Privát

Privát is a loanword used in Hungarian and other Central European languages to denote private or non-public aspects. In Hungarian, privát functions as an adjective and is widely used to describe private life (privát élet), private property (privát tulajdon), and privately owned business entities (privát vállalat). It serves as a counterpart to állami (state) and nyilvános (public) and marks distinctions between public and private spheres in law, economics, and everyday speech. The term derives from Latin privatatus, reaching Hungarian through German privat and French privé, and has been part of Standard Hungarian vocabulary for several centuries. In contemporary usage, privát emphasizes personal, confidential, or non-governmental character, and appears in common expressions such as privát szféra (the private sphere) and privát vállalkozás (private enterprise).

Across language contexts in Central Europe, privát or its close variants carry a similar sense of non-public or private ownership, reflecting historical legal and social distinctions between private and public life. In practice, the word supports clear contrasts in discourse about property, life, and services, and often appears in formal, semi-formal, and everyday speech. In English-language contexts, privát is not a standard term; its closest equivalents are private, private life, or private sector. See also privacy, private life, and private property for related concepts.

Note: this article focuses on the general usage and linguistic background of the term as it appears in Hungarian and nearby languages.