Etymology
The word pohja means either "north" or "bottom", and maa is "land". In ancient Scandinavian understanding, the north was the bottom of the world, where the Sun disappeared each night. The word was associated with the cardinal direction because the houses were constructed such that the back of the house faced north, the coldest direction.
Read more about this topic: Ostrobothnia (historical Province)
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)