu (): Buzzard (also interjection Viu! meaning Whew! Whiz! Ping! or other onomatopoeia of your choice).
Volta (0): After the "Volta" electrotechnical factory (now located in Tööstuse) founded by the Carl and Christian Luther brothers in 1899.
Voo (1) Voos = Vood; 2) Voog): 1) Annual crop, harvest; 2) Flow, current, flood; billow, surge.
Voolu (Vool): 1) Stream, flow, current, tide; 2) (Electrical) current; 3) Trend. Vastuvoolu against the current, upstream, pärivoolu with the current, downstream.
Voorimehe (Voorimees): Cabman, coachman, carrier (voor = cart, waggon, etc.).
Vormsi (0): Fourth largest island in Estonia, between Hiiumaa and mainland. Historically colonial homeland to Swedes. Its original name, Ormsö, Snake/Worm island, seems to have generated its current name through mispronounciation: Ormsö > Vormsi ("island" in Estonian is saar), but perhaps influenced too by German "worm" = Wurm.
Vuti (Vutt): Quail.
Võha (Võhk): Arum.
Võhumõõga (Võhumõõk): Common iris, flag, fleur-de-lys.
Võidu (Võit): Victory, success, triumph, achievement, winnings.
Võidujooksu (Võidujooks): Footrace, race.
Võistluse (Võistlus): Competition, rivalry.
Võra (Võra): Top of a tree, crown of a forest.
Võrgu (Võrk): Net, mesh, network, web, grid, plexus.
Võrgukivi (Võrgukivi): Small stone used as weight for fishing-net, or larges stone used as anchor.
Võrse (Võrse): Shoot, sucker, sprout.
Võru (0): Town, region and dialect in south-eastern Estonia. Although võru also means ring, band, hoop or collar, this is unlikely to be the origin of this street name, see Viru.
Võsa (Võsa): Brushwood, scrub, coppice.
Võsara (Võsar): Billhook.
Võsu (Võsu): 1) Shoot, sprig, outgrowth; 2) offspring, descendent.
Vägiheina (Vägihein): Mullein, a flowering-plant, aka Adam's flannel, Aaron's rod, shepherd's club, & hag-taper (black mullein).
Vähi (Vähk): Crayfish.
Väike (Väike): Small, little.
(0): Small coastal gate.
Väike-Ameerika (0): Small, little America (although tempting to suggest Petty America, as in Petty, i.e. little [petit], France, London, but the London version was due to the one-time high population of French people in the area, which cannot be said of Tallinn).
Väike-Karja (Väike-Karja): Little cattle gate (see Suur-Karja).
Väike-Kloostri (Väike-Klooster): Little abbey, cloister, monastery, convent.
Väike-Laagri (Väike-Laager): Small Camp.
Väike-Liivamäe (Väike-Liivamägi): Trouble here. Since anything higher than 17 m is considered a mountain in Estonia, I think we’ll call this one Minuscule sandy bumplet.
Väike-Paala (Väike-Paala): Little Paala (see Paala).
Väike-Patarei (Väike-Patarei): Little battery.
Väikese Illimari (Väikese Illimari): After the eponymous hero of Väike Illimar, ühe lapsepõlve lugu (Little Illimar, a childhood tale), by Friedebert Tuglas (1886-1971) who lived at No.12 (then known as Veere < Veer, border, edge, brink), now a museum devoted to him and Marie Under, previous writer-occupant.
Väike-Sõjamäe (Väike-Sõjamägi): Little military vantage point.
Väike-Õismäe (Väike-Õismäe): Little Flower hill.
Väina (Väin): Strait, sound, pass.
Välgu (Välk): Lightning. Useful expression: "Välk ja pauk!": Lightning and crash/bang! ≈ Damn it!.
Välja (Väli): Field, plain, green. In compound words, it can also mean "without" (as in outside), "outside" or "beyond".
Väo (): Name of a lesser manor house in Väo Harjumaa (German: Faeht).
Värava (Värav): Gate, gateway.
Väriheina (Värihein): Quaking-grass.
Värsi (Värss): 1) Verse; 2) Steer, young bull.
Värvi (Värv): Colour, paint, dye, tint, hue.
Västra (Västar): Fishing-spear.
Västriku (Västrik): Wagtail, probably the white wagtail, Motacilla alba, rather than the grey, M. alba, more common in the south-western part of Europe.
Vääna (0): Name of town, river and stately home (mõis) some 20 km west of Tallinn.
Õie (Õis): Flower, blossom.
Õilme (Õis): Flower, blossom.
Õismäe (Õismägi): Flower hill.
Õitse (Õitse): Inflorescence.
Õle (Õlg): 1) Shoulder (hence any coleopteran antero-lateral elytral protuberance); 2) Arm of a balance; 3) Straw.
Õnne (Õnn): Luck, fortune, happiness - "Palju õnne": Happy Birthday!.
Õpetajate (Õpetajad (Sing. Õpetaja)): Teachers.
Õuna (Õun): Apple.
Õunapuu (Õunapuu): Apple-tree.
Ädala (Ädal): Aftermath, second hay.
Äia (Äi): Father-in-law.
Äigrumäe (0): Town about 7 km NE of Tallinn.
Ääre (Äär): Edge, border, brim, margin.
Ääsi (Ääs): Forge.
Ööbiku (Ööbik): Nightingale (with very soggy elastic and a great stretch of the imagination, this word can be extended to contain one of if not the longest sequence of vowels in Estonia. Follow me: töö is night, öö is work, töööö is night-work, therefore a tööööööbik is night-working (i.e. -singing) nightingale (thanks to Ardo-Jako Olev). Of similar linguistic value to this is, perhaps, the 13-letter word for constipation in English, beginning and ending with "n".
Öölase (Öölane): Noctuid owlet moth (numerous species).
Ülase (Ülane): Anemone, windflower.
Ülemiste (Ülemiste): Lake, now reservoir, in Tallinn; mythological character: the old man of Ülemiste, Ülemiste Vanake.
Üliõpilaste (Üliõpilased [Sing. Üliõpilane]): University students.
Ümera (0): River (in present-day Latvia: Jumara) upon which Estonians fought and beat Teutonic Knight invaders in 1210, described in Mait Metsanurk's Ümera jõel (On Ümera River).
Teeääre (Teeäär): River (in present-day Latvia: Jumara) upon which Estonians fought and beat Teutonic Knight invaders in 1210, described in Mait Metsanurk's Ümera jõel, On Ümera River.