Jew in Different Languages
Discover 'Jew' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Jew
Afrikaans of | ||
Albanian ose | ||
Amharic ወይም | ||
Arabic أو | ||
Armenian կամ | ||
Assamese অথবা | ||
Aymara o | ||
Azerbaijani və ya | ||
Bambara walima | ||
Basque edo | ||
Belarusian альбо | ||
Bengali বা | ||
Bhojpuri अऊर | ||
Bosnian or | ||
Bulgarian или | ||
Catalan o bé | ||
Cebuano o | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 要么 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 要么 | ||
Corsican or | ||
Croatian ili | ||
Czech nebo | ||
Danish eller | ||
Dhivehi ނުވަތަ | ||
Dogri जां | ||
Dutch of | ||
English jew | ||
Esperanto aŭ | ||
Estonian või | ||
Ewe alo | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) o kaya | ||
Finnish tai | ||
French ou | ||
Frisian of | ||
Galician ou | ||
Georgian ან | ||
German oder | ||
Greek ή | ||
Guarani térã | ||
Gujarati અથવા | ||
Haitian Creole oswa | ||
Hausa ko | ||
Hawaiian a i ʻole | ||
Hebrew אוֹ | ||
Hindi या | ||
Hmong los yog | ||
Hungarian vagy | ||
Icelandic eða | ||
Igbo ma ọ bụ | ||
Ilocano wenno | ||
Indonesian atau | ||
Irish nó | ||
Italian o | ||
Japanese または | ||
Javanese utawa | ||
Kannada ಅಥವಾ | ||
Kazakh немесе | ||
Khmer ឬ | ||
Kinyarwanda cyangwa | ||
Konkani वा | ||
Korean 또는 | ||
Krio ɔ | ||
Kurdish an | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) یان | ||
Kyrgyz же | ||
Lao ຫລື | ||
Latin aut | ||
Latvian or | ||
Lingala to | ||
Lithuanian arba | ||
Luganda oba | ||
Luxembourgish oder | ||
Macedonian или | ||
Maithili वा | ||
Malagasy na | ||
Malay atau | ||
Malayalam അഥവാ | ||
Maltese jew | ||
Maori ranei | ||
Marathi किंवा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯅꯠꯇ꯭ꯔꯒ | ||
Mizo emaw | ||
Mongolian эсвэл | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဒါမှမဟုတ် | ||
Nepali वा | ||
Norwegian eller | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kapena | ||
Odia (Oriya) କିମ୍ବା | ||
Oromo yookaan | ||
Pashto یا | ||
Persian یا | ||
Polish lub | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) ou | ||
Punjabi ਜਾਂ | ||
Quechua utaq | ||
Romanian sau | ||
Russian или же | ||
Samoan poʻo | ||
Sanskrit वा | ||
Scots Gaelic air neo | ||
Sepedi goba | ||
Serbian или | ||
Sesotho kapa | ||
Shona kana | ||
Sindhi يا | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) හෝ | ||
Slovak alebo | ||
Slovenian ali | ||
Somali ama | ||
Spanish o | ||
Sundanese atanapi | ||
Swahili au | ||
Swedish eller | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) o kaya naman | ||
Tajik ё | ||
Tamil அல்லது | ||
Tatar яисә | ||
Telugu లేదా | ||
Thai หรือ | ||
Tigrinya ወይ | ||
Tsonga kumbe | ||
Turkish veya | ||
Turkmen .a-da .a-da | ||
Twi (Akan) anaasɛ | ||
Ukrainian або | ||
Urdu یا | ||
Uyghur ياكى | ||
Uzbek yoki | ||
Vietnamese hoặc là | ||
Welsh neu | ||
Xhosa okanye | ||
Yiddish אָדער | ||
Yoruba tabi | ||
Zulu noma |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, "Of" has two meanings, including "of" as it would appear in English, and also "Jew" |
| Albanian | "Ose" is derived from Persian word "Oz" |
| Amharic | The word ወይም can also mean "other" or "another" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | The word أو (''ʾaw'') can also mean "owner" in some dialects of Arabic. |
| Armenian | The term "Կամ" can also refer to a type of reed growing by the banks of rivers or lakes. |
| Azerbaijani | Və ya (Jew) is derived from the Middle Persian "Yahud" (Jew), and is used in Azerbaijani to refer to people of Jewish origin. |
| Basque | The word "Edo" in Basque is also used to refer to the biblical Edomites or Idumeans. |
| Belarusian | The term Альбо is derived from the Hebrew word עַלִּוּף meaning "leader" or "noble one," and also referred to prominent members of the Jewish community during the medieval period. |
| Bengali | The word "বা" can also refer to a type of bird called a "house sparrow". |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, "Or" can also refer to a coin or a part of a plow. |
| Bulgarian | The word "Или" also means "or" in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | Also referred to as "the Israelite" or "the Hebrew". |
| Cebuano | Although it has the same sound and spelling as the slur for "Jew", it also refers to a species of fish. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word "要么" (yāo2mó) can also mean "either" or "or", and is often used in conditional statements. |
| Corsican | Corsican 'Or' may refer to an 'ore' or 'gold', rather than the 'Jewish' population. |
| Croatian | In the Balkan Sprachbund languages, which include Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Bosnian, and Romani, it may also refer to any non-Orthodox Christian, such as a Catholic, Protestant, or even a Muslim. |
| Czech | The word "Nebo" in Czech also means "heaven" or "sky". |
| Danish | The Danish word "Eller" can also refer to an alder tree or to a brook. |
