Nyomozó

Nyomozó is a Hungarian noun meaning detective or investigator. It denotes a person who engages in the inquiry of crimes, reconstructing events, locating witnesses, and gathering evidence. In contemporary usage, nyomozó may refer to professionals in law enforcement as well as to private investigators.

The word derives from nyom ('trace' or 'mark') with the agentive suffix -ozó, literally 'one who follows traces'. The term is gender-neutral in Hungarian and is used for individuals of any gender.

In practice, a nyomozó employed by a police or prosecutorial body conducts investigations, interviews witnesses, analyzes materials, searches for leads, and coordinates with prosecutors to build a case. In private contexts, magánnyomozó or magánnyomozó vállalkozás refers to a private investigator who operates outside official police structures, subject to relevant laws and licensing requirements.

Nyomozó figures are common in Hungarian-language crime fiction and film, where they appear as professional investigators or amateur sleuths solving mysteries. The term can also be used descriptively to denote someone who investigates or probes a matter, not necessarily criminal in nature.