Etymologically
Log in

visz

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 25 October 2026 at 23:55. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

visz[1] The 3rd person singular has an old and dialect form viszen; the past is vitt, the infinitive vinni.[2][3] Western dialects have vüsz.[4]

Etymology

It is an inherited stem, inherited from Proto-Uralic *wixe- (“to take, carry”), with the Hungarian frequentative suffix -sz, as in lesz and tesz.[5][6][1] ÚESz reconstructs the stem as Finno-Ugric ⟨*βiγe-⟩ “to take, seize; carry”, the MSzFE as ⟨*wike-⟩.[5][7] Its cognates are Mansi wü- (“to take”), Khanty wĕ- (“to take”), Komi-Zyrian vaj- (“to bring, carry; give birth”), Udmurt vaj- (“to take, carry; give birth”), Erzya vije- (“to bring, take, lead”) and Finnish viedä (“to lead, take away”).[5][6][1] The short vowel inside the Hungarian word is somewhat unusual, but it has a parallel in the verb “to put”.[5]

The meaning moved towards carrying away, so that the verb became the opposite of hoz (“to bring”).[5] The early records of this verb and vesz (“to take”) are partly mixed;[5][8] TESz takes the latter for a split variant of the former, perhaps going back to the Ugric period, while Wiktionary doubts that the two are one word.[5][8][1]

The Finno-Ugric verb resembles Indo-European words for carrying and driving: Avestan vaz-, Sanskrit वहति (váhati) and Latin vehō (“to carry”).[5][7] Some scholars took this for an ancient relationship, others for a borrowing from Proto-Aryan or Proto-Indo-European, and others again doubted any link;[7] Joki allowed both relationship and borrowing.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the Jókai Codex, about 1448, copied from a text written after 1372, with vyuen vele Frater Leot, “taking Brother Leo with him”.[7][5] The codex has both “to carry, convey” and “to lead, take (a person) somewhere”.[5]

Semantic evolution

ÚESz dates the further senses: “(of a road) to lead somewhere” and “to load as a burden” in the Vienna Codex (about 1450), “to bear, carry out” in 1527, “to lead to a result” before 1539, “to refer to someone” in 1583, and in Comenius's Janua of 1643 “to sweep away” and, mostly as elvisz, “to carry off a prize”.[5] The derivative visel “to wear, bear” is formed from the variant stem vi-.[9][7]

The saying vert viszen veretlent “the beaten one carries the unbeaten”, is recorded in Transylvania from 1632.[10] In Szeged and the Ormánság nem sokáig viszi means “he will not live long”, and nem sokra vitte “he did not get far”.[11][12]

The derivative vitel “carrying” is recorded from the Apor Codex (copy of a text written after 1416); kivihető “feasible” from 1823 and kivitelez “to carry out (a building)” from 1917.[5]

Timeline

  • c. 1448 – vyuen “taking” and the senses “carry” and “lead” in the Jókai Codex (copy of a text written after 1372).[7][5]
  • c. 1450 – “(of a road) to lead somewhere” in the Vienna Codex.[5]
  • after 1416 – vitel “carrying” in the Apor Codex (a later copy).[5]
  • 1527 – “to bear, carry out”.[5]
  • 1583 – “to refer to someone”.[5]
  • 1632 – vert viszen veretlent in a Transylvanian letter.[10]
  • 1643 – “to sweep away” and “to carry off a prize” in Comenius's Janua.[5]
  • 1823 – kivihető “feasible”.[5]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To carry, take something or someone somewhere, away from the speaker: Vidd ki a szemetet![2][1]
  2. To take by vehicle, transport.[2]
  3. To take or lead a person somewhere; to take someone away under arrest.[2]
  4. Of a current or wind, to sweep along, carry away.[2][5]
  5. Of a road, to lead somewhere.[5][12]
  6. To bring someone into a place or situation: sírba visz “to bring to the grave”.[2][11]
  7. Of money, to swallow up: sok pénzt visz.[2]
  8. In card games, to take a trick.[2]
  9. (figurative) sokra visz, to get far, achieve much;[5][11] elvisz, to carry off a prize.[5][11]

Word family

  • visel
  • vitel
  • elvisz

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Csűry, Bálint (1935–1936), Szamosháti szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Magyar Nyelvtudományi Társaság, p. 2, 464
  4. ^ Szinnyei, József (1893–1901), Magyar tájszótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Hornyánszky, p. 2, 1005
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
  6. ^ a b Zaicz, Gábor (ed.) (2006), Etimológiai szótár: magyar szavak és toldalékok eredete, Budapest: Tinta Könyvkiadó
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Lakó, György (ed.) (1967–1978), A magyar szókészlet finnugor elemei, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 694
  8. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1125
  9. ^ Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 3, 1156
  10. ^ a b Szabó T., Attila (ed.) (1975–2014), Erdélyi magyar szótörténeti tár, 14 vols., Bukarest: Kriterion / Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó / Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum-Egyesület, p. 14, 519
  11. ^ a b c d Bálint, Sándor (1957), Szegedi szótár, 2 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 674
  12. ^ a b Kiss, Géza (1952), Ormánysági szótár, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 596