tengerimalac (Hungarian)

Where does "tengerimalac" come from?

The Hungarian noun 'tengerimalac', meaning 'guinea pig'[1], is a compound word formed from 'tengeri', meaning 'sea'[1][3], and 'malac', meaning 'pig'[1][2]. The element 'tengeri' derives from 'tenger', meaning 'sea'[3], which comes from an Oghur language and ultimately traces back to the Proto-Turkic reconstructed form '*teŋiŕ'[4]. Meanwhile, the component 'malac' is likely a borrowing from Slovene[2].

Open questions

• The etymological connection of the Proto-Turkic form to Middle Chinese is noted as an ultimate source. [5] [6]
• The component malac is considered to be probably borrowed from Slovene. [2]

Full etymology tree

• tengerimalac (Hungarian), 'guinea pig (Cavia porcellus)'
  • compound tengeri (Hungarian), 'naval, marine, sea-'
    • derived tenger (Hungarian), 'sea'
      • borrowed (Oghur language)
        • borrowed *teŋiŕ (Proto-Turkic), 'large body of water'
          • derived *teŋ (Proto-Turkic), 'equal'
            • borrowed 等 (təŋX) (Middle Chinese)
          • suffix *-iŕ (Proto-Turkic)
    • suffix -i (Hungarian), 'Added to proper nouns, certain common nouns and postpositions to form adjectives:'
  • compound malac (Hungarian), 'pig, piglet (a young pig)'
    • borrowed (Slovene)

Ancestors

• tengeri (Hungarian)
• malac (Hungarian)

Sources

1. tengerimalac (Hungarian) - Wiktionary
2. malac (Hungarian) - Wiktionary
3. tengeri (Hungarian) - Wiktionary
4. tenger (Hungarian) - Wiktionary
5. teŋiŕ (Proto-Turkic) - Wiktionary
6. teŋ (Proto-Turkic) - Wiktionary

Updated October 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris