Seene (Seen)

Mushroom. Known until 1922 as Pavlovi after, sincerely, we hope, the Pavlov (Иван Петрович Павлов, 1849-1936).

Seli (?)

Named after a nearby farm, although the origin of the name is as obscure as the actual avenue (puiestee) itself which looks more like a footpath that gives up before it gets there. One red herring is the Seli Mõis 45 km south of Tallinn recorded to have belonged to Pirita convent in 1474 (the MLG for German Seele [soul] was sēle which, other than morphing into English ‘silly’, is as tempting as it’s misleading...). Given expressions such as selili for ‘on one’s back’ or selildi for ‘back to back’, placenames like Selimägi aka Seljamäe küla (hillslope village) are clearly related to Selja, and Seli derives from either this or seljandik (range of hills). Soviet occupation renaming (1982-1994) as Jüriöö.

Seljaku (Seljak)

Bank*, ridge. See Selja.

* Not the one you're thinking of, but all author proceeds from the sale of this book (print or e-reader) will go to the Tallinn Children’s Hospital Foundation, Tallinna Lastehaigla Toetusfond (see previous post). If you have a couple of bucks to spare, please visit https://www.toetusfond.ee/en/donate/, thanks!