eszik

Forms

eszik^[1] The verb has a stem esz- (eszem, eszik) beside the older e- (evett, evés, enni), ë- and egy- (egyél).^[2][1] Old forms are evec “ate” and emdul “you eat” in the Funeral Sermon, iszik in Sylvester (1541) and ödni, ögyék in the dialects.^[3][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Uralic *sewe- (“to eat”), a Finno-Ugric stem with a Hungarian suffix.^{[3][2][4][1][5]} The cognates are Mansi tī-, Khanty li-, Komi-Zyrian śoj-, Udmurt śi-, Erzya śeve- (“to consume”), Moksha śeve-, Finnish syödä and Estonian sööma.^[2][3][1] TESz and ÚESz give the Finno-Ugric form as Proto-Uralic *seβe- or *seγe-.^[3][2] A Yukaghir verb “to eat” is compared too; the link with Altaic and Yukaghir words needs more study.^[2][3][5]

The ⟨-sz⟩ of ⟨eszik⟩ is a frequentative suffix.^[2][4] The older stem without it is kept in the past tense ⟨ettem⟩ “I ate” and in the causative etet “to feed”.^[2][4] The verb belongs to the small group of verbs with a ⟨v⟩-stem that add ⟨-sz⟩, with the verb “to drink” and others.^[3] For the sound development ÚESz compares epe, iszik and lő.^[2]

The Permic words are uncertain members of the set, since their ⟨-j-⟩ cannot regularly continue the medial consonant.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb appears in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195, in the story of the forbidden fruit: evec “he ate”, eneyc “he should eat”, and God's words ysa ki napun emdul oz gimilstwl, halalnec haláál holz, “behold, on the day you eat of that fruit, you shall die the death of death”.^[3][2] The sense there is “to eat, take food”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is the physical one; the others grew from it, partly in abstract directions.^[3][2] The Munich Codex (after 1416) has “to use up, consume” and “to torment; to eat away, destroy”, and Czuczor and Fogarasi record “to sting, burn” in 1864.^[3][2] TESz and ÚESz compare German fressen (“to eat, devour; to corrode”) and Russian есть (jestʹ, “to eat”) beside едкий (jedkij, “caustic”).^[3][2]

The NSz adds the colloquial “to kiss greedily” (1919), and “to use up (fuel, money)” from 1906.^[6] Regional phrases include eszi a méreg “he is fuming” and annyit eszik, mint a madár “he eats like a bird”.^[7]

The derivatives are old: etet “to feed” from the early 13th century, étel “eating” and étek “food” in the Jókai Codex, étel “food” from 1474, ehető from 1585 and ehetnék from 1790.^[2][4] The dialect noun ét “eating, food” came into the standard language through the language reform, in compounds such as étlap “menu” and étterem “restaurant”; the reform also revived the obsolete étkezik and coined étkezde.^[3][2][4]

Timeline

• 1138 – Etes, perhaps a personal name from the stem.^[2][4]
• c. 1195 – evec, eneyc, emdul in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.^[3][2]
• early 13th century – etetý “feeds” in the Königsberg Fragment.^[2]
• 1372–1448 – étel “eating” and étek “food” in the Jókai Codex.^[2]
• after 1416 – “to consume” and “to eat away” in the Munich Codex.^[3][2]
• 1474 – étel “food”.^[3][2]
• 1585 – ehető “edible”.^[4]
• 1790 – ehetnék “wish to eat”.^[4]
• 1864 – “to sting, burn”.^[3][2]
• 1911 – étkezde “eating house”.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To eat: to take food into the mouth, chew and swallow it: Mit eszel reggelire?^[8][6][1]
2. (intransitive) To have a meal; to eat regularly somewhere.^[8]
3. (transitive, figurative) To eat away, corrode; to sting, burn: Eszi a szemét a füst.^[8][6]
4. (transitive, colloquial) To use up a lot of something: Sok benzint eszik ez az autó.^[8][6]
5. (transitive, figurative) To torment, gnaw at: Eszi a féltékenység.^[8][6]
6. (colloquial, with mit … rajta) To find something attractive in someone: Mit eszel rajta?^[1]

Word family

• ehetetlen
• ehető
• evés
• étel
• étlen
• megeszik
• etet
• étek
• ehetnék
• ennivaló

Related words

• Finnish syödä

Usage notes

The conjugation mixes the stems: eszem, eszik, but ettem, evett, egyél, enni.^[8][1] Nem tudja, mit eszik means “he has no idea what it is”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 800
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
5. ^ a b c Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 164
6. ^ a b c d e Ittzés, Nóra (ed.) (2006–), A magyar nyelv nagyszótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at nagyszotar.nytud.hu
7. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 387
8. ^ a b c d e f g Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu