The IKEA Dictionary
By Lars Petrus
This site is not affiliated with IKEA in any way.
Part of what makes IKEA unique is their product names. Each name means something, often in a funny or ambigious way. When IKEA went international, they decided to use the same Swedish names everywhere. This makes sense from an organizational sanity standpoint, but it deprives most of the world of this particular joy.
Until now!
IKEA product names fall into a few main groups.
❞ Proper Swedish words.
❞ Improper Swedish words. IKEA laughs at the 'rules' of human language!
☺☺ First names. Mostly Swedish, some Scandinavian, occasional exotic names.
✖Geographical names. Swedish, Danish, Norwegian or Finnish. Yes, there are patterns. Here is a map of all 320 places
★ A few names that defy categorization.
? Mystery names I haven't figured out... Currently 130 out of 1362 names.
THIS SITE IS INCOMPLETE AND VERY MUCH UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
Even the defined words can be incomplete (or wrong), since the words are deliberately ambigious, and several places have the same name. Send feedback to [email protected]
A
AGAM❞the Agama Agama lizard
W
AGEN✖a city in France?
AGNARYD✖uninhabited place in Småland
AKURUM★a kind of big bottle used by the Turkana people in east Africa
AKUT❞acute
❞emergency room
ALG❞alga (singular of algae)
W
ALLAK✖mountain in arctic Sweden
ALSVIK✖place in Stockholm archipelago
ALVE☺Old Swedish boy name
ALÄNG✖part of the town of Västervik in Sweden
AMON★seems like this is the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra
W
APELSKÄR✖Swedish island on south east coast
ARHOLMA✖an island in the Stockholm archipelago
ARILD✖part of the city of Höganäs, Sweden
ARV❞inheritance
❞heritage
ASKER✖Norwegian city near Oslo
ASPUDDEN✖Stockholm neighborhood and subway station
ASPVIK✖'Aspen Bay'. In central Sweden
ASTRAKAN❞an apple variety popular in Sweden
ATNA✖village in south east Norway
W
B
BAGIS❞slang 1 Krona ($0.14)
❞slang the Stockholm suburb of Bagarmossen
W
BAND❞ribbon
❞(recording) tape
❞(rock) band
BIGUM✖Danish village, known for it's church
BITIG★Strangely constructed word. Should mean 'bite-y', or condusive to biting.
BJURSTA✖part of Sollefteå in north Sweden
BJÖRKEFALL✖'Birch Fall'. Tiny place in south Sweden
BLANKEN✖two lakes (Big Blanken and Small Blanken) in southeast Sweden.
BLIXT❞lightning
❞(camera) flash
BLOMÖRT★Literally 'flower herb', but it looks most like a misspelling of 'bolmört', which is the toxic plant 'stinking nightshade'
W
BOALT✖small place in south Sweden
BOLLÖ✖'Ball Island'. In south Sweden.
BONDIS❞made up -IS word 'Bonde' means 'farmer, so 'bondis' could mean 'farmer thingie'
BORRIS❞made up -IS word 'Borr' means 'drill', so 'borris' could mean 'drill thingie'
BRALLIS❞made up -IS word 'Bralla' is slang for 'pants', so 'Brallis' could mean 'pants thingie'
❞slang hot babe
BRASA❞fireplace
❞slang crotch
BROMMÖ✖an island in Sweden's largest lake, Vänern
BRUNKRISSLA❞a flower apparently called 'Ploughman's-spikenard' in English
BRÄDA❞board
❞slang outcompete a rival
BURS✖village on Gotland
BYGEL❞U shaped metal piece. As used in stirrups, underwire bras, padlocks, electronics, etc
BÅGVIK✖'Bend Bay'. Place in Småland
BÄRBAR❞carryable. mostly used for laptop computers
BÄRBY✖village outside Uppsala, Sweden
W
C
CYRIL☺Ancient Greek boy name
D
DACKE❞The leader of the Dacke War rebellion of 1542-43
W
DEKA❞slang to deteriorate
DILLING✖a village in Østfold, Norway
DOMSJÖ✖town in north Sweden. Home of Peter Forsberg and other ice hockey stars.
DRAGAN☺Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian boy name
DRILL❞mechanical practice
DRYCKJOM❞older word for (mostly alcoholic) drinks
DRÄLLA❞slang 'muck around' or 'spill'
DÄNKA❞to spray water on laundry
E
EDSVIK✖small fishing village on Swedens west coast
EGBY✖village on Öland in Sweden
EIDE✖Norwegian coast town
W
EINA✖village in central Norway
W
EKBY✖'Oak Village'. Small village in west Sweden
EKÅS✖'Oak Ridge'. Part of the city of Borås in west Sweden
ELGÅ✖village in east Norway
EMSEN✖a small Swedish lake
ENGAN✖place in arctic Norway
ENGER✖small village in central Norway
ENSEN✖lake in central Sweden
ERBIUM❞Erbium. The 68th element, discovered in Sweden in 1843
W
F
FADO★a Portugese folk music genre
W
FAMNIG❞'famn' = embrace, so 'famnig' would mean 'embrace-y' if that concept made any sense.
FANSTA✖place in central Sweden
FATTBAR❞'graspable', with both hand and mind
FEJKA❞swenglish (to) fake
FIGGJO✖porcelain manufacturing village in Norway
W
FIL❞file
❞lane
❞Swedish youghurt
FIRA❞celebrate
❞lower with a rope
FISKÖ✖'Fish Island'. Small island in west Finland.
FLAKSA★a misspellling of flaxa ('(to) flap'), or flaska ('bottle') ...?
FLORVÅG✖part of the Norwegian city of Askøy. Site of German naval base during WW2.
FLORÖ✖Norways westernmost town
W
FLYGEL❞grand piano
❞wing (of mansion)
FLYN✖a village in central Sweden
FLÄNG❞slang hurry/bustle
❞slang stupid
FLÄRKE✖3 different villages in Örnsköldsvik have this name
FRYKEN✖three lakes in west Sweden (upper, middle and lower Fryken)
FYLLEN✖two lakes (North & South Fyllen) in Småland
❞(archaic) 'fill!'
FÖRNUFT❞reason (the capacity for rational thought)
G
GATTEN✖Danish village. Has a golf court.
GEDSER✖the Danish city with the ferry to Germany
W
GIDEÅ✖a village in north Sweden
GIMÅN✖river in north Sweden
GLASHOLM✖'Glass Island'. Place in south Sweden
GNARP✖town in central Sweden
GREVBÄCK✖village in south Sweden with a 700 year old church
GRILLER❞slang strange ideas
❞slang ice skates
GRIMLE✖place in central Sweden
GRYBY✖'Dawn Village' in south Sweden
GRÄNUM✖village in south Sweden
GRÖNÖ✖'Green Island'. A beach in Småland
GULLHOLMEN✖'Gold Island'. Old fishing village on Sweden's west coast.
GÅSGRUND✖'Goose Ground'. Tiny Finnish island
GÖMMAREN✖'The Hider'. A lake south of Stockolm
W
H
HAGALUND✖site of the landmark blue highrises near Stockholm
W
HALSTED✖Danish village with a golf court, a church and a monestaryv
HAMPEN✖a parish in central Denmark
❞slang marijuana
HAVBRO✖village in north Denmark
HEAT❞swenglish used in Swedish only in the sports sense, as in 'heat 3 of the qualification round'
HEDDA☺short for Hedvig girl name
HEIMDAL✖area in the Norwegian city of Trondheim
W
HEMSJÖ✖'Home Lake', a church village in west Sweden
HENRIKSDAL✖'Henrik's Valley', village in west Finland
HENSVIK✖subvillage in central Sweden
HJUVIK✖a heighborhood in Göteborg
W
HOO★this doesn't seem to mean anything. My guess is it's 'HOOD' with a D-octomy.
HOSLE✖neighborhood in the city of Bærum on south Norway
HOVET✖a major ice hockey arena in Stockholm
W
HOVÅS✖a part of Askim in Gothenburg, Sweden
HUGLO✖an island in west Norway
HULINGEN✖the lake by the city of Hultsfred in south Sweden
HULTÖ✖Island off the Småland coast
HUSNES✖Aluminium town in west Norway
W
HUSÅ✖'House Creek. Swedish mountain village
HYLLIS❞made up -IS word 'Hylla' means 'shelf', so 'Hyllis' could mean 'shelf thingie'
HYTTAN❞an iron ore or glass furnace
HÅBOL✖small village in west Sweden
HÅVA❞there seems to be no English word for using a landing net? Anyway, the term is most used meaning 'raking in'
HÄGG❞the tree called 'bird cherry' or 'mayday tree' in English
HÄSTÖ✖'Horse Island' in Småland
HÖLLVIKEN✖beach town on the southern edge of sweden
W
I
IDELIG❞(annoyingly) perpetual and repetitive
IKEA❞the name comes from the initials of the founder,
Ingvar
Kamprad, his home farm
Elmtaryd, and village and
AgunnarydW
ILSBO✖village in north Sweden
INGO❞nickname for 'Ingemar'. Mostly refers to boxing legend Ingemar Johansson
W
INGOLF☺Ancient Scandinavian boy name
INNER❞centre midfielder in football
W
IRJA☺Russian/Finnish girl name
J
JABBA❞(to) jab (boxing term)
JAREN✖village in west Sweden
JERRIK☺Ancient Scandinavian boy name
JIGGA❞to dance jig
❞to engage in jig fishing
W
JUBILAR❞person celebrating anniversary
JÖKEL❞glacier (from Icelandic)
K
KAJ❞pier
☺Swedish boy name
KARLSTAD✖the capital of Värmland in west Sweden
W
KARLSÖ✖'Charles Island'. In south Sweden.
KAUSTBY✖town in Finland (the map shows the finnish name)
KILBY✖place in central Sweden
KIRP★US professor and author David L. Kirp is the ONLY remotely well known 'kirp' I can find...
W
KIVSTA✖place in central Sweden
KLIPPAN✖'The Rock'. City in south Sweden. My mother is from Klippan.
W
KLUBBO✖tiny place in arctic Norway
KLÄPPE✖unknown place in north Sweden
KOLDBY✖'Cold Town'. Town in north west Denmark
KOLON❞Colon (punctuation)
KORPO✖island town in Finland
W
KRABB❞choppy (sailor jargon)
KRAMSNÖ❞easily shapable snow (Swedes have as many words for snow as eskimos)
KULLEN✖'The Hill'. Site of a famous lighthouse in south Sweden
W
KVART❞quarter (of an hour)
L
LACK❞varnish
❞slang angry
LAGAN✖river and town in south Sweden
LAIVA★Finnish word for 'ship'
LAUKVIK✖arctic Norwegian fishing and tourist village
LAXEBY✖'Salmon Village'. On Öland in south Sweden
LENDA☺Old Germanic girl name
LERBERG✖'Mud Mountain'. Village in south Norway
LERBÄCK✖'Mud Creek. Village in central Sweden
LILLEBY✖'Little Village'. Suburb of Gothenburg, Sweden.
LILLÅKER✖'Smallfield'. small place in Småland
LINNARP✖an apparently uninhabited place in south Sweden
LJUDA❞to sound out each letter as you write it
LJUSÅS✖unknown place in Småland
LOCK❞lid
❞lock of hair
❞lure
LOKKA✖a lake in arctic Finland
W
LONEVÅG✖the center of the west Norwegian city of Osterøy
W
LUNTA❞tome
❞fuse (for explosive)
LYDUM✖a small parish in west Denmark with a 1000 year old church
LÅGIS❞made up -IS word 'Låg' means 'low', so 'Lågis' could mean 'low thingie'
LÖKÖ✖'Onion Island' in south Sweden.
M
MACKIS❞made up -IS word 'Macka' is slang for 'sandwich', so 'Mackis' could mean 'sandwich thingie
MAJBY★9 people in Sweden have this last name. Nothing else seems to.
MAVAS✖place in arctic Sweden
MELBU✖arctic Norwegian fishing village
W
MELDAL✖small city in central Norway
W
MIEN✖a meteorite crater lake in Småland
W
MINDE✖Neighborhood in the city of Bergen, west Norway
W
MJÄLLBY✖fishing town in south Sweden, known for it's football team
W
MJÖNÄS✖small village in south Sweden
MONGSTAD✖major oil port and refinery in Norway
W
MOSIPPA❞the flower 'Anemone Vernalis' has no English name
MOSJÖ✖tiny village in north Sweden
MYKEN✖remote lighthouse island in arctic Norway
MÅNSTAD✖'Moon City' town in west Sweden
MÄLARÖ✖common name for any island in Lake Mälaren by Stockholm
N
NANDOR❞a tribe of elves in the Tolkien world
☺Hungarian boy name
NEGLINGE✖part the city of Nacka, by Stockholm
NORDANÖ✖'Northerly Wind Island'. Part of the Swedish city on Avesta. Not an Island.
NORDEN❞the north
❞the nordic countries
W
NORNA❞one of the three destiny goddesses in norse mythology
W ❞the Calypso orchid
W
NORRESKOG✖'North Forest'. Place in south Sweden.
NUTID❞the present
❞present tense
NÄSUM✖town in south Sweden
O
ORE✖village in central Denmark
ORGEL❞organ (the keyboard instrument)
ORRLÖT✖a resort outside Stockholm
ORÖD✖a tiny, unknown place in south Sweden
OXEL❞'Swedish Whitebeam', a northern European plant related to the Rose bush
W
OXSKÄR✖'Ox Island'. Small Swedish west coast island
✖'Ox Island'. Small Swedish east coast island
P
PELLO✖town in arctic Finland
W
PILATORP✖tiny village or far in south Sweden
PJÄS❞piece
❞(theatrical) play
PJÄTTERYD✖parish in Småland where Ingvar Kamprad was born
PLANK❞wooden fence
❞planks
PLASTIS❞made up -IS word 'Plast' means 'plastic', so 'plastis' could mean 'plastic thingie'
❞'plastic ice' or 'plasty'
PRÄKTIG❞good/strong/reliable
❞slang overly wholesome
PÄLLBO✖place in central Sweden
R
RAJTAN❞slang 'rajtan tajtan' is a silly slang term for 'partying'
RAMVIK✖Village in north Sweden. Known as the home of former prime minster Thorbjörn Fälldin
W
RENS✖small Danish village by the German border
RESA❞travel
❞raise (a building)
RIBBA❞bar (as for high jump)
RIGEL❞the brightest star in Orion
W
RINGSKÄR✖small rocky island on the east coast
RUTBO✖Part of the Swedish city of Avesta
W
RUTER❞diamond (card suit)
RÅÅN✖creek in south Sweden. Should really be named 'Råå-ån' (The Råå creek)
RÄTTVIK✖place in central Sweden. My father is from Rättvik.
W
RÖNNSKÄR✖Island in north Sweden. Location of a major Smelter.
