Age in Different Languages
Discover 'Age' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Age: such a small word, yet it holds immense significance. It's a measure of time, a testament to our experiences, and a cultural obsession. Age is the numerical representation of the passing years, but it's also so much more. It's the wisdom we gain, the stories we accumulate, and the person we become.
In many cultures, age is a symbol of respect and authority. The older you are, the more you are revered for your knowledge and experience. In others, age is just a number, a mere detail in the grand scheme of life. But regardless of cultural context, age is a universal concept that connects us all.
For language enthusiasts, understanding the translation of age in different languages can offer a fascinating glimpse into how different cultures perceive and value age. For instance, the French say 'âge' (pronounced: azh), the Spanish say 'edad' (pronounced: eh-dath), and the Chinese say '岁数' (pronounced: suì shù).
Explore the many translations of age and delve into the rich cultural contexts they represent. Stay tuned for a comprehensive list of 'age' in various languages.
Age
Age in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | ouderdom | ||
| The Afrikaans word "ouderdom" is derived from the Dutch word "ouderdom" meaning "old age" or "age". | |||
| Amharic | ዕድሜ | ||
| "ዕድሜ" derives from the root word "ወዳ" (to do or happen), indicating a period of change and growth. | |||
| Hausa | shekaru | ||
| The Hausa word 'shekaru' also refers to a cycle, or period of time | |||
| Igbo | afọ | ||
| Igbo word “afọ” signifies a period of 3 or 4 calendar years | |||
| Malagasy | taona | ||
| The word "TAONA" can also mean "ancient" or "old" in Malagasy. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zaka | ||
| Nyanja has two nouns that are spelled "zaka": one means "age" and derives from Proto-Bantu "-taga", while the other means "inheritance" and comes from Proto-Bantu "-taka" | |||
| Shona | zera | ||
| The word "zera" in Shona also means "a generation" or "a period of time". | |||
| Somali | da ' | ||
| The Somali word "da'" can also refer to a period of time, a season, or an epoch. | |||
| Sesotho | lilemo | ||
| The Sesotho word "lilemo" has a secondary meaning of "years" or "time period". | |||
| Swahili | umri | ||
| "Umri" is also used to refer to a person's lifespan or "life". | |||
| Xhosa | ubudala | ||
| The Xhosa word "ubudala" also means "old age" or "senility" | |||
| Yoruba | ọjọ ori | ||
| "Ọjọ ori" also means `birthday` or `day of birth`, as well as the `day of one's coming into being`. | |||
| Zulu | ubudala | ||
| The word 'ubudala' also refers to a group of people who are of the same age group, or a generation. | |||
| Bambara | si | ||
| Ewe | ƒe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | imyaka | ||
| Lingala | mbula | ||
| Luganda | emyaaka | ||
| Sepedi | mengwaga | ||
| Twi (Akan) | mfeɛ | ||
Age in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | عمر | ||
| The word "عمر" also means "prosperity" or "flourishing" in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | גיל | ||
| Although its most common meaning in Hebrew is “age,” the word "גיל" also translates as “joy” or “happiness,” and is a common name for boys in Israel. | |||
| Pashto | عمر | ||
| The Pashto word "عمر" (age) is derived from the Middle Persian word "omr" (age), and also means "life" or "duration". | |||
| Arabic | عمر | ||
| The word "عمر" also means "prosperity" or "flourishing" in Arabic. | |||
Age in Western European Languages
| Albanian | mosha | ||
| "Mosha" comes from Proto-Albanian *mošā, probably from a Balkan substratum language (compare Bulgarian/Macedonian възраст, from Slavic, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wes- "to live, endure".) | |||
| Basque | adina | ||
| The word "adina" also refers to the lifespan of plants, animals, and objects in Basque. | |||
