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Vene (Vene)
Russian. There is a hypothesis that the term Vene shares the same origin as Wend (see Kanuti) and/or Vend (although debated, see also Ümera), as well as Vandal and perhaps even Vote/Votic (see Kingissepa V.), and may once have designated peoples living in or coming from the east (from German-Danish point of view), even including the Finns (The mercurial Menius lists the Vandali, Venedae, Wendi, Veltae as early inhabitants of Livonia in his Syntagma). Similarly, a tribe called Vends is said to have settled near the present-day city of Ventspils on the Venta River in the 11th or 12th C before settling in the Wenden area around 12-16th C. Some say they were the Western Slavic Wends speaking a Slavic language, others that they were related to the Livonians and Votes and spoke a Baltic-Finnic language. Further suggestions include the possibility that Wends of the 8th‑C Slavic migrations were behind the founding of Venice. Far be it for me to say ‘yea’ or ‘nay’. Let’s say a vast open question. The fact that Estonian hasn’t always differentiated V from W doesn’t help matters either. Also an archaic term for a dugout canoe or rowing-boat, usually from aspen with its sides bent out, cf. veneh, boat, in Veps, and vene in Finnish. The Püha Nikolause kirik, known as ecclesia Ruthenorum in 1380, is at No.24. Dating to 1820-1827, the Russian Orthodox church is believed to have been rebuilt over the existing church in 1442. It is named after the Greek/Turkish St Nicholas of Myra, aka Nicholas of Bari, or the Wonderworker (?270-343), patron saint of prostitutes and repentant thieves, brewers and pawnbrokers, sailors, archers and Christmas card manufacturers. This is of course Santa Claus, or Father Christmas. Same patron saint, but not to be confused with the 13-C church in Niguliste, or (because some sites do) with the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Laboratooriumi (built early 14th C?).
Vesipapi (Vesipapp)
Water ouzel, dipper, lit. ‘water priest’ after its dark coat and white breast. Probably the white-throated or European dipper, Cinclus cinclus, a water-bird tending to be found more in SE Estonia than Tallinn, but maybe rural exodus applies to us all. Fairly widespread in Eurasia. National bird of Norway, where they call it fossekall, elvekonge or vannstær and buggered if I know what any of them mean, although fossekall looks like ‘waterfall chap/guy/lad/man’ (fosse+kall), while elvekonge could be ‘river king’ (elv/elver+kong/e), and vannstær (vann = water) dips into the ornithologically schizophrenic where stær seems related to English starling (star, plus the diminutive ling), from Latin sturnus, starling (which Galen recommended as a light, nourishing food), but also Old Prussian starnite, meaning gull, and Lithuanian vandeninis strazdas (lit. water thrush, and thrush in Latin is turdus, not too far removed from sturnus). I shall stop here while I still have wine left in the bottle. Part of the Lilleküla bird-name group of streets. See Vihitaja.
Vesiravila (Vesiravila)
Hydropathic, hydropathy establishment. Lit. place of water medicine. See Ravila.
Veski (Veski)
Mill: See on vesi tema veskile: that’s grist (in this case water) to his mill. This is a contraction of earlier vesikivi, from vesi + kivi (see Vee + Kivi). If prefixed by käsi (hand), it becomes ‘quern’, and given language’s tendency to shorten common words, this was probably the original meaning.
