pitäjä

pitää +‎ -jä. As a term for a territorial area or subdivision, probably originally in the sense of each territory which organized their own feasts as a larger community. The two theories differ here, one claiming that these feasts would be for pagan festivals, while the latter is that they were organized for tax collectors during the Middle Ages as was required.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpitæjæ/, [ˈpit̪æjæ]
• Rhymes: -itæjæ
• Syllabification^(key): pi‧tä‧jä

pitäjä

1. rural municipality, parish; a regional unit or administrative division comprising multiple villages

   Synonym: (in Finland) maalaiskunta

2. holder (one who holds, grasps, grips)
3. keeper (one who keeps an establishment)

   majatalon pitäjä ― innkeeper

The term "pitäjä" is no longer in official use in Finland (since the 1860s or 1870s), but is still used informally and in historical contexts as well as for some similar divisions in other countries (such as the socken in Sweden).

• “pitäjä”, 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 2023-07-03