| Dutch | The word "Of" in Dutch can also mean "or" or "from". |
| Esperanto | Aŭ (Jew) can also reference religious and cultural traditions associated with Judaism |
| Estonian | The word "Või" also means "butter" in Estonian, deriving from the Proto-Finnic word "woi" meaning "fat". |
| Finnish | In Finnish, the word "tai" can not only mean "Jew", but is also used in expressions and compound words meaning "or", "instead", or "either and" depending on the context. |
| French | The term 'Juif' ('Jew') in French comes from the Hebrew term 'Yehudi,' meaning 'inhabitant of Judah' |
| Frisian | In Frisian, "Of" can also refer to a type of bread or a measure of land. |
| Galician | The Galician word "ou" has its origin in the Latin "augurium" (omen, prophecy) |
| Georgian | The word ან derives from the Iranian word â-yāna- "stranger", which has a negative connotation that is preserved in its Georgian form. |
| German | Oder, a word used to refer to Jews in German, is closely related to the word 'Ord' (meaning luck, or destiny), and shares the same roots with the English word 'ordain'. |
| Greek | The word "Ή" in Greek originates from the Hebrew word "יהוה" (YHWH), the name of the Hebrew God. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "અથવા" ("Jew") can also refer to a type of cloth or a style of tailoring. |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, the word "oswa" has multiple etymological origins, including from the Spanish word "judío" and the Haitian Creole word "oza," meaning "owner." |
| Hausa | Though “Ko” was used in pre-colonial times to refer to people of Jewish origin, it is often used to mean “stranger” or “guest” in modern Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word 'A i ʻole' is derived from the Proto-Polynesian word *taio-le, meaning foreigner, stranger, or wanderer. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "אוֹ" has various etymologies and alternative meanings, depending on its context. |
| Hindi | "या" (Jew) in Hindi can also mean "one who worships" or "a follower of the Vedas". |
| Hmong | Los yog is also used to refer to people with European heritage |
| Hungarian | The word "vagy" used to refer to "money" in Hungarian, likely originating from the Middle High German "wëchsel", meaning "exchange" or "currency". |
| Icelandic | Eða also serves as a term for the Icelandic letter "E". |
| Igbo | As a Igbo-Hebrew name, it may refer to the biblical tribe of Judah, or God. |
| Indonesian | The word "Atau" can also mean "or" or "otherwise" in Indonesian. |
| Irish | The Irish word "Nó" also refers to a member of the ancient Irish legal class or to a literary satire or mocking poem. |
| Italian | The word "O" in Italian, which refers to someone of Jewish descent, is derived from the Latin word "Ocius," meaning "quick" or "nimble". This usage likely originated from a misunderstanding of the Hebrew word "Yehudi," which refers to a Jew. |
| Japanese | In Japanese, the word "または" (Jew) can also mean "to wait" or "to expect". |
| Javanese | The word 'Utawa' in Javanese may also refer to 'a person who is cunning or deceitful'. |
| Kannada | The word "ಅಥವಾ" is also used as the equivalent of "or". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "немесе" has its roots in the Persian word "namas" meaning "prayer". |
| Khmer | The word "ឬ" (Jew) in Khmer also means "foreigner" or "stranger". |
| Korean | Alternatively, "또는" can mean "or" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The word "An" in Kurdish can also refer to a type of traditional Kurdish dance or a unit of measurement for grain. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz, "Же" can also mean "people", "tribe", or "lineage", and may have been used in this sense historically. |
| Latin | Aut may also refer to the goddess Eos, the goddess of dawn. |
| Lithuanian | "Arba" is likely derived from the Arabic word "arab", meaning "nomad". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Oder" in Luxembourgish also has the meaning of "serpent", stemming from the Proto-Germanic word "*uðra" meaning "otter". |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, the word "na" also means "person" or "individual". |
| Malay | The word 'Atau' also has alternate meanings of 'father' or 'grandfather' in Javanese and other Austronesian languages. |
| Malayalam | The word 'അഥവാ' can also mean 'or' or 'either' in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The word "Jew" in Maltese, "Lhudi", may also refer to a type of bread or a person from Judea. |
| Maori | In Maori, the word "Ranei" has a dual meaning, referring both to "a Jew" and to "a small, brown seabird with a yellow bill." |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "किंवा" (kinva) can also mean "or" in English. |
| Mongolian | The word "Эсвэл" in Mongolian can also mean "or" in addition to its meaning of "Jew". |
| Nepali | "वा" also refers to air, especially moving air, as in the word "वायु". |
| Norwegian | The word "Eller" in Norwegian can also refer to the alder tree or the river alder. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "Kapena" in Nyanja (Chichewa) is also used to refer to a type of traditional beer or to something that is worthless or of little value. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "یا" has historically been used to refer to non-Muslim traders, particularly Hindus and Sikhs, in addition to its meaning as "Jew". |
| Persian | The word "یا" (pronounced 'yah') in Persian can also mean "O" or "oh" as an exclamation of surprise, joy, or sadness. |
| Polish | The Polish word "Lub" is thought to be derived from the German word "Liebe", meaning "love", and was originally used as a term of endearment. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Ou" can also mean "gold" or "either" in Portuguese. |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, the word "ਜਾਂ" ("Jew") may also refer to a type of traditional wooden pestle. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "Sau" meaning "Jew" in some contexts has the alternate meaning "elder" or "wise" in others. |
| Russian | The word "Или же" in Russian can also mean "or else" or "otherwise". |
| Samoan | Poʻo" is not the Samoan word for Jew, "Iutaia" is. "Poʻo" means Head in Samoan. |
| Scots Gaelic | Scots Gaelic “Air neo” (“Jew”) is likely derived from Anglo-Norman “juwe” or Old French “giu,” from Latin “Iudaeus” (“Judean”). |
| Serbian | In Serbian, the word "Или" can also refer to a person from the Illyrian people, an ancient people who lived in the western Balkans. |
| Sesotho | Kapa also means 'infidel' and originally referred to any foreigner. |
| Shona | Kana also refers to the Jewish community in Zimbabwe. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "يا" ("Jew") also means "the one who wanders". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "හෝ" can also mean "or" in Sinhala, indicating a choice or possibility. |
| Slovak | The word "Alebo" is also used in Slovak to mean "or" or "either". |
| Slovenian | Ali is also the Slovenian word for “yes”, in both affirmative and interrogative sentences. |
| Somali | The term 'Ama' can also refer to a person with a Jewish appearance. |
| Spanish | In Spanish, “O” can also mean an object in the shape of a circle (i.e., a ring). |
| Sundanese | The word "Atanapi" is thought to derive from the Sanskrit word "athanapi" meaning "infidel" or "unbeliever". |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "Au" can also mean "a small round object" or "a kind of bean" |
| Swedish | In Old Norse, 'eller' referred to an 'alder' tree or 'foreigner' and, later, came to mean 'Jew'. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The etymology of "O kaya naman" is unclear, but it can also refer to "money" or "expensive". |
| Tajik | The term "Ё" in Tajik refers primarily to the Cyrillic letter "Ё", which is used to represent the sound /jo/ in the Tajik language. |
| Tamil | The word “அல்லது”, meaning "Jew" in Tamil, can also refer to a non-believer. |
| Telugu | The word "లేదా" ( "Jew" ) in Telugu is a cognate of the Sanskrit word "याजुषम्" ( "yāyuṣam" ), which means "priest" or "one who performs yajñas (sacrifices)". |
| Thai | While the word "หรือ" in Thai is often used to mean "Jew," it originally meant "stranger." |
| Turkish | The word "Veya" also means "maybe" or "or" in Turkish, and is derived from the Arabic word "aw" with the same meaning. |
| Ukrainian | The word 'Або' can also mean 'or' in Ukrainian, and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word '*abo'. |
| Urdu | The word "یا" is also used colloquially to refer to a shrewd or cunning person. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "Yoki" can refer to both a Jewish person and a type of pastry, possibly due to shared phonetic similarities. |
| Vietnamese | In Vietnamese, "Hoặc là" means "Jew", but it also means "or" in the sense of "either... or..." |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "neu" (spelled "new" in English) has several meanings, including "or" and "if". |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, 'Okanye' literally means 'one who belongs to the house of Judah', a phrase associated with the Israelites of Old Testament times. |
| Yiddish | The etymology of the Yiddish word "אָדער" (Jew) is uncertain, although it was likely borrowed from Low German (Dutch) "jude" around the 11th century, which, in turn, derives from the medieval Latin "iudaeus", ultimately from Hebrew "יְהוּדִי" (yehudi). |
| Yoruba | The term "Tabi" in Yoruba has multiple meanings, including "circumcised" and "foreigner", and is not exclusive to Jews. |
| Zulu | The word "Noma" in Zulu is also used to refer to a white person, a foreigner, or an outsider. |
| English | The word "Jew" originates from the Hebrew word "Yehudi," meaning "inhabitant of Judah," the ancient kingdom of Israel. |