nyúl

• IPA^(key): [ˈɲuːl]

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: nyúl
• Rhymes: -uːl

From Proto-Uralic *ńomala.[1] Cognates include Northern Sami njoammil, Tundra Enets наба (naba, “hare”) and Erzya нумоло (numolo, “hare”).

nyúl (plural nyulak)

1. rabbit (mammal), hare
2. (slang) chicken, scaredy-cat (a coward)

   gyáva nyúl ― scaredy-cat (literally, “cowardly rabbit”)

From the same stem as nyújt +‎ -l (frequentative suffix).[2]

nyúl

1. (intransitive) to reach one's hand for something (with -ért or után)

• This verb is a member of one of those (few) quasi-homonymous verb pairs that exist both with and without an -ik ending. All (intransitive) suffixed forms of these pairs are identical (sometimes they can even have derived forms that coincide), with the exception of their dictionary form (the third-person singular indicative present, with or without -ik). However, the meaning of these pairs is usually distinct, sometimes unrelated. Examples include (fel)áldoz–(le)áldozik, bán–bánik, (meg)bíz–(meg)bízik, ér–érik, esz (rare)–eszik, hajol–hajlik, (felül)múl–(el)múlik, (hozzá)nyúl–nyúlik, (el)vesz–(el)veszik~(el)vész, and tör–törik (along with their verbal prefixes), hall–hallik (archaic), érez–érzik (archaic), sometimes with some difference: (el)hibáz–hibádzik, (le)torkol–torkollik. Therefore one may well need to check the context and the arguments to ascertain which member of the verb pair is relevant.

(With verbal prefixes):

• (rabbit): nyúl in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN
• (to reach): nyúl in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (‘The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language’, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN