About in different languages

About in Different Languages

Discover 'About' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'about' is a versatile and essential part of our daily communication. It is used to indicate proximity, direction, or to provide information or opinions on a particular topic. The significance of 'about' extends beyond English, as it has equivalents in many languages, each with its unique cultural context and usage.

For instance, in Spanish, 'about' can be translated as 'sobre' or 'acerca de'. In French, it becomes 'à propos' or 'environ'. These translations not only help us understand the word in different languages but also offer a glimpse into the diverse cultural perspectives of the world. The word 'about' is also used in many idioms and phrases, such as 'about time', 'about face', or 'about nothing', adding to its cultural importance.

Understanding the translation of 'about' in different languages can be beneficial for travelers, language learners, or anyone interested in global culture. It can help you navigate foreign languages, enhance your cross-cultural communication, and deepen your appreciation for the richness of global linguistic diversity.

Here are some translations of 'about' in various languages:

About


About in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansoor
The phrase "oor die maan" means "about the moon" in Afrikaans, and refers to a person who is eccentric or distracted.
Amharicስለ
'ስለ' can be used to refer to an action performed indirectly. For example, 'እሱን ስለ ሰጠኝ መረዳሁ' ('I understood him because he gave it to me.')
Hausagame da
In ancient Hausa texts, "game da" was also used to mean "of" or "from" before transitioning to its modern meaning.
Igbobanyere
The word "banyere" can also mean "around" or "concerning".
Malagasymomba ny
While "momba" means "from" in English, it's used as "about" or "concerning" in Malagasy.
Nyanja (Chichewa)za
"Za" in Nyanja can also mean "with," "by," or "from," depending on the context.
Shonanezve
The word 'nezve' can also refer to a 'certain type of grass' in Shona.
Somaliku saabsan
The word "ku saabsan" can also mean "concerning" or "regarding" in Somali.
Sesothomabapi le
The word "mabapi le" can also mean "concerning" or "in relation to."
Swahilikuhusu
In Swahili, 'kuhusu' signifies a relationship or involvement with something, akin to the English 'concerning' or 'regarding'
Xhosamalunga
Malunga in Xhosa can be a noun (the mouth of a river), or an adjective (deep)
Yorubanipa
Nipa is also used to describe the circumference of something.
Zulumayelana
The word "mayelana" in Zulu can also mean "concerning", "with regard to", or "in relation to".
Bambarakan
Eweku ɖe
Kinyarwandahafi
Lingalapene
Lugandaku
Sepedimabapi le
Twi (Akan)fa ho

About in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicحول
حول is also the word for the compass points and directions, i.e. north, south, east, and west.
Hebrewעל אודות
The Hebrew word "על אודות" can also be used to express the meaning of "concerning".
Pashtoپه اړه
په اړه also means 'in connection with' or 'regarding' in addition to 'about'.
Arabicحول
حول is also the word for the compass points and directions, i.e. north, south, east, and west.

About in Western European Languages

Albanianrreth
The word "rreth" in Albanian has a related meaning of "sphere" or "circle", suggesting a broader sense of "surrounding" or "encompassing".
Basqueburuz
The Basque word "buruz" can also mean "head" or "mind."
Catalansobre
The Catalan word "sobre" can also mean "envelope" or "on top of"
Croatianoko
The word "oko" in Croatian, originally meaning "surrounding," can also mean "around" or "about something" in a more abstract sense.
Danishom
"Om" can also mean "around" or "concerning" in Danish.
Dutchover
In Dutch, "over" also refers to "across," "past," or "more than," and is related to the English "over."
Englishabout
As a preposition, 'about' can refer to physical proximity, a matter of concern, or an approximation.
Frenchà propos
À propos' derives from the Old French word 'a propos,' meaning 'for the purpose,' also with the senses 'accordingly,' 'opportunely,' 'to the point,' 'aptly,' 'seasonably,' 'conveniently,' and 'by the way'.
Frisianoer
The word "oer" in Frisian, related to English "over" and the German "über," once meant "on top of something" or "up on something."
Galiciansobre
In Galician, "sobre" can mean "about" but also "envelope" or "cover" and it comes from the Latin word "super" which means "above".
Germanüber
In German, the homograph "Über" can also mean "over", "across", or as a prefix "super" as in "Übermensch" or Nietzsche's concept of the "superman".
Icelandicum
In Old Norse, "um" also meant "around, about, concerning" and is cognate with the English preposition "about".
Irishfaoi
The word "faoi" can also mean "under" or "subject to".
Italiandi
The word "di" in Italian can also function as a possessive article that means "of" or "from."
Luxembourgishiwwer
The French word “ouvrier” translates into Luxembourgish as “iwwer”, which was likely used as a verb (“to work”) as well as a preposition (“about, concerning”) in older forms of the language.
Maltesemadwar
The word "madwar" in Maltese can also mean "around" or "approximately".
Norwegianom
The Norwegian word "om" comes from the Old Norse word "um", which also means "around" or "about".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)sobre
The verb "sobrevir" (to survive), and the preposition "sobre" ("on"), derive directly from the Latin expression "super venire" (to come from above).
Scots Gaelicmu dheidhinn
"Mu dheidhinn" is cognate with the Irish "im dhéidh," the Manx "mychione," and with the Welsh "amgylch" meaning "around" or "about".
Spanishacerca de
The preposition 'acerca de', which means 'about', comes from the Latin 'ad circuitu', which means 'around the periphery'.
Swedishhandla om
The origin of "handla om" is a contraction of "handla med om" which means "to have to do with".
Welsham
In the Middle Ages, Welsh "am" often meant "time".

About in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianпра
"Пра" is also used in a number of idiomatic expressions with the same basic meaning, e.g."пра вас" "about you"}
Bosniano
The word "o" can also mean "over there" or "at that place" in Bosnian.
Bulgarianотносно
The word "относно" in Bulgarian can also mean "regarding", "with respect to", or "concerning".
Czecho
In Czech, the word "o" can also mean "regarding" or "related to"
Estonianumbes
The word "umbes" is derived from the Proto-Finnic *um̮bi, meaning "around" or "near". It can also mean "approximately" or "more or less".
Finnishnoin
The word "noin" in Finnish can also mean "almost" or "approximately".
Hungarianról ről
The suffix "-ról/-ről" can also be used to indicate movement from a location, similar to the English preposition "from."
Latvianpar
Latvian "par" means "approximately", denoting a range
Lithuanianapie
The word "apie" also means "near" or "around" in Lithuanian.
Macedonianза
The word "за" in Macedonian comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "za", which has the same meaning.
Polisho
The Polish word "o" can also mean "for" in the sense of "in honor of" or "because of".
Romaniandespre
In Romanian, "despre" can also refer to a topic of conversation or a subject matter.
Russianоколо
The word "около" can also mean "near", "around" or "approximately."
Serbianо томе
The word 'О томе' ('about') has roots in Slavic languages and is related to words for 'topic' and 'matter'.
Slovako
The word "o" in Slovak also means "of" or "from", and is used in conjunction with the possessive case.
Slovenianpribližno
The word 'približno' comes from the Proto-Slavic *priblьžь, which also meant 'near' or 'close by'.
Ukrainianпро
The Ukrainian word "про" ("about") also means "through" and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "per-".

About in South Asian Languages

Bengaliসম্পর্কিত
Gujaratiવિશે
The word 'વિશે' can also mean 'concerning', 'with reference to', or 'in relation to' in English.
Hindiके बारे में
In Hindi, "के बारे में" can also mean "concerning" or "regarding".
Kannadaಸುಮಾರು
The word "ಸುಮಾರು" is derived from the Sanskrit word "सुमारी", meaning "to count" or "to calculate, implying an approximation.
Malayalamകുറിച്ച്
The word 'കുറിച്ച്' is often used in written Malayalam to indicate the author's personal viewpoint instead of conveying an established fact.
Marathiबद्दल
Marathi "बद्दल" comes from Arabic "badal" (exchange), suggesting its original meaning of "on behalf of" or "in exchange for".
Nepaliबारेमा
The word 'बारेमा' ('about') in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word 'विषय' ('topic') and can also mean 'regarding' or 'concerning'.
Punjabiਬਾਰੇ
The word 'ਬਾਰੇ' comes from the Sanskrit word 'वा' (vā) meaning 'to speak' or 'to say'.
Sinhala (Sinhalese)පිළිබඳව
The word 'පිළිබඳව' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'प्रतिविषयक' (prativiṣayaka), meaning 'object-related' or 'concerning'.
Tamilபற்றி
The word "பற்றி" which means "about" in Tamil, is derived from the root word "பற்று" which means attachment or connection.
Teluguగురించి
‘గురించి’ is also used to refer to a specific topic or subject matter, similar to the English word ‘on’.
Urduکے بارے میں
The word 'about' has many meanings, including 'approximately', 'concerning', and 'with reference to'.

