Where does “päänvaiva” come from?

päänvaiva (Finnish) comes from Finnish vaiva, from Proto-Finnic vaiva, from Proto-Germanic waiwô, from Proto-Indo-European wai — oh!; woe!.

päänvaiva (Finnish): headache, trouble, pain nuisance; unpleasant problem, thing or person

Definitions

  1. headache, trouble, pain nuisance; unpleasant problem, thing or person

Ancestry of “päänvaiva”, step by step

päänvaiva traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Finnish vaiva

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishvaivabother, inconvenience; ailment
2Proto-Finnicvaivabother, inconvenience; pain, illness, torment
3Proto-Germanicwaiwôwoe, grief, misery; evil, wickedness, malice
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwaioh!; woe!

via Finnish pää

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Finnishpäähead; end, tip
2Proto-Finnicpäähead
3Proto-Uralicpäŋehead
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wai →Every word from Proto-Germanic waiwô →Every word from Proto-Finnic vaiva →