szállá

Szálló is a Hungarian word with multiple related meanings. As a noun, it primarily denotes a building that provides lodging; historically a boarding house or hostel. In contemporary usage, the more common term for a hotel is szálloda, while szálló survives in fixed phrases and institutional contexts, such as iskola szálló (school dormitory) or diákszálló (student dormitory).

Another usage arises as an adjective or as part of a compound, derived from the verb száll, meaning “to carry.” It describes something airborne or carried by air. The noun phrase szálló por refers to dust suspended in the air, i.e., airborne dust, and the term appears in meteorological or industrial language to describe materials that travel with air currents.

History and nuance: the hotel sense of szálló is older, but in modern Hungarian the everyday term for a hotel is szálloda. Szálló remains common in institutional names and in fixed expressions, and it also appears in various compound forms related to lodging or carrying.

Related terms include szálloda (hotel), diákszálló and iskolaszálló (student or school dormitory), and szállópor (dust suspended in the air).