vauhti

Possibly derived from onomatopoeic vauh, a wooshing sound. Related to Karelian vauhti and Votic vauhti.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɑu̯hti/, [ˈʋɑ̝u̯xt̪i]
• Rhymes: -ɑuhti
• Syllabification^(key): vauh‧ti

vauhti

1. speed, velocity, pace (see usage notes)

   kova vauhti ― high speed

   hypätä kyydistä vauhdissa ― to jump out of a moving vehicle

   Kovassa menossa vauhti alkaa hirvittää.

   The speed starts to get scary when going fast.

2. (not technical) momentum

   Synonym: liikemäärä (in physics)

   ottaa vauhtia ― to take a running start, take a run-up; to run to pick up speed

   Pyöräilijä joutui kävelemään, kun hänen vauhtinsa ei riittänyt ylittämään mäkeä.

   The cyclist had to walk when he didn't have enough momentum to make it uphill.

3. (physics) speed (magnitude of the velocity)
4. (slang) speed (slang term for methamphetamine)

In everyday language, the words vauhti and nopeus are synonyms (as is the case with the English equivalents speed and velocity). In scientific use, they have however been redefined (as happened in English) to refer to the scalar and vector aspects of motion, respectively. So in science, vauhti only refers to a movement's magnitude (speed), whereas nopeus also includes information about a movement's direction.

In everyday language, vauhti is also used to refer to momentum.

• “vauhti”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-04

• huvita