| Catalan | edat | ||
| The word "edat" in Catalan ultimately derives from the Latin word "aetas" and can also refer to a specific era or historical epoch. | |||
| Croatian | dob | ||
| The word "dob" in Croatian can also mean "good" or "kind". | |||
| Danish | alder | ||
| The Danish word "alder" can also refer to the trees in the genus Alnus, commonly known as alders in English. | |||
| Dutch | leeftijd | ||
| In some regions of the Netherlands, "leeftijd" refers to the amount of time of someone's life, while in others it refers to one's age in years. | |||
| English | age | ||
| "Age" can also mean a period in history, as in the "Age of Enlightenment." | |||
| French | âge | ||
| The French word "âge" can also refer to the time or epoch of a person's life, as in "l'âge de la retraite" (retirement age). | |||
| Frisian | leeftyd | ||
| The Frisian word "leeftyd" can also refer to "lifetime" or "timespan". | |||
| Galician | idade | ||
| "Idade" is a Galician word derived from the Latin "aetas", which means both "age" and "life stage". | |||
| German | alter | ||
| The word "Alter" in German can also mean "altar" or "elder". | |||
| Icelandic | aldur | ||
| Cognate with Old English "ealdor", "alderman" and "aldor", "prince", from Proto-Germanic "*aldraz", meaning "leader", "chieftain", or "old". | |||
| Irish | aois | ||
| From the Old Irish word aos, "age," and is also used as a form of address for older people. | |||
| Italian | età | ||
| The Italian word "età" can refer to either biological or chronological age and comes from the Latin "aetas". | |||
| Luxembourgish | alter | ||
| In Luxembourgish, the word "Alter" has two meanings: age and altar. | |||
| Maltese | età | ||
| The Maltese word "età" is derived from Latin "aetas, aetatis", but can also refer to the "era" of a historical period. | |||
| Norwegian | alder | ||
| 'Alder' also means alderwood, the hardwood species | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | era | ||
| Em português, a palavra "era" pode também significar "era geológica" ou "período da história humana". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | aois | ||
| The Gaelic word "aois" can also mean "generation" or "era". | |||
| Spanish | años | ||
| "Años" is also a term used in genealogy to refer to the number of generations separating two people. | |||
| Swedish | ålder | ||
| The Swedish word 'ålder' is also used in a figurative sense, referring to an era or a stage in life. | |||
| Welsh | oed | ||
| The Welsh word "oed" can also mean "lifetime" or "generation". | |||
Age in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | узрост | ||
| Белорусское слово “узрост” восходит к древнему корню, означающему “рост, возвышение”. | |||
| Bosnian | dob | ||
| The word "dob" also means "time" or "moment" in Serbian and Croatian. | |||
| Bulgarian | възраст | ||
| In Old Bulgarian, "възраст" also meant "growth" or "height". | |||
| Czech | stáří | ||
| Stáří in Czech also means old age, senescence, senility and antiquity. | |||
| Estonian | vanus | ||
| "Vanus" also means "power" or "ability" in Estonian, which reflects the concept that age brings wisdom and experience. | |||
| Finnish | ikä | ||
| The word "ikä" can also refer to a chronological era or a period of time (e.g., "kivikautinen ikä" = "Stone Age"). | |||
| Hungarian | kor | ||
| Kor's Proto-Uralic root word is *ke̮re̮, meaning to revolve, rotate or go round. | |||
| Latvian | vecums | ||
| The word "vecums" can also refer to the term of someone's office or the maturity of a person or thing. | |||
| Lithuanian | amžiaus | ||
| The Lithuanian word "amžius" is a loanword from Polish, originally meaning "eternity". | |||
| Macedonian | возраст | ||
| The word "возраст" can also mean "century" in Macedonian. | |||
| Polish | wiek | ||
| "Wiek" in Polish can also refer to a specific period of time or a generation of people. | |||
| Romanian | vârstă | ||
| "Vârstă" comes from Proto-Slavic *vъrstъ, meaning "growth, height", or maybe "time, season". | |||
| Russian | возраст | ||
| The Russian noun "возраст" ("age") is derived from the verb "расти" ("to grow"), and it can also refer to a "level" or a "stage". | |||
| Serbian | старост | ||
| In Serbian the word ''старост (starost)-age'' also has an alternative older meaning ''elder'', a person in the community with some authority. | |||
| Slovak | vek | ||
| In Slovak, "vek" also encompasses the period of someone's life, their lifetime, or an epoch. | |||
| Slovenian | starost | ||
| The word "starost" in Slovenian can also refer to an elderly person or a period of time. | |||
| Ukrainian | вік | ||
| The Ukrainian word "вік" shares a root with the Latin word "aevum," both meaning "a long period of time." | |||
Age in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বয়স | ||
| The word "বয়স" (age) in Bengali can also mean "old age" or "seniority". | |||
| Gujarati | ઉંમર | ||
| ઉંમર ('age' in Gujarati) originally meant 'time' and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'ayu', also meaning 'time'. | |||
| Hindi | उम्र | ||
| The Hindi word 'उम्र' ('age') can also refer to 'lifetime' or 'era', and is derived from the Arabic word 'umr' ('life'). | |||
| Kannada | ವಯಸ್ಸು | ||
| While the word "ವಯಸ್ಸು" means "age" in Kannada, it can also be used to refer to a specific period of time, such as a decade or a century. | |||
| Malayalam | പ്രായം | ||
| പ്രായം (prāyam) also means "mostly" and is derived from Sanskrit "prāya" meaning "near" or "resembling". | |||
| Marathi | वय | ||
| In Sanskrit, वय derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *we- “to blow” and in Marathi it also means “to weave” and is the root of both “weaver” and “loom.” | |||
| Nepali | उमेर | ||
| Nepali 'उमेर' (age) is cognate to Sanskrit 'आयु' (life), Latin 'aevum' (age), Greek 'αἰών' (time), and English 'ever'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਉਮਰ | ||
| The word "ਉਮਰ" can also refer to a period of time, such as an era or epoch. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වයස | ||
| In Sinhala, 'වයස' ('age') can also refer to one's "seniority" or "level of respect" within a group or society. | |||
| Tamil | வயது | ||
| "வயது" can also refer to a season or the duration of a tenure. | |||
| Telugu | వయస్సు | ||
| The word వయస్సు is also used in Telugu to indicate maturity or the proper time for something | |||
| Urdu | عمر | ||
| The Urdu word "عمر" (ʿumr) also connotes "lifetime" and "span of existence." | |||
Age in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 年龄 | ||
| The character "年" in "年龄" originally meant "harvest" and was used to calculate a person's age based on the number of harvests they had witnessed. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 年齡 | ||
| The word "年齡" can also refer to someone's seniority or experience, or to the age of an object. | |||
| Japanese | 年齢 | ||
| "年齢" (age) can also mean "mental age" or "maturity" in Japanese. | |||
| Korean | 나이 | ||
| 나이(age) is related to the word 날(day) and it can also mean "time". | |||
| Mongolian | нас | ||
| The Mongolian word "нас" (age) is derived from the Mongolian word "насанд" (to be born). | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အသက် | ||
| The word "အသက်" in Myanmar (Burmese) can also refer to "life" or "the duration of life". | |||
Age in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | usia | ||
| "Usia" also means "duration" or "period" in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | umur | ||
| The Javanese word "umur" also has the alternate meaning of "lifetime." | |||
| Khmer | អាយុ | ||
| The Khmer word "អាយុ" (ayŭ) also means "life" or "vitality" in ancient Khmer, reflecting the ancient Khmer belief that age is a manifestation of life force and energy. | |||
| Lao | ອາຍຸ | ||
