Távolsága

Távolság, in Hungarian távolság, denotes the extent of space between two points or objects. The word derives from távol meaning “far” and the abstract noun suffix -ság, yielding “the state or degree of being far.”

In mathematics and geometry, távolság is defined as the length of the shortest path between two points in a given space. In Euclidean plane geometry this is the straight-line distance, calculated by the distance formula. More generally, distance is formalized as a metric: a nonnegative function that is zero only for identical points, is symmetric, and satisfies the triangle inequality. Different spaces have different notions of distance: geodesic distance on curved surfaces, great-circle distance on the sphere, and various distance measures used in data analysis (such as Manhattan, Euclidean, or cosine distance).

In practical measurement, the basic unit of distance in the International System of Units is the metre. For larger scales, other units and conventions are used, such as kilometre for road distances, astronomical units, light-years for interstellar distances, and parsecs in astronomy; in navigation, the nautical mile is common. Distances can be spatial, temporal (as in travel time), or conceptual (such as perceived or modal distance).

In everyday language, távolság can refer to physical separation as well as the sense of psychological or social distance, or the degree of estrangement between people or groups.

Távolsága as a grammatical form appears in Hungarian as távolsága, the possessive form meaning “its distance” or “the distance of.”