átél

Átél is a Hungarian verb meaning to experience something, especially in an emotional sense, or to live through an event or situation. The word emphasizes the subjective, felt dimension of experience rather than merely recognizing that something happened. It is formed with the prefix át- meaning across or through, attached to él, “to live,” giving the nuance of living through an experience.

The act is commonly described as an emotional or existential processing of a situation, memory, or feeling. It can be used with nouns representing events, situations, or emotions, for example in phrases like átéli a veszteséget (he/she experiences the loss) or átéli az eseményeket (lives through the events). The related noun átélés denotes the act or process of experiencing, or the experience itself. The past participle form átélt can be used to describe something that has been experienced.

In Hungarian, átél is often contrasted with megél. Megél can refer to experiencing something more broadly, including practical or social aspects, whereas átél highlights the emotional or inner dimension of the experience. The term is common in literary, psychological, and everyday language when discussing how people internalize problems, traumas, memories, or significant moments.

Variants and related forms include the inflected present and past forms (e.g., átélem, átéli, átéltem) and the noun átélés. The word appears across formal and informal registers and is a staple in discussions of personal experience and emotional life.