repülőgép (Hungarian)
Where does "repülőgép" come from?
The Hungarian word "repülőgép" is a compound term formed by combining "repülő," meaning "flying," with "gép," meaning "machine." The root "repül" originated from an onomatopoeic base mimicking the sound of beating wings, while the word "gép" was cleverly back-formed during the Hungarian language reform. Together, they create a literal description of an aircraft as a "flying machine," a usage that has been recorded in the language since at least 1842.
Full etymology tree
- repülőgép (Hungarian), 'aeroplane, airplane'
- compound repülő (Hungarian), 'present participle of repül: flying, aeronautic, aero-'
- derived repül (Hungarian), 'to fly (of winged animals and aircraft, to propel oneself through the air)'
- inherited onomatopoeic root (Proto-Hungarian)
- suffix -ül (Hungarian), 'Added to an adjective to form a middle-voice verb. It is similar to -edik.'
- suffix -ő (Hungarian), '-ing (added to a verb to form the present participle)'
- derived repül (Hungarian), 'to fly (of winged animals and aircraft, to propel oneself through the air)'
- compound gép (Hungarian), 'machine'
- back-formation gépely (Hungarian), 'lever, hoist, gin'
- derived Gepel (German)
- influence hýbadlo (Czech)
- back-formation gépely (Hungarian), 'lever, hoist, gin'
- compound repülő (Hungarian), 'present participle of repül: flying, aeronautic, aero-'
Ancestors
- repülő (Hungarian)
- gép (Hungarian)
Descendants and derived words
- repülőgép-anyahajó (Hungarian)
- repülőgépgyár (Hungarian)
- repülőgép-hordozó (Hungarian)
- robotrepülőgép (Hungarian)
- űrrepülőgép (Hungarian)
- vadászrepülőgép (Hungarian)
- vitorlázó repülőgép (Hungarian)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris