Where does “metsänpeitto” come from?

metsänpeitto (Finnish) comes from Finnish peitto, from Finnish peittää, from Proto-Finnic peittädäk, from Proto-Finnic pej-, from Proto-Uralic *pälkä — thumb.

metsänpeitto (Finnish): Getting lost in a forest in a way that, according to folklore, one suddenly no longer recognizes the terrain around them and becomes invisible to others, only to (possibly) later get their bearings again

Definitions

  1. Getting lost in a forest in a way that, according to folklore, one suddenly no longer recognizes the terrain around them and becomes invisible to others, only to (possibly) later get their bearings again

Ancestry of “metsänpeitto”, step by step

metsänpeitto traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish peitto

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishpeittoblanket; cover, coverage
2Finnishpeittääto cover
3Proto-Finnicpeittädäkto cover; to hide, to conceal
4Proto-Finnicpej-—
5Proto-Uralic*pälkäthumb

via Finnish metsä

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishmetsäforest, woods; bush; hunting
2Proto-Finnic*meccä—
3Proto-Balticmedjas—
Every word from Proto-Uralic *pälkä →Every word from Proto-Finnic pej- →Every word from Proto-Finnic peittädäk →