From a Sami language, compare Proto-Samic*vuokē(“way, manner, custom”) and Northern Samivuohki. Originally a northern Finnish dialectal word meaning “way, manner, shape, form”.[1] In this sense, the word was first attested in Gustaf Erik Eurén: Suomalais-ruotsalainen sanakirja : Finsk-swensk ordbok. ("Finnish-Swedish Dictionary", 1860). In Elias Lönnrot's Finnish-Swedish dictionary (Elias Lönnrot: Suomalais-ruotsalainen sanakirja ("Finnish-Swedish Dictionary", 1866-1880)), the volume published in 1880 contains vuoka with the translation "form, sätt", and the example "siihen vuokaan tehty" is given.[2]
The word in its modern sense is a ghost word, stemming from a misinterpretation. Later in the 1880s, Swedish form(“form, shape, way”) found in the aforementioned dictionary was misunderstood as form(“form, mold, tin”), leading to the new sense (first attested in 1885)[2][1] which was popularized over the next two decades.
↑ 1.01.1Erkki Itkonen, Ulla-Maija Kulonen, editors (1992–2000), “vuoka”, in Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The Origin of Finnish Words][1] (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources; this source is labeled "SSA 1992–2000"), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN
↑ 2.02.1Kirsti Aapala (16 February 2026 (last accessed)), “Sanojen alkuperä: Vuoka”, in Kotus[2]
“vuoka”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish][3] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 4 July 2023