Hongrois

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Relating to Hungary, its people, language, or culture; characteristic of the Hungarian nation or heritage; pertaining to the Hungarian language
2. Connected with the nation of Hungary, including its citizens, cultural practices, and linguistic traits; describing anything that originates from Hungary; associated with the Hungarian ethnic group
3. Referring to the Hungarian people and their customs, language, or national identity; indicative of Hungarian origins or cultural elements; related to the territory and population of Hungary

Etymology: "Hongrois" is the French word for Hungarian, and its history runs through a medieval mistake about who the Hungarians were. The Magyars, the people who founded the Hungarian state, spoke a Finno-Ugric language unrelated to their neighbours, but by the Middle Ages they were known in Western Europe through the Latinized name "Hungari." That name was borrowed from "Onogur," a Turkic term for a group of tribes, and Byzantine writers and others associated it with the Huns, which is why the Latin form was built on that association. The French adjective descends from Medieval Latin "Hungarus," and it passed into French as "hongrois," with the initial "h" kept in writing though it has never been pronounced. The adjective is therefore a classic example of a national name that outlived its original reason. Hungarians call their country "Magyarország" and themselves "magyar," a word that comes from the name of one of the seven tribes, yet the Western name stuck. "Hongrois" is used in French for anything tied to Hungary: its people, language, cuisine, or institutions.