Tavastia

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proper noun

A historical province of Sweden, c. 1250 to 1809, and of Finland, since 1809. Official name: Häme.

OriginMedieval Latin Tavastia ← Old East Norse Tafæistaland →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A historical province of Sweden, c. 1250 to 1809, and of Finland, since 1809. Official name: Häme.
  2. Tavastia Proper (a region in Finland; official name: Kanta-Häme).
  3. Päijänne Tavastia (a region in Finland; official name: Päijät-Häme).

Origin

  1. Old East NorseTafæistaland
  2. Medieval LatinTavastia
  3. EnglishTavastia

Borrowed from Medieval Latin Tavastia, equivalent to Tavast + -ia from Old East Norse Tafæistaland (attested in 11th century runestone Gs 13 as ᛆ ᛏᛆᚠᛋᛏᛆᛚᚭᚿᛏᛁ, transliterated "a tafstalãnti", normalized "a Tafæistalandi" 'in Tavastia'), from Tafæistr (“Tavast”) + land, the former probably being derived from tafʀ (“laggard”) + Æistʀ (“Estonian”).

More words from Medieval Latin, Old East Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish Häme
  • Hämehistorical province
French Häme, Tavastie
  • Hämehistorical province
  • Tavastiehistorical province
Russian Тавастия, Хяме
  • Тавастия (Tavastija)historical province
  • Хяме (Xjame)historical province
Swedish Tavastland
  • Tavastlandhistorical province
Cite this entry
APA

Tavastia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tavastia

MLA

“Tavastia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tavastia. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tavastia,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tavastia.

Source: Tavastia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.