mérkzést

Mérkőzés, in standard Hungarian spelling mérkőzés, is a noun that denotes a scheduled competitive event between opponents, most commonly a sports match or game. It refers to any contest in which two sides or players strive to defeat the other, and the outcome often influences standings, rankings, or progression in a tournament. The term is used across a wide range of activities, including team sports (such as football, basketball, handball), individual sports (such as tennis, boxing), board games, and increasingly in electronic sports.

A mérkőzés can be part of a league, cup, or tournament, or it may be organized as a single fixture. In sports reporting and everyday language, it is the standard word for describing an occasion of competition. Examples of usage include: “A mérkőzést holnap játsszák,” or “A hazai csapat megnyerte a mérkőzést 2–0-ra.” The concept is closely related to other forms of contest or competition, such as verseny or találkozó, and you may also hear the informal synonym meccs in casual speech.

The form mérkőzés has various grammatical forms, with mérkőzést serving as the accusative (e.g., “megnézzük a mérkőzést”). The form written as mérkzést is a misspelling; the correct spelling retains the ő in mérkőzés and the z before the é s part, yielding mérkőzést in the accusative.

Etymology traces the noun to the verb mérkőzni, which means to compete or contend. The noun and verb share the root related to contest and comparison, and the suffixes -zés or -ni are common in Hungarian to form nouns and infinitives related to action.