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Etymology and origin of the Hungarian word vár

vár1 to wait

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1184 Warov, a personal name in a charter (uncertain); certain after 1372 in the Jókai Codex
Inherited from
Proto-Ugric *warɜ-
Ultimate origin
Proto-Ugric *warɜ-

Pronunciation

Forms

vár[1]

Etymology

The verb “to wait” is inherited from Proto-Ugric *warɜ- (“to guard, wait”), one of the words Hungarian inherited from the Ugric period.[2][3][4][5][1] Its only certain cognates are in Mansi: Mansi ōr- (“to wait”) and Mansi ūr- (“to wait; to beware, spare”).[3][6] TESz and the MSzFE take “to guard, wait” as the Ugric sense and compare German warten (“to wait”) beside Old Saxon wardon (“to guard, take care”).[2][4]

Other comparisons are rejected: Khanty words of this shape are loans from Mansi, and Finnish vartoa (“to wait”) is a Germanic loan in Finnish.[4] An origin from an interjection is also rejected.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A possible first record is the personal name Warov in a charter of 1184, which may be the present participle “waiting”.[2][3][7] The verb is certain in the Jókai Codex, written after 1372 and copied about 1448: vary meg engemet nemykeuesse “wait for me a little”.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

TESz takes “to wait for, expect” and “to wait, stay still for a while” as the earliest senses; the others grew out of them.[2] “To hope; to trust in someone” is recorded from after 1416, “to demand, expect of someone” (mostly with the preverb el-, as elvár) from about 1526, and “to be in store for someone” from 1825.[3][2] For the senses “to hope” and “to demand” ÚESz and EWUng compare Latin exspectō (“to wait; to hope; to require”).[3][6]

The verb produced many derivatives early: vártatik “to wait” and várodalom “expectation” in the codices of the 15th century, várás about 1456, várakozik “to wait” from 1527, váratlan “unexpected” from 1574, and várandós “pregnant”, literally “expecting”, from 1590.[3][5] The doubled várva várták “they waited eagerly” is recorded in Transylvania from 1711.[8]

Timeline

  • 1184 – ? Warov, a personal name, in a charter.[2][7]
  • after 1372 (copy of about 1448) – vary meg “wait” in the Jókai Codex.[2]
  • after 1416 – the sense “to hope”, and vartatic “waits”, in the Vienna Codex.[3]
  • about 1456 – the noun várás “waiting”.[2][3]
  • about 1526 – the sense “to demand, expect of someone”.[3]
  • 1527 – várakozik “to wait” in the Érdy Codex.[3]
  • 1574 – váratlan “unexpectedly”.[3]
  • 1590 – várandós “pregnant”.[3][5]
  • 1825 – the sense “to be in store for someone”.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To wait: to stay until someone arrives or something happens: Fél órát vártam a buszra.[9][1]
  2. To expect, look forward to someone or something: Vendégeket várunk.[9][1]
  3. To put off doing something until someone arrives or something happens.[9]
  4. (in the imperative) Wait, be patient; also as a threat: Várj csak![9]
  5. To hope for, or to demand, something.[9]
  6. (of a fate or a task) To be in store for someone: Sok munka vár ránk.[9]

Word family

  • várakozik
  • várandós
  • várat
  • váratlan
  • várható
  • váromány
  • várt
  • várás
  • elvár
  • megvár

vár2 castle

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1019 Zalawar, a place name in a charter (later copy)
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *wer-

Pronunciation

Forms

vár (plural várak)[1]

Etymology

The noun “castle” is a loan from an Iranian language that cannot be identified more closely.[3][6][5][10] TESz thinks of a Middle North Iranian language;[10][11] Ligeti counts it among the Iranian elements of late Proto-Hungarian that are not of Alanic origin, borrowed in a form with an initial bilabial fricative, and rejects the older view that it is Persian.[10][11] Related Iranian words are Avestan vāra- (“cover, defence”) and Middle Persian war (“castle, fortress”).[3][10][1] The Iranian word goes back to Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to close, cover; to protect”).[10][3]

The original sense was probably “earthwork, rampart”.[3][5][6] A Finno-Ugric comparison is rejected.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in place names in Latin charters: Zalawar in a charter of 1019 known from a later copy, and feheruuaru, modern Székesfehérvár, in the founding charter of Tihany Abbey of 1055.[3][7] The sense was “fortress, fortified place”.[10][3]

Semantic evolution

Countless place names were formed with vár, such as Sárvár, Földvár and Újvár.[12][7] The sense “royal or noble residence, palace” is recorded from 1520, in the Gyöngyös glossary, and “halo of the moon” from 1887.[10][3] The derivative város “town” was formed from it.[1][13] In children's games vár is the marked-off safe place, and in the dialects it can also mean “town”.[9][14]

The word passed into neighbouring languages: Prekmurje Slovene has var “fortress”, and Transcarpathian Ukrainian var in the 1760s.[15][16]

Timeline

  • 1019 (later copy) – Zalawar, a place name.[3]
  • 1055 – feheruuaru in the founding charter of Tihany Abbey.[3][7]
  • 1193 – war as a common noun in a charter.[3][7]
  • about 1395 – var in the Besztercei word list.[17][13]
  • 1520 – the sense “royal or noble residence”.[10][3]
  • 1887 – the sense “halo of the moon”.[10][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. castle, fortress: a fortified place with walls, bastions and moats.[9][1]
  2. The fortifications of a town taken together; a citadel.[9][1]
  3. A walled residence of a lord, usually on a hill.[9]
  4. (figurative) A strong defender or support.[9]
  5. In children's games, the marked-off place where a player is safe.[9]

Word family

  • város
  • várbeli
  • váracs
  • őriz

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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. 3, 1089
  3. ^ 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 Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  4. ^ a b c d Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 672
  5. ^ a b c d e Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  6. ^ a b c d Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1993–1997), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Ungarischen, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 1647
  7. ^ a b c d e f Szamota, István; Zolnai, Gyula (1902–1906), Magyar oklevél-szótár, Budapest: Hornyánszky
  8. ^ Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 13, 1158
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 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. 3, 1090
  11. ^ a b Ligeti, Lajos (1986), A magyar nyelv török kapcsolatai a honfoglalás előtt és az Árpád-korban, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 170
  12. ^ Czuczor, Gergely; Fogarasi, János (1862–1874), A magyar nyelv szótára, 6 vols., Pest: Emich Gusztáv / Athenaeum
  13. ^ a b Bárczi, Géza (1941), Magyar szófejtő szótár, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 179
  14. ^ B. Lőrinczy, Éva (ed.) (1979–2010), Új magyar tájszótár, 5 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  15. ^ Dudás, Előd (2024), Nemeski kincs: a muravidéki szlovén irodalmi nyelv magyar jövevényszavai, Budapest
  16. ^ Dezső, László (1989), A XVI–XVIII. századi kárpátukrán nyelvemlékek magyar jövevényszavai, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó
  17. ^ Berrár, Jolán; Károly, Sándor (1984), Régi magyar glosszárium: szótárak, szójegyzékek és glosszák egyesített szótára, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó

Related etymologies

  • jó · also from Proto-Ugric
  • jön · also from Proto-Ugric
  • fog · also from Proto-Ugric
  • át · also from Proto-Ugric
  • szó · also from Proto-Ugric
  • él · also from Proto-Ugric
  • lány · also from Proto-Ugric
Cite this entry

“Vár.” Etymologically, 25 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/hu/v%C3%A1r. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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