Etymologically
Log in

jó

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 21:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

jó[1] Comparative jobb, superlative legjobb; the adverb is jól.[2] Beside the stem jó- there is a stem jav-, in java “the best of it” and javak “goods”.[3][4] Dialect forms include gyó (Őrség, Zala) and gyaó (Vas).[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Ugric *jomɜ (“good”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Ugric period.[3][4][6][7][8] Its nearest relatives are in the Ob-Ugric languages: Mansi jomas and Khanty jĕm, both meaning “good”.[4][8] The ⟨-s⟩ of the Mansi word is a suffix.[3][7] The Ugric form may also have been *jamɜ.[4][6][7]

Ugric /m/ inside the word was lost in Hungarian, as in fű and hó.[4][6] In Proto-Hungarian the consonant became a bilabial fricative, and the stem gave Old Hungarian jou or jau, which developed in different ways in different positions; this explains the two stems of the modern word, ⟨jó-⟩ and ⟨jav-⟩.[3][4][6] The two stems also divided the meaning: java and javak mostly refer to concrete, material goods, the stem without ⟨v⟩ rather to abstract qualities.[3][4][6]

The forms ⟨joch⟩ and ⟨joccedeth⟩ in a Latin law of about 1078, known only from later copies, may belong here, but both TESz and ÚESz mark them as doubtful.[9][4] TESz rejects the other Finno-Ugric comparisons of the word and its derivation from Turkic.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first certain record is a personal name, Elegen, in a charter of 1138 known from a copy of 1329; ÚESz reads it Eulegen and takes it, with a question mark, for the adjective in the sense “brave, honest”.[9][4] The first record in a Hungarian text is in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer of about 1195, which says that the first man was given mend iovben rezet, “a share in all good things”; the word is a noun there, “something pleasant, useful or needed”.[9][4][7]

Semantic evolution

TESz and ÚESz take the adjectival senses “brave, honest” and “favourable, useful, suitable” for the original ones.[3][4][6] The sense “right(-hand)”, recorded as a noun in the Funeral Sermon and as an adjective in the Jókai Codex, arose because the right hand is usually the more skilful one.[3][4] The noun senses “a good thing”, “goods, property”, “a good person” and “a good deed” follow a pattern seen elsewhere, as Latin bonus (“good”) stands beside bonum (“a good thing; property”) and bona (“goods”), and German gut (“good”) beside Gut (“property, estate”).[3][4][6] The sense “considerable, fair-sized” appears about 1525.[9][4]

Old derivatives and frozen case forms include jól “well” (after 1372), java “the best or the greater part of something” (about 1476), jóság “goodness” (about 1493), javul “to improve” (1562), javít “to mend, improve” (1585), javában “in full swing” (1598) and jócskán “quite a lot” (1686).[4][6]

In the dialects the word also means “right(-hand)” (jó kéz “the right hand” in Heves) and “fat” of a person (Csongrád).[5] Around Szeged it strengthens another adjective or adverb, “quite, rather”, and also means “late” of the time of day.[10] In Vojvodina and in Prekmurje jó is also the name of the school mark three, after Serbo-Croatian dobar and Slovene dobro.[11] Slovak slang has recently borrowed it as an intensifier, as in jó dobre (“very good”).[12]

Timeline

  • 1138 – Elegen, a personal name, in a charter known from a copy of 1329.[9][4]
  • c. 1195 – iovben “in good things”, and the noun “right side”, in the Funeral Sermon and Prayer.[9][4]
  • 1211 – the adjective “brave, honest”, in personal names such as Joulekun.[9][13]
  • c. 1448 – yauit “his goods”, and the adjective in the senses “favourable, useful” and “right-hand”, in the Jókai Codex (a copy of a text written after 1372).[9][4]
  • 1466 – “a good person” and “a good deed” in the Munich Codex (a copy of a text written after 1416).[9][4]
  • c. 1476 – a java “the best part of something”.[9][4]
  • c. 1493 – jóság “goodness” in the Festetics Codex.[9][4]
  • c. 1525 – “considerable, fair-sized”.[9][4]
  • 1562 – javul “to improve”.[9][4]
  • 1585 – javít “to mend” in Calepinus's dictionary.[9][4]
  • 1686 – jócskán “quite a lot”.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. good, pleasant, wholesome: pleasing to the senses or good for the body, as food, drink or weather: Nagyon jó ez a leves.[2][1]
  2. Suitable, favourable or useful for a purpose (with -ra/-re): Ez a kés jó kenyérvágásra.[2][1]
  3. Kind, gentle, friendly; morally upright, honest: jó ember.[2][1]
  4. Excellent of its kind; of a person, skilled in a calling or task: jó orvos.[2][1]
  5. Healthy, sound; of the senses, keen: jó szeme van “he has sharp eyes”.[2]
  6. Considerable, fair-sized, quite some (of an amount or time): egy jó darabig “for quite a while”.[1][10]
  7. (dialectal) Right(-hand).[5]

Noun

  1. A good thing; good as opposed to evil.[1][9]
  2. (in the plural javak) Goods, possessions, assets.[1][4]
  3. A good person.[1][9]
  4. The school mark “good”, the second best.[1]

Interjection

  1. All right, okay, fine: Jó, megyek.[1][10]

Adverb

  1. (informal) Quite, pretty, before an adjective or adverb: Jó hideg van ma.[1][10][14]

Word family

  • jóakarat
  • jóbarát
  • jóindulat
  • jóízű
  • jókedv
  • jólelkű
  • jólét
  • jóság
  • javul
  • javít
  • java
  • javak
  • jócskán
  • jól
  • javában
  • Mansi jomas
  • Khanty jĕm

Usage notes

The comparison is irregular: jobb “better”, legjobb “best”; the adverb is jól “well”.[2][1] A separate, obsolete jó “river”, inherited from Proto-Uralic *joke (“river”) (compare Finnish joki), survives only as the second element of river names such as Sajó, Berettyó and Hejő; in Old Hungarian it was still a common noun in the north and east of the language area.[3][4][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 276
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  5. ^ a b c Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 1, 988
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  7. ^ a b c d e Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 339
  8. ^ a b Rédei, Károly (ed.) (1986–1991), Uralisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz; online as Uralonet, uralonet.nytud.hu
  9. ^ 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. 2, 275
  10. ^ a b c d Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1, 660
  11. ^ Termini magyar–magyar szótár: a határon túli magyar nyelvváltozatok szótára, Termini Kutatóhálózat; online at termini.nytud.hu/htonline
  12. ^ Gregor, Ferenc (2023), A szlovák nyelv magyar elemei, ed. András Zoltán, Budapest: Kairosz, p. 452
  13. ^ Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 429
  14. ^ Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 265