mutlak

Mutlak is a Turkish adjective meaning absolute, unconditional, total, or complete. It is used to indicate fullness or completeness of a quality, often serving as an intensifier in everyday language and in technical terms. The word appears in phrases such as mutlak güven (absolute trust), mutlak doğruluk (absolute truth), and mutlak hak (absolute right). In philosophy and theology, mutlak is used to discuss concepts perceived as universal or unconditioned, such as the mutlak varlık (absolute being) or the Mutlak in reference to the Absolute in philosophical or religious contexts. In political and historical contexts, mutlaklık or mutlakiyet denotes a system of absolute power, as in mutlak monarşi (absolute monarchy) or mutlak iktidar (absolute authority).

Etymology and usage: Mutlak derives from Arabic mutlaq, meaning unrestricted or free from limitation, and entered Turkish via Persian and Ottoman Turkish. In Turkish grammar, it often forms compounds to emphasize totality or certainty.

In mathematics and related fields, mutlak değer refers to the absolute value of a number, denoted by |x|. The mutlak değer is non-negative and represents distance from zero on a number line. Key properties include |ab| = |a| |b|, |a/b| = |a|/|b| (b ≠ 0), and the triangle inequality |a + b| ≤ |a| + |b|. The term extends to more abstract notions of magnitude in other mathematical objects.

Overall, mutlak is a versatile term in Turkish, conveying the idea of something being without condition, limitation, or ambiguity across language, philosophy, politics, and mathematics.