Elpusztul

Elpusztul is a Hungarian verb meaning to perish, to be destroyed, or to cease to exist. It is used for living beings, populations, ecosystems, and objects when they cease to exist or are ruined. The term can also be employed metaphorically, referring to the ending of hopes, plans, or cultures.

Etymology and related forms: elpusztul is formed with the prefix el-, which often marks a completed or finished state, combined with pusztul, a root meaning to perish or be destroyed. The derived noun pusztulás means perishing or destruction. The verb can appear in various tenses and moods through standard Hungarian conjugation and the infinitive elpusztulni.

Usage notes: elpusztul is typically intransitive, describing a process that happens to the subject rather than a direct action performed on an object. It is common in literary, historical, scientific, and news contexts, as well as in everyday language when describing disasters, disease, predation, or extinction, and in figurative expressions such as elpusztul a remény or elpusztultak az álmok.

Examples:

- A növények egy része elpusztult a betegség miatt. (Some of the plants perished due to the disease.)

- A remény elpusztult a háború következtében. (Hope perished as a result of the war.)

- Az élőhelyek pusztulása miatt sok– sok állat elpusztult. (Many animals perished due to habitat destruction.)

Grammatical notes: infinitive elpusztulni; present forms include elpusztulok, elpusztulsz, elpusztul, elpusztulunk, elpusztultok, elpusztulnak; past participle elpusztult (with subject concord); future constructions use el fog elpusztulni or el fognak elpusztulni, depending on number.