megöl

Forms

megöl^[1]

Etymology

It is a compound from Hungarian meg- (“perfective preverb”) + öl (“to kill”).^[1][2] The verb öl is inherited from the Finno-Ugric period, from Proto-Uralic *βeδɜ- (“to kill”), with cognates such as Mansi äl-, Khanty wel-, Komi-Zyrian vij- and Udmurt vi-.^[3][4][5] The preverb meg is a fixed case form of ⟨mig⟩, an older form of the noun mög “the back” with the lative ending ⟨-é⟩; it first meant “back” and later came to mark completed action.^[6][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The simple verb öl “to kill” is first recorded in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary of about 1300.^[3][4] The compound appears in the Jókai Codex, copied about 1448 from a text written after 1372, as meg ewl, “kills”.^[3][4] The Munich Codex Gospels (copied 1466) use it often, for the killing of the prophets and of Jesus.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Besides killing a person or an animal, the verb of the codices also meant “to destroy, ruin” (Jókai Codex); from 1527 it also meant “to torment”; the derivative megölés “killing” is in the Festetics Codex about 1493.^[3][4] Transylvanian records of the 16th and 17th centuries use it for killing with weapons and with poison.^[8]

In modern use the subject may be a thing or a feeling that kills or ruins someone, and figuratively a joke or a mood can be “killed”.^[9] The dialects add “to wear out, exhaust” a horse or oneself with work, and the phrase megölné egy kanál vízben, “he would drown him in a spoonful of water”, of someone one hates.^[10][11]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – the simple verb, ulud “you kill”, in the Old Hungarian Lament of Mary.^[3][4]
• c. 1448 – meg ewl “kills” in the Jókai Codex (text written after 1372).^[3][4]
• 1466 – frequent in the Munich Codex Gospels.^[7]
• c. 1493 – megh ewleeseeth “its killing” in the Festetics Codex.^[3][4]
• 1557 – meg öltek “they killed” in a Transylvanian letter.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. To kill a person or an animal, deliberately or not;^[9][1] megöli magát, to commit suicide.^[9][1]
2. Of a substance, an event or a fast object: to cause someone's death.^[9]
3. Of a feeling: to wear someone down and ruin them;^[9] megöli a kíváncsiság, curiosity is killing him.^[9]
4. To destroy a feeling or a mood in someone; to spoil a joke.^[9]
5. To ruin a person or institution financially; to make an activity impossible.^[9]
6. (dialectal) To wear out, exhaust with hard work.^[10][12]

Related words

• öl
• öldököl

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
3. ^ a b c d e f g Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 24
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
5. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
6. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 874
7. ^ a b Szabó T., Ádám (ed.) (1985), A Müncheni Kódex szókincse (Der Wortschatz des Münchener Kodex), with the text of the Müncheni Kódex 1466 ed. Antal Nyíri and Gyula Décsy, Budapest, p. 453
8. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 8, 985
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Bárczi, Géza; Országh, László (eds.) (1959–1962), A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára, 7 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online at ertelmezo.oszk.hu
10. ^ a b Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 416
11. ^ Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 125
12. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó