*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Finn

From Old English Finnas (“the Sami”) (plural), from Old Norse finnr (“a hunter-gatherer”), from Proto-Germanic *finnaz (which see for more). Possibly originally meaning a ‘finder’ of food, referring to nomadic hunter-gat

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A national of Finland. · A person of ethnic Finnish (Suomi) ancestry; a non-Swedish, non-Sami Finlander. · A member of any Finnic nationality, such as (more narrowly) a Baltic Finn such as a Karelian or Estonian, or (more broadly) a Volga Finn or Perm Finn. · A male given name from Old Norse.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Old English Finnas (“the Sami”) (plural), from Old Norse finnr (“a hunter-gatherer”), from Proto-Germanic *finnaz (which see for more). Possibly originally meaning a ‘finder’ of food, referring to nomadic hunter-gatherers, particularly the Sami.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*pent-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionFinnasang · the Sami
  • Derivation mentionfinnrnon · a <i class="Latn mention" lang="en">hunter-gatherer</i>
  • Derivation mention*finnazgem-pro
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*pent-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "Finnas",
        "t": "the Sami"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English Finnas (“the Sami”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "non",
        "3": "finnr",
        "t": "a <i class=\"Latn mention\" lang=\"en\">hunter-gatherer</i>"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse finnr (“a hunter-gatherer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*finnaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *finnaz"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Finnas",
      "Finnas#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "finnr",
      "finnr#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "hunter-gatherer",
      "hunter-gatherer#English"
    ],
    [
      "*finnaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/finnaz"
    ],
    [
      "Sami",
      "Sami"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A national of Finland.",
        "A person of ethnic Finnish (Suomi) ancestry; a non-Swedish, non-Sami Finlander.",
        "A member of any Finnic nationality, such as (more narrowly) a Baltic Finn such as a Karelian or Estonian, or (more broadly) a Volga Finn or Perm Finn.",
        "A male given name from Old Norse."
      ],
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
name

A male given name from Irish. · A surname. · A river in County Donegal, Ireland, which joins the Mourne to form the Foyle. The same river borders onto County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, between Clady and Strabane.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

An Old and Middle Irish form of Fionn.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [],
  "links": [
    [
      "Fionn",
      "Fionn"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A male given name from Irish.",
        "A surname.",
        "A river in County Donegal, Ireland, which joins the Mourne to form the Foyle. The same river borders onto County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, between Clady and Strabane."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Finn →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Rmlubg