Alternative in Different Languages
Discover 'Alternative' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Alternative
Afrikaans alternatief | ||
Albanian alternative | ||
Amharic አማራጭ | ||
Arabic لبديل | ||
Armenian այլընտրանքային | ||
Assamese বিকল্প | ||
Aymara yaqha | ||
Azerbaijani alternativ | ||
Bambara cogowɛrɛ | ||
Basque alternatiba | ||
Belarusian альтэрнатыва | ||
Bengali বিকল্প | ||
Bhojpuri वैकल्पिक | ||
Bosnian alternativa | ||
Bulgarian алтернатива | ||
Catalan alternativa | ||
Cebuano alternatibo | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 另类 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 另類 | ||
Corsican alternativa | ||
Croatian alternativa | ||
Czech alternativní | ||
Danish alternativ | ||
Dhivehi އިތުރު ހައްލު | ||
Dogri एवजी | ||
Dutch alternatief | ||
English alternative | ||
Esperanto alternativo | ||
Estonian alternatiivne | ||
Ewe nu bubu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) alternatibo | ||
Finnish vaihtoehto | ||
French alternative | ||
Frisian alternatyf | ||
Galician alternativa | ||
Georgian ალტერნატიