Tallinn

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Estonian Tallinn (“Tallinn”), compound of old Taani (“Denmark”) and linn ("town", originally "castle").

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑːlɪn/
• IPA^(key): /ˈtælɪn/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːlɪn

Proper noun

Tallinn

2. The capital city of Estonia.
   • 2025 September 21, Luke Harding, “German jets scrambled after Russian military plane flies over Baltic Sea”, in The Guardian‎^[4], →ISSN:

     Tallinn – a staunch supporter of Ukraine – has requested consultations under Nato’s article four, which allows members to meet with allies if their security is threatened.

Derived terms

• Tallinner

Translations

capital of Estonia

• Afrikaans: Tallinn
• Albanian: Talin (sq)
• Amharic: ታሊን (talin)
• Arabic: تَالِين f (tālīn)
• Aragonese: Tallinn
• Armenian: Տալլին (Tallin)
• Aromanian: Tallinn
• Asturian: Tallín (ast)
• Azerbaijani: Tallin (az)
• Basque: Tallinn (eu)
• Belarusian: Та́лін m (Tálin)
• Bengali: তাল্লিন (bn) (tallin)
• Breton: Tallinn
• Bulgarian: Та́лин m (Tálin)
• Burmese: တယ်လင်းမြို့ (tailang:mrui.)
• Catalan: Tallinn
• Chechen: Таллин (Tallin)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 塔林 (taap³ lam⁴)

  Mandarin: 塔林 (zh) (Tǎlín)

• Chuvash: Таллин (Tallin)
• Cornish: Tallinn
• Corsican: Tallinn
• Czech: Tallinn (cs) m
• Danish: Tallinn (da), Reval (old name)
• Dutch: Tallinn (nl) n
• Erzya: Таллин (Tallin), Тал ош (Tal oš), Ревель (Reveľ)
• Esperanto: Talino (eo)
• Estonian: Tallinn (et), Reval (obsolete or historical)
• Faroese: Tallinn m
• Finnish: Tallinna (fi), Rääveli (fi) (no longer current)
• French: Tallinn (fr) m, Tallin (fr) m
• Galician: Tallinn (gl), Talín (gl)
• Georgian: ტალინი (ka) (ṭalini)
• German: Tallinn (de) n, Reval (de) n (no longer current)
• Greek: Ταλλίν (el) n (Tallín), Ταλίν (el) n (Talín)
• Haitian Creole: Talin
• Hebrew: טאלין \ טָלִין f (talin)
• Hindi: ताल्लिन m (tāllin)
• Hungarian: Tallinn (hu)
• Icelandic: Tallinn
• Ido: Tallinn
• Indonesian: Tallinn
• Interlingua: Tallinn
• Irish: Tallinn
• Italian: Tallinn
• Japanese: タリン (ja) (Tarin)
• Kazakh: Таллин (Tallin)
• Khmer: តាលិន (km) (taalɨn)
• Komi-Zyrian: Таллинн (Talľinn)
• Korean: 탈린 (Tallin)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: Tallinn

• Kyrgyz: Таллинн (ky) (Tallinn)
• Ladino: Tallin
• Lao: ຕານລີນ (tān līn)
• Latin: Tallinna f, Revalia f, Castrum Danorum n
• Latvian: Tallina (lv) f, Rēvele f (no longer current)
• Ligurian: Tallinn
• Lingala: Tallinn
• Lithuanian: Talinas (lt) m
• Lombard: Tallinn
• Low German:

  German Low German: Revel

• Luxembourgish: Tallinn (lb)
• Macedonian: Талин m (Talin)
• Malay: Tallinn
• Malayalam: ടാലിന് (ṭāliṉ)
• Maltese: Talinn
• Manx: Tallinn
• Marathi: तालिन (tālin)
• Mari:

  Eastern Mari: Таллинн (Talĺinn)

• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: Таллин (Tallin)

• Nahuatl: Tallin
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: Tallinn (no), Reval (obsolete)

• Occitan: Tallinn
• Ossetian: Таллин (Tallin)
• Papiamentu: Tallinn
• Paraguayan Guarani: ^{(please verify)} Talin
• Pashto: تالين m (tālín)
• Pennsylvania German: Tallinn
• Persian: تالین (tâlin)
• Piedmontese: Tallin
• Pitcairn-Norfolk: Tallinn
• Polish: Tallinn (pl), Rewel m (no longer current)
• Portuguese: Taline
• Quechua: Tallinn
• Romani:

  Vlax Romani: Tallinn

• Romanian: Tallinn (ro)
• Russian: Та́ллин (ru) m (Tállin), Та́ллинн (ru) m (Tállinn), Ре́вель m (Révelʹ) (no longer current), Колыва́нь (ru) f (Kolyvánʹ) (no longer current)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: Tallinn

• Samogitian: Talins
• Saterland Frisian: Tallinn
• Scottish Gaelic: Tallinn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Талин m

  Roman: Tallinn m, Tallin m

• Slovak: Tallinn m
• Slovene: Talin m
• Sorbian: Tallinn

  Lower: Tallinn m

  Upper: Tallinn m

• Spanish: Tallin (es)
• Swahili: Tallinn
• Swedish: Tallinn (sv), Reval (no longer current)
• Tagalog: Tallinn
• Tajik: Таллин (Tallin)
• Tamil: தாலின் (tāliṉ)
• Tatar: Таллинн (Tallinn), Таллин (Tallin)
• Thai: ทาลลินน์ (th) (taal-lin)
• Tibetan: ཏཱལ་་ལིན (tāl lin)
• Tok Pisin: Talin
• Turkish: Tallinn (tr)
• Turkmen: Tallin
• Udmurt: Таллин (Talľin)
• Ukrainian: Та́ллінн (uk) m (Tállinn), Та́ллін m (Tállin)
• Urdu: تالین m (tālin, tallin)
• Uyghur: تاللىن (tallin)
• Uzbek: Tallin
• Vietnamese: Ta-lin
• Volapük: Tallinn
• Võro: Talliin
• Waray-Waray: Tallinn
• Welsh: Tallinn
• West Frisian: Tallin
• Yiddish: טאַלין n (talin), רעוול (revl)
• Yoruba: Tallinn

Afrikaans

Proper noun

Tallinn

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Derived terms

• Tallinner
• Tallinns

Asturian

Proper noun

Tallinn m

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Czech

Alternative forms

• Talin

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtalɪn]

Proper noun

Tallinn m inan (relational adjective tallinnský)

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Declension

Declension of Tallinn (sg-only hard masculine inanimate)

	singular
nominative	Tallinn
genitive	Tallinnu
dative	Tallinnu
accusative	Tallinn
vocative	Tallinne
locative	Tallinnu
instrumental	Tallinnem

Further reading

• “Tallin”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Danish

Proper noun

Tallinn

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Dutch

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Tallinn n

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Estonian

The old town of Tallinn, in Estonia.

Etymology

The origin of the capital name is disputed:

• Most likely from Old Estonian Tanin lidna (whence Tanillidna > Talilinna > Tallinna > Tallinn), equivalent to Taani (“Danish”) + linn (“city; fortress, castle”), from Proto-Finnic *litna (“town, city; fortification, fortress”).
• An alternative theory derives it from tali (“winter”), equivalent to talv (“winter”), from Proto-Finnic *talvi (“winter”), from Proto-Finno-Ugric *tälwä (“winter”) or from talu (“farm, farmstead”), from Proto-Finnic *talo (“farm, farmstead”), from Baltic, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *talˀa- + linn (“city; fortress, castle”), from Proto-Finnic *litna (“town, city; fortification, fortress”).

The form Tallinn is official since 1933. Before, the official form was Tallinna, now very rare in the nominative. This makes Tallinn the only Estonian placename not to end in a vowel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑlʲːːinː/ (Official, also Eastern Estonia)
• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑlʲːin(ː)/ (Northern Estonia)
• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑlʲin(ɑ)/ (Western Estonia)
• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑlʲnɑ/ (Southern Estonia)
• Rhymes: -ɑlːinː
• Hyphenation: Tal‧linn

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Tallinn

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Harju, Estonia)

   Tallinn on Eesti suurim linn

   Tallinn is the largest city in Estonia

Declension

Declension of Tallinn (ÕS type 22i/külm, length gradation)
		singular	plural
nominative		Tallinn	—
accusative	nom.
	gen.	Tallinna
genitive			—
partitive		Tallinna	—
illative		Tallinna Tallinnasse	—
inessive		Tallinnas	—
elative		Tallinnast	—
allative		Tallinnale	—
adessive		Tallinnal	—
ablative		Tallinnalt	—
translative		Tallinnaks	—
terminative		Tallinnani	—
essive		Tallinnana	—
abessive		Tallinnata	—
comitative		Tallinnaga	—

Derived terms

• Tallinna laht (“Tallinn bay”), tallinna keel (“North Estonian”), tallinnakeelne (“North Estonian”)
• tallinlane (“Tallinner; inhabitant of Tallinn”), tallinlanna (“(female) Tallinner”)