| In Lao, ອາຍຸ ('age') also means 'lifespan', 'existence', 'duration', 'term', 'length of time', 'time period', 'epoch', 'era', 'generation', 'period', 'stage', 'phase', 'interval', 'spell', 'bout', 'fit', 'turn', and 'while'. | |||
| Malay | umur | ||
| "Umur" derives from the Sanskrit "āyuh", meaning lifespan, or the duration of a being's existence. | |||
| Thai | อายุ | ||
| In Thai, 'อายุ' can also refer to a period of time or the duration of something's existence, akin to the English word 'span'. | |||
| Vietnamese | tuổi tác | ||
| Tuổi tác, a Vietnamese word for age, is also used metaphorically to refer to experience or seniority. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | edad | ||
Age in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | yaş | ||
| The word "yaş" in Azerbaijani, meaning "age," is also used to refer to a "person's lifetime" or "the time period during which something exists." | |||
| Kazakh | жас | ||
| Kazakh "жас" can also mean "youth", "youthfulness", or "teen", derived from the Old Turkic root *yaš- meaning "to grow". | |||
| Kyrgyz | жаш | ||
| The word "жаш" can also mean "fresh" or "green" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | синну сол | ||
| The word "синну сол" in Tajik can also refer to a "period of time" or a "generation". | |||
| Turkmen | ýaşy | ||
| Uzbek | yoshi | ||
| The word "yoshi" can also mean "years" or "time" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | يېشى | ||
Age in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | makahiki | ||
| Makahiki in Hawaiian can also refer to an annual festival or a period of cultivation. | |||
| Maori | tau | ||
| In Maori mythology, 'tau' can also refer to a primordial ancestor who existed before time and was responsible for creating the universe. | |||
| Samoan | tausaga | ||
| "Tausaga" also means "year" in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | edad | ||
| The Tagalog word "edad" shares its root with the Spanish word "edad". Both words originate from the Latin word "aetas", which means "age" or "time". | |||
Age in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | irara | ||
| Guarani | arykuéra | ||
Age in International Languages
| Esperanto | aĝo | ||
| "Aĝo" also means "act" or "performance" and comes from the same root as "agenti" (to act). | |||
| Latin | aetate | ||
| Aetate is derived from a root that refers to a lifetime or a generation, and is related to words like “age” and “eon.” | |||
Age in Others Languages
| Greek | ηλικία | ||
| The word "ηλικία" in Greek can also refer to a "generation" of people or to the "maturity" of a plant. | |||
| Hmong | muaj hnub nyoog | ||
| "Muaj hnub nyoog" literally means "the day of maturity," referring to the age of a person. | |||
| Kurdish | kalbûn | ||
| The word "kalbûn" can also mean "time" or "era". | |||
| Turkish | yaş | ||
| The Turkish word "yaş" not only means "age" but also "wet" or "damp". | |||
| Xhosa | ubudala | ||
| The Xhosa word "ubudala" also means "old age" or "senility" | |||
| Yiddish | עלטער | ||
| Yiddish "עלטער" is also an affectionate name for the father in a family and is related to the English "elder" as a person of authority, or an alderman, who in medieval times was an official appointed by a king to look after civic or judicial affairs in a borough. | |||
| Zulu | ubudala | ||
| The word 'ubudala' also refers to a group of people who are of the same age group, or a generation. | |||
| Assamese | বয়স | ||
| Aymara | irara | ||
| Bhojpuri | उमिर | ||
| Dhivehi | އުމުރު | ||
| Dogri | बरेस | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | edad | ||
| Guarani | arykuéra | ||
| Ilocano | tawen | ||
| Krio | ej | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | تەمەن | ||
| Maithili | आयु | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯆꯍꯤ | ||
| Mizo | kum | ||
| Oromo | umurii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବୟସ | ||
| Quechua | hayka wata | ||
| Sanskrit | वयः | ||
| Tatar | яшь | ||
| Tigrinya | ዕድመ | ||
| Tsonga | vukhale | ||