széli

Széli is a Hungarian adjective meaning relating to the edge, border, or periphery. It is used to describe locations, phenomena, or features that occur at the margin of a place or field of study, rather than at its center. In practice, széli is applied in geographical, urban, and sociological contexts to denote peripheral areas or fringe aspects of a system.

In usage, széli typically appears in phrases such as széli területek (peripheral areas), széli utak (peripheral roads), or széli jelenségek (fringe phenomena). The term can function as a modifier before a noun, as in a város széli része (the peripheral part of the city), or as a predicate adjective in sentences like A terület széli része lakott. The word is part of a broader set of Hungarian terms describing margins or borders, and it often contrasts with more central or inner terms such as középső or belső.

Etymology and related terms are not extensively documented in English-language sources. Széli is generally viewed as a derived form connected with border or edge concepts in Hungarian, and it is related to, but distinct from, szélső, which more directly conveys the idea of outermost or extreme. The term is more common in written Hungarian, including academic, planning, and journalistic prose, than in casual speech.

Széli can also function as a surname in Hungary, borne by individuals and families, though it is not widely associated with a specific historical figure or event in available concise references. In literature and media, széli may be used to evoke fringe or boundary zones, whether geographic, social, or conceptual. See also periphery, border, and szélső.