RÖNÅS✖place in south Sweden
RÖRA❞(to) touch
❞stir
❞mess
S
SALBO✖place in central Sweden
SALMI✖place in central Finland
SAXÅN✖'Scissor Creek'. Place in west Sweden
SIGNUM❞signum (really a latin word)
SJÖVIK✖'Lake Bay', village in west Sweden
W
SKALA❞peel
❞scale (of a map)
SKUBB❞slang can mean 'a run' and many other things
SKÄR❞cuts
❞tiny rocky island
❞pink
SLITBAR❞a made up word that would mean 'something that wears well' if it existed
SLUGIS❞made up -IS word 'Slug' means 'sly', so 'slugis' could mean 'sly one'
SLÄTTEN❞the plain. Several tiny Swedish places have this name
SMEDSTA✖'Blacksmith City' in north Sweden
SMIDD❞forged (in blacksmithing)
SMÅDAL✖'Small Valley'. Tiny village in west Sweden
SMÅLAND❞'Small Lands'. The province where IKEA was born. The IKEA kids play area has this name as a punny read of the word as 'land of the small'
W
SMÄRT❞tall, thin & good looking
SNODD❞twisty string
❞slang stolen
SPÄNN❞slang 1 Krona ($0.14)
STAVE✖place in southwest Norway
STEN❞stone
☺Swedish boy name
STIBY✖village in south east Sweden
STICKA❞(to) knit
❞(to) leave
❞(to) stab
SUSSA❞(to) sleep (baby talk)
SÄTER✖city in central Sweden
W
SÖRLI✖Norwegian mountain village
T
TAJMA❞swenglish (to) time
TASSA❞to walk quietly and possibly sneakily, like a cat (there has to be a better word?)
TJÖME✖island village in south east Norway
W
TOBO✖small town in central Sweden
TOLG✖a village in Småland
TOLGA✖town in southeast Norway
W
TORSBY✖'Thors Village' . Swedish town in the forests near Norway.
W
TRANDAL✖'Crane Valley' in west Norway
TRENSUM✖tiny village in south Sweden
TROLLFJORDEN✖'Troll Fjord', Photogenic fjord in north Norway
TROLLSTA✖'Troll Town'. SMall place south of Stockholm
TROLSK❞magic/enchanted
❞troll-like
TROMSÖ✖a city in arctic Norway. Home of Röyksopp
W
TRONES✖area in the Norwegian city of Verdal
TROSS❞strong rope used on boats
TRULS☺Scandinavian boy name
TRYTA❞run short
❞be deficient
TULLERÖ✖an island in the Stockholm archipelago
TVEIT✖place in west Norway
TYLÖSAND✖An exclusive Swedish beach town. Home to Roxette star Per Gessle
W
TÅRNBY✖Danish city near Copenhagen
W
TÅRSTA✖'Tear Town'. Place in west Sweden
TÄRNAN✖'The Tern'. Lake in central Sweden.
TÄRNÖ✖'Tern Island'. In south Sweden
U
UTBY✖small village in West Sweden
W
UVÅS✖'Owl Ridge'. Obscure place in central Sweden.
V
VEJMON✖village in north Sweden
VIKARE❞something (or someone) that folds
VIKIS❞made up -IS word 'Vika' means 'to fold', so 'vikis' could mean 'fold thingie'
VINSTRA✖village and river in central Norway
W
VITSKÄR✖tiny godforsaken Swedish island
VITTEN❞19th centry small coin. Now only used in the expression 'not worth a vitten'
VRETEN✖a station in the Stockholm subway
W
VÄGGIS❞made up -IS word 'Vägg' means 'wall', so 'väggis' could mean 'wall thingie'
VÄNNA✖place in west Sweden
W
Y
YNGSJÖ✖coastal village in south Sweden
YSBY✖village in south Sweden
Z
ZITA★The patron saint of maids
W ★Stockholm's oldest movie theatre
Å
ÅDAL✖(only map for now)
ÅNES✖(only map for now)
ÅNN✖place in north Sweden
ÅRSTID❞season (one of the four)
ÅSELE✖town in north Sweden
ÅSUNDEN✖famous rauk site on Gotland
Ä
ÄLMHULT✖city in Småland where the first IKEA store opened in 1958
W
ÄNGA✖rural place in central Sweden
ÄPPLARÖ✖an island in the Stockholm archipelago
ÄTRAN✖place and river in south Sweden
Ö
ÖRESUND✖the strait between Sweden and Denmark
W
ÖSTERÖ✖'East Island', Island in west Finland.