Descendants

• → English: Tallinn
• → Norwegian Bokmål: Tallinn, Tallin
• → Polish: Tallinn

References

• Tallinn in Sõnaveeb (Eesti Keele Instituut)
• “Tallinn”, in [ÕS] Eesti õigekeelsussõnaraamat ÕS 2018 [Estonian Spelling Dictionary] (in Estonian) (online version), Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus (Estonian Language Foundation), 2018, →ISBN

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta.lin/

• Audio (France (Paris)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Tallinn f

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Proper noun

Tallinn n (proper noun, genitive Tallinns or (optionally with an article) Tallinn)

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɒlːinː]
• Hyphenation: Tal‧linn
• Rhymes: -inː

Proper noun

Tallinn

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Declension

Inflection of Tallinn

	singular	plural
nominative	Tallinn	—
accusative	Tallinnt	—
dative	Tallinn-nak	—
instrumental	Tallinn-nal	—
causal-final	Tallinnért	—
translative	Tallinn-ná	—
terminative	Tallinnig	—
essive-formal	Tallinnként	—
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	Tallinnban	—
superessive	Tallinnon	—
adessive	Tallinn-nál	—
illative	Tallinnba	—
sublative	Tallinnra	—
allative	Tallinnhoz	—
elative	Tallinnból	—
delative	Tallinnról	—
ablative	Tallinntól	—
non-attributive possessive – singular	Tallinné	—
non-attributive possessive – plural	Tallinnéi	—

Possessive forms of Tallinn

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	Tallinnom	—
2nd person sing.	Tallinnod	—
3rd person sing.	Tallinnja	—
1st person plural	Tallinnunk	—
2nd person plural	Tallinnotok	—
3rd person plural	Tallinnjuk	—

Derived terms

• tallinni

Icelandic

Proper noun

Tallinn n (proper noun, indeclinable)

1. Tallinn (the capital of Estonia)

Declension

Declension of Tallinn (sg-only neuter)

indefinite singular
nominative	Tallinn
accusative	Tallinn
dative	Tallinn
genitive	Tallinn

Italian

Proper noun

Tallinn m

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

Norwegian Bokmål

View of Tallinn from St. Olaf's church, Estonia.

Etymology

From Estonian Tallinn (“Tallinn”), where the origin is disputed:

• Possibly from Old Estonian Tanin lidna, equivalent to Taani (“Danish”) + linn (“city; fortress, castle”), from Proto-Finnic *litna (“town, city; fortification, fortress”).
• Possibly from tali (“winter”), equivalent to talv (“winter”), from Proto-Finnic *talvi (“winter”), from Proto-Finno-Ugric *tälwä (“winter”) or from talu (“farm, farmstead”), from Proto-Finnic *talo (“farm, farmstead”), from Baltic, from Proto-Balto-Slavic *talˀa- + linn (“city; fortress, castle”), from Proto-Finnic *litna (“town, city; fortification, fortress”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtalːɪn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn
• Hyphenation: Tal‧linn
• Homophone: Tallin

Proper noun

Tallinn

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Harju, Estonia)

   Tallinn har både landets hovedflyplass og hovedhavn.

   Tallinn has both the country's main airport and main port.

Synonyms

• Reval (“Tallinn”) (obsolete)
• Tallin (“Tallinn”) (obsolete, used mainly between 1944 and 1991)

References

• “Tallinn” in Store norske leksikon

Polish

Tallinn

Alternative forms

• Tallin

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Estonian Tallinn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtal.lin/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -allin
• Syllabification: Tal‧linn

Proper noun

Tallinn m inan (related adjective talliński)

1. Tallinn (the capital and largest city of Estonia)

   Synonym: (historical) Rewel

Declension

Declension of Tallinn

	singular
nominative	Tallinn
genitive	Tallinna
dative	Tallinnowi
accusative	Tallinn
instrumental	Tallinnem
locative	Tallinnie
vocative	Tallinnie

Derived terms

nouns

• tallinka
• tallińczyk

Further reading

• Tallinn in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Tallinn in PWN's encyclopedia

Portuguese

Proper noun

Tallinn ?

1. alternative form of Taline

Slovak

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈtalʎin]

Proper noun

Tallinn m inan (genitive singular Tallinnu, declension pattern of dub)

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)

References

• “Tallinn”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2026

Swedish

Proper noun

Tallinn n (genitive Tallinns)

1. Tallinn (the capital city of Estonia)