About in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)关于
Its use as a preposition first appeared in the late Qing Dynasty under Western influence.
Chinese (Traditional)關於
"關於" is an adverb, a preposition, a conjunction, and also a noun meaning "the subject of" in Chinese (Traditional).
Japanese
The Chinese character 約 can also mean to bind, restrain, constrain, limit
Korean
약, originally meant 'to measure something in order to find its size'.
Mongolianтухай
The word "тухай" can also mean "concerning" or "regarding".
Myanmar (Burmese)အကြောင်း
In English, 'about' can also mean approximately or nearly, e.g., "It was about noon when he arrived."

About in South East Asian Languages

Indonesiantentang
"Tentang" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word "*taŋada", meaning "to be present" or "to be located".
Javanesebabagan
The word 'babagan' in Javanese also means 'the context of a story' or 'the content of a conversation'.
Khmerអំពី
អំពី' in Khmer also means 'concerning' or 'regarding'.
Laoກ່ຽວກັບ
The word "ກ່ຽວກັບ" ("about") can also mean "in connection with", "concerning", or "with regard to".
Malaymengenai
The Malay word "mengenai" can also refer to a specific topic or matter under discussion.
Thaiเกี่ยวกับ
The word "เกี่ยวกับ" can also mean "connected to" or "related to" in Thai.
Vietnamesetrong khoảng
"Trong khoảng" is derived from the Chinese word "tongliang", meaning "between two limits".
Filipino (Tagalog)tungkol sa

About in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanihaqqında
The word "haqqında" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Persian word "haq" meaning "right" or "truth" and the suffix "-ında" meaning "in" or "on".
Kazakhтуралы
The word "туралы" comes from the Old Turkic word "turu", meaning "kind, species, sort". Hence its alternate meaning – "as to, according to, concerning".
Kyrgyzжөнүндө
The word "жөнүндө" is derived from the Persian word "juzun" and also means "concerning" or "regarding".
Tajikдар бораи
The word "дар бораи" literally means "in the circle of" or "in the vicinity of" in Tajik.
Turkmenhakda
Uzbekhaqida
The word "haqida" can also mean "concerning" or "with regard to" in Uzbek.
Uyghurھەققىدە

About in Pacific Languages

Hawaiiane pili ana
"E pili ana" also means "to be attached" or "to be related" in Hawaiian.
Maorie pā ana ki
In Maori, “e pā ana ki” can also mean “to touch” or “to relate to”.
Samoantusa
Tusa's etymology points to the Samoan word tusā meaning 'two' or 'double'
Tagalog (Filipino)tungkol sa
The word "tungkol sa" is also used in Tagalog to mean "regarding" or "with respect to".

About in American Indigenous Languages

Aymaraukxata
Guaraniupéva rehegua

About in International Languages

Esperantopri
"Pri" derives from the Russian "при", which signifies presence, and can be translated as "near", "by", or "at"
Latinfere
Fere is a contraction of ferē and means 'almost, nearly, about, as it were, so to speak, to all intents and purposes, all but, well-nigh'

About in Others Languages

Greekσχετικά με
"Σχετικά με" can also mean "compared to" in Greek.
Hmonghais txog
Hais txog was used as 'say' in Hmong and now is only used as 'about' because it is easier to pronounce.
Kurdishji dor
Ji dor is derived from the Persian word 'dar' meaning 'in, inside, or regarding' and can also mean 'to, from, on, or around'.
Turkishhakkında
The word "hakkında" is a compound, composed of the words "hak" ("right") and "kında" ("in the sheath of") and thus has the literal meaning of "in the sheath of the right".
Xhosamalunga
Malunga in Xhosa can be a noun (the mouth of a river), or an adjective (deep)
Yiddishוועגן
The Yiddish word "וועגן" also means "on the way" or "about to".
Zulumayelana
The word "mayelana" in Zulu can also mean "concerning", "with regard to", or "in relation to".
Assameseবিষয়ে
Aymaraukxata
Bhojpuriबारे में
Dhivehiގުޅިގެން
Dogriतकरीबन
Filipino (Tagalog)tungkol sa
Guaraniupéva rehegua
Ilocanomaipapan
Kriobɔt
Kurdish (Sorani)دەربارەی
Maithiliविषय में
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯃꯔꯝꯗꯤ
Mizolam
Oromowaa'ee
Odia (Oriya)ବିଷୟରେ
Quechuamanta
Sanskritविषये
Tatarтурында
Tigrinyaብዝዕባ
Tsongahi

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