kohéziós

Kohéziós is an adjective derived from kohézió, a concept meaning the tendency of parts to stick together. In Hungarian usage it describes properties or processes that involve cohesion, the act of binding or holding together. The term is used across scientific, social, and linguistic contexts to convey a common idea: internal or intrinsic sticking together.

In the natural sciences, kohézió refers to the intermolecular or interatomic forces that keep a substance intact. This includes cohesive forces within liquids and solids, such as hydrogen bonding in water or van der Waals forces in molecular lattices. Cohesion influences properties like surface tension, boiling points, and mechanical strength, and is distinguished from adhesion, which is the attraction between unlike substances.

In social contexts, kohézió denotes social cohesion—the degree to which members of a society or community feel connected, trust one another, and share norms and values. High social cohesion is associated with stability, cooperation, and effective collective action, while low cohesion can correlate with conflict or fragmentation. Factors affecting it include equality, inclusive institutions, economic opportunity, and social capital.

In linguistics and discourse analysis, kohéziós also describes cohesive devices that connect elements of a text, such as reference, substitution, ellipsis, and conjunctions. These devices help achieve coherence by linking sentences and ideas, guiding readers or listeners through the text.

Etymologically, kohéziós traces to the concept of cohesion, ultimately rooted in Latin and reinforced through European languages, indicating the broader idea of sticking together.