Where does “miekkavalas” come from?

miekkavalas (Finnish) comes from Finnish valas, from Proto-Samic fālēs, from Proto-Germanic hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos — large fish; sheatfish.

miekkavalas (Finnish): killer whale

Definitions

  1. killer whale

Ancestry of “miekkavalas”, step by step

miekkavalas traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish valas

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishvalaswhale
2Proto-Samicfālēswhale
3Proto-Germanichwalazwhale, sheatfish
4Proto-Indo-European(s)kʷáloslarge fish; sheatfish

via Finnish miekka

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishmiekkasword
2Proto-Finnicmeekkasword
3Proto-Germanicmēkijazsword
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kʷálos →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwalaz →Every word from Proto-Samic fālēs →
miekkavalas — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer