Múltból

Múltból is a Hungarian temporal expression formed by the noun múlt (“past”) and the elative suffix -ból, functioning as an adverbial phrase meaning “from the past” or “out of the past.” It is used to indicate the origin of information, objects, or ideas in time rather than in space.

In grammatical terms, múltból represents the elative case form of a non-inflected noun. It does not stand alone as a typical substantive but rather functions within sentences to specify temporal source. The phrase can appear in various syntactic positions, most commonly modifying a noun as part of a larger expression such as “múltból származó” (originating from the past) or as part of a predicate construction with verbs that express origin or derivation, like származik (“originates from”) or visszhangzik (“echoes from the past”).

Usage of múltból is common in historical, journalistic, and literary contexts where speakers want to emphasize that information, artifacts, or narratives derive from earlier times. It often appears in collocations that relate to sources, evidence, or memories, for example, “múltból származó adatok” (data from the past) or “múltból merített történetek” (stories drawn from the past).

Related forms and concepts include different temporal elatives such as jövőből (“from the future”) and jelenből (“from the present”). While múltból is primarily a grammatical marker rather than a standalone lexical item, it plays a useful role in expressing temporal provenance in Hungarian writing and speech.

See also: jövőből, jelenből, múlt, származik.