Västriku (Västrik)

Wagtail, probably linavästrik, white wagtail, Motacilla alba, rather than jõgivästrik, grey wagtail, M. cinerea, more common in the south-western part of Europe, although both are known to breed in Estonia. Part of the Lilleküla bird-name group of streets. See also Ööbiku.

Vati (Vatt)

Being next to Lambi, which could be mistaken for ‘Lamb street’ (it’s not), it might suggest wadding, padding, cotton wool (from French ouate) or, by extension, a short jacket or clothes. But no, false friends: lamp:lambi is a lamp and Vatt:vati is a Watt, so be careful with your abbreviations. 10^th of a septenary* selection of sparky streets. See Juhtme.

* Maths joke. Don’t worry, I didn’t even get it myself on proof-reading.

Vedru (Vedru): Spring (the boingy one, not the season). Vedru välja viskama, lit., to throw the spring out, is one of Estonia’s numerous ways of saying ‘to kick the bucket’.

Veduri (Vedur)

Locomotive, iron horse. Interesting: vedama means to draw or pull, and vedu:veo means draft/draught or conveyance, but vee is water and, in many countries, the traditional course of long-distance haulage was the river. So instead of using the sluggish meandering motorway, they took an infinitely small proportion of its water, made steam, and shunted tons of metal along an unbending iron road. Etymology is the paleontology of words: fractured glimpses of one-off usages out of the infinite variations of the collective idiolect. One of a small locomotive-themed group next to Tallinn-Väike station. See Vee.

Vee (Vesi)

Water. After the tower supplying trains on the Tallinn-Väike railway line. Water seems to share a rather confusing pool of common ancestors from very far back, with Est. & Finn. vesi and Uralic *weti corresponding to PIE root *wed-, whence Sanskrit उदन् (udán), water or wave, cf. Latin unda, wave, moving water, or later PIE *woder- / *wod‑or, Hittite: 𒉿𒀀𒋻 (wa-a-tar), Anc. Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr) cf. hydro, Old Church Slavonic voda and Russian вода (wôdər) (‘vodka’ being a diminutive), Gothic watō, Eng. water, Gael. uisge (whence whiskey, water of life, from Old Ir. uisce ‘water’ + bethu ‘life’) and all the other ‘wets’: Ger. Wasser from OHG waʒʒar, Welsh dŵr, etc., while Lat. agua and offspring, Fr. eau, Romagnol aqua, acva or Venetan àcua or àcoa, are from the helpfully recontructed PIE *h₂ék^weh₂, as well as, maaaybee, Tupi ‘y’, a fraught rabbit-hole I will not enter. As to Sanskrit’s अप् (ap), Sogdian /⁠ap⁠/, Romanian apă, and so on, I give up (there may have been a ‘q’ to ‘p’ transition somewhere). One of a small locomotive-themed group next to Tallinn-Väike station. Sometimes, it’s best to just shut up. See Vile.