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FINNISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

eli.

that is, that is to say, i.e.; in other words, to put it another way; as in (used to introduce a clarification or explanation)

3 characters2 syllables approx.Suomi language

Meaning & usage

conj/ˈeli(ˣ)/[ˈe̞li(ʔ)]
  1. that is, that is to say, i.e.; in other words, to put it another way; as in (used to introduce a clarification or explanation)

    coordinating
    Hän tulee tänne maanantaina eli ylihuomenna.
    Kuivajää sublimoituu lämmetessään kaasuksi, eli se muuttuu suoraan kaasuksi muuttumatta välillä nesteeksi.
  2. or, also known as, AKA, a.k.a. (used to introduce an alternative name)

    coordinating
    Kikka eli Kirsi Sirén
    ruokasuola eli natriumkloridi
  3. or, also known as, AKA, a.k.a. (used to introduce an alternative name) or (used to introduce an alternate title for a work)

    coordinating
    Hobitti eli sinne ja takaisin
  4. so (used to connect previous conversation or events to the following question; used to introduce a rhetorical question)

    coordinating · informal
    Eli miten se tarina päättyy?
    Eli kävit siellä eilen.
  5. or

    archaic · coordinating · dialectal
    Lähdetkö mukaan eli et?
Where this word comes from

Either from the pronominal stem e- seen in että (compare mikäli, from mikä), or alternatively a North Germanic loan (compare Old Norse ella, ellar, from Proto-Germanic *aljaz). Also compare Estonian elik.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.