régi

Régi is a Hungarian adjective meaning old or ancient. It is used to describe nouns that are not new, including objects, traditions, ideas, and periods of time. In everyday use it often carries a sense of history or familiarity, not just age. The word commonly appears before the noun, as in régi ház (old house), régi idők (old times), or régi hagyományok (old traditions). It can also function predicatively in some contexts, as in A ház régi (The house is old).

Etymology and history: Régi is an inherited part of the Hungarian lexicon, with roots in the historical development of the language. Its exact origin is not fully settled, but it appears in older Hungarian texts and has remained productive in modern usage. It is generally treated as a stable, everyday adjective rather than a specialized term.

Usage and grammar: Like other Hungarian adjectives, régi agrees with the noun it modifies in number and case. It participates in standard adjective formation, including comparative and superlative constructions according to general Hungarian rules (for example, using common patterns to express “older” or “oldest”), though the precise forms follow regular inflection and do not indicate a irregular paradigm specific to this word.

See also: Hungarian language; Adjectives in Hungarian; Old (as a semantic field).