egy (Hungarian)

Where does "egy" come from?

The Hungarian word "egy," meaning one, likely originates from the Proto-Uralic demonstrative root for "this." Linguists suggest it evolved through the addition of various suffixes, such as an ablative case or a nominal-forming marker, which underwent sound shifts like palatalization to achieve its current form. Alternative theories even propose a connection to Proto-Uralic terms for "the front," highlighting the complex and debated roots of this foundational number.

Full etymology tree

• egy (Hungarian), 'one'
  • derived e (Hungarian), 'this'
    • inherited *e- (Proto-Uralic), 'this'
  • suffix -gy (Hungarian), 'Allomorph of -j, the subjunctive/imperative suffix in verbs.'
  • suffix -l (Hungarian), 'Added to a noun, an adjective, a verb or less frequently to an adverb to form a verb.'
  • inherited *ede (Proto-Uralic), 'ahead, before'

Ancestors

• *e- (Proto-Uralic)
• -l (Hungarian)
• -gy (Hungarian)
• *ede (Proto-Uralic)

Descendants and derived words

• alszik rá egyet (Hungarian)
• egyaknás (Hungarian)
• egyaránt (Hungarian)
• egyazon (Hungarian)
• egydimenziós (Hungarian)
• egyed (Hungarian)
• egyed (Hungarian)
• egyértelmű (Hungarian)
• egyes (Hungarian)
• egyes (Hungarian)
• egyetért (Hungarian)
• egyetlen (Hungarian)

Updated July 2026

More words starting with E

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