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hely

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Etymology and origin of the Hungarian word hely

Confidence
Unknown
First attested
1055 Founding charter of Tihany Abbey

Pronunciation

Forms

hely (plural helyek)[1] The older form hel (hej, hejj in Székely speech) is still a widespread dialect word.[2][3][4]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown.[3][5][2][6][1] Of the variants, hel is probably the older.[2][3] The ⟨h⟩ of the old derivatives helyhez and helyhet “to place” is a verbal suffix, as in bűnhődik and vénhedik.[2][3]

TESz rejects both a Finno-Ugric comparison and a Turkic derivation.[3] Budenz had compared Finnish tila (“place, room”).[7] EWUng and ÚESz also reject an explanation from pronominal phrases inside Hungarian.[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word appears in the founding charter of Tihany Abbey (1055), in a Latin text that names the boundaries in Hungarian: petre zenaia hel rea “to the place of Peter's hay”, and kert hel “garden place”, a plot good for hay.[3][2][8] The sense there is “a small piece of land; lodging”.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The senses grew out of “a part of the earth's surface”.[2][6] “Locality, settlement” follows in 1206, in the place name Cheturtuchyel “Thursday place”, and many villages were named with -hely;[3][2][8] “authority, seat of office” in the Jókai Codex;[3][2][8] “passage in a text” and “place in a sequence” in the Vienna Codex;[3][2][8] “situation” in 1527;[3][2][8] “room, space” in 1584;[3][2][8] “legal ground, validity” (helye van “it is justified”) in 1644; and “post, employment” from 1848.[3][2][8] The derivatives helyecske (1372), helység “village” (1511), helyez “to place” (1763), helyezkedik (1808), helyzet “situation” (1815) and helyiség “room” (1833) followed.[6][2]

Romanian dialects borrowed the word as hei “plot belonging to a house; outbuilding”, recorded from 1791.[2][9] Slovak dialects have hel “building plot” and helisko “serf's holding” (1770), and the Moți Romanian hélü.[10][11]

Timeline

  • 1055 – hel “piece of land” in the founding charter of Tihany Abbey.[3][2]
  • c. 1195 – helhezie “places it”, the derivative helyhez, in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.[2]
  • 1206 – “locality”, in the place name Cheturtuchyel.[3][8]
  • after 1372 (copy of about 1448) – “authority, seat of office” and helyecske in the Jókai Codex.[3][2]
  • after 1416 (copy of about 1450) – “passage in a text” and “place in a sequence” in the Vienna Codex.[3]
  • 1584 – “room, space”.[3][2]
  • 1644 – “legal ground, validity”.[2]
  • 1791 – Romanian hei “plot of a house”.[9]
  • 1815 – helyzet “situation”.[2]
  • 1833 – helyiség “room”.[2]
  • 1848 – “post, employment”.[3][2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. place, spot: the part of space that someone or something occupies or usually occupies, or where it belongs: Tedd vissza a helyére![12][1]
  2. A seat or bed; a part of a room or area set apart for a purpose.[12]
  3. room, space: Nincs hely a szekrényben.[12][1]
  4. An area of land; a district; a settlement; a plot of land.[12]
  5. A spot on a surface; a mark left where something was.[12][13]
  6. A passage in a book, letter or speech.[12]
  7. A post, job or position; a role.[12][13]
  8. Place in a ranking or sequence; in racing, a place among the first three.[12]
  9. Situation, circumstances: az ő helyében “in his place”.[12]

Word family

  • helybeli
  • helyenként
  • helyes
  • helyett
  • helyez
  • helyénvaló
  • helyi
  • helyiség
  • helység
  • helyütt
  • helyzet
  • helyecske
  • helyezkedik

Usage notes

The phrase hűlt helye “its cooled place” says that someone or something is gone: Hűlt helyét találta.[14][13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e 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 w x 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 q r s Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 88
  4. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky
  5. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  6. ^ a b c Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  7. ^ Budenz, József (1873–1881), Magyar–ugor összehasonlító szótár, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, p. 132
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 369
  9. ^ a b Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 421
  10. ^ Gregor, Ferenc (2023), A szlovák nyelv magyar elemei, ed. András Zoltán, Budapest: Kairosz, p. 405
  11. ^ Valló, Ida; Stan, Constantin et al. (1905), Kölcsönös hatások a hazai nyelvek közt, Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
  13. ^ a b c Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 590
  14. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
Cite this entry

“Hely.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/hu/hely. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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