Olvasat

Olvasat is a Hungarian noun that commonly means "reading," "interpretation," "version," or "point of view." It is derived from the verb olvas ("to read") and is used to denote a particular way of understanding a text, event, statement, or phenomenon rather than its literal content alone.

In literary and academic contexts, olvasat refers to a critic’s or scholar’s interpretation of a work, emphasizing perspective, emphasis, and meaning imposed by the reader. In legal and political discourse it can indicate an authoritative or competing interpretation of a law, ruling, policy, or statement. In everyday language olvasat is frequently used to signal subjective understanding, for example by prefacing a remark with "az én olvasatom szerint" ("in my reading/interpretation").

The word appears in singular and plural forms (olvasat, olvasatok) and combines with modifiers to specify kinds of readings (e.g., alternatív olvasat, politikai olvasat, történeti olvasat). While often translated into English as "reading" or "interpretation," its usage in Hungarian carries nuance about perspective and the interpretive act itself. Olvasat thus functions both as a linguistic label for interpretive positions and as a rhetorical device to frame or qualify claims about meaning.