Outdated words dropped for modern vocab in 2025 Estonian dictionary
"ÕS 2025," the newest edition of the Dictionary of Standard Estonian, was released in print and online Thursday, swapping outdated and vulgar terms for more modern language.
The orthographic dictionary primarily covers neutral and formal language used in official communication. Starting January 1, 2026, ÕS 2025 will serve as the foundation for standard written Estonian.
"ÕS 2025" features new Estonian words and provides updated guidance on word conjugation, declension and spelling. In addition to roughly 60,000 main entries, the dictionary includes about 30,000 compound words and derivatives as examples.
According to the Institute of the Estonian Language (EKI), the new edition builds on its predecessor but updates vocabulary to reflect contemporary usage.
The latest "ÕS" also reflects changes in the relationship between general and specialized language, generally including technical terms that are in everyday use.
Place-name information has been expanded as well. The new "ÕS" lists nearly 7,000 place names, including all 4,500 official settlement names in Estonia.
What's out — and what's in
Among the new additions are words tied to life in the 21st century, including väevõime (military capability), tünnipomm (barrel bomb), sõjaudu (fog of war), kuumasaar (heat island), ringdisain (circular economy), kõnnikoosolek (walking meeting), kaugvasuvõtt (telehealth visit, virtual appointment) and kiirtestima (to rapid-test, to take a rapid test).
Many of the new entries come from the military sphere and climate-related vocabulary. A kerksuskeskus (resilience center) refers to a gathering point where people can access water and electricity during an emergency or crisis.
Sinimajandus (blue economy) refers to economic activities associated with the ocean and seas, including more specifically economic activity supporting the preservation of the marine environment, while käejälg (handprint) now denotes a positive impact on climate change, deliberately contrasting with the negative connotation of footprint in terms like ökoloogiline or süsinikujalajälg (ecological or carbon footprint).
Because of the book's limited physical size, only about one in every three words from the full selection made it into the printed dictionary. As a result, numerous rare, archaic, dialect and vulgar terms were left out.
Words that did not make the cut in 2025 include the verb rükkima, which means to push or pull something heavy, and turnips, or specifically fodder turnip, as well as aukas (honorable), hiidanakonda (giant anaconda), inertskoormus (inertia load) and magnetlint (magnetic tape).
The new edition also introduces small but notable changes to standard Estonian spelling based on real-world language use.
A formal event or gala may now be written as either gala or gaala, and a military training area may appear in standard written Estonian as either polügon or polügoon — such as the Estonian Defense Forces' (EDF) Central Training Area, or keskpolügoon.
The previous edition of the Dictionary of Standard Estonian dates back to 2018.
"ÕS 2025" is available for purchase in publisher EKSA's online store and from bookstores nationwide.
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Editor: Marko Tooming, Aleksander Krjukov, Aili Vahtla
