Where does the word tundra come from?

The word "tundra" comes from the Finnish word "tunturi," which means "treeless plain."

The Finnish word itself is likely derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*tunturia*," which has a similar meaning.

While the term "tundra" is commonly used in English, it was originally a Saami word (the indigenous people of northern Europe) that was adopted into Finnish and then into other languages.