Korlátos

Korlátos is a Hungarian adjective meaning having limits or being bounded; it can also be used more generally to describe something that is restricted or finite in extent, capacity, or scope. The word is formed from korlát, meaning barrier or limit, with the suffix -os to indicate the quality of possessing that characteristic. In everyday language, korlátos describes situations, resources, or options that are not unlimited.

In mathematics, korlátos denotes the concept of boundedness. A subset of a metric or normed space is korlátos if there exists a real number M and a point x0 such that the distance from x0 to every element x in the set is less than M; equivalently, the norm of each element is bounded by M. A function is korlátos if there exists M with |f(x)| ≤ M for all x in its domain. Boundedness is fundamental in analysis, relating to convergence, compactness, and continuity. The opposite term is korlátlan, meaning unbounded.

In other contexts, korlátos describes restricted resources or options, such as korlátos költség (restricted cost) or korlátos lehetőségek (limited opportunities). In economics and optimization, bounded problem formulations constrain variables or outcomes by limits or constraints.

Etymology: korlát comes from the idea of a barrier or limit, and the suffix -os turns it into an adjective meaning “having the quality of a limit.” Related terms include korlátozás (restriction) and korlátlanság (unboundedness).

See also: boundedness, limit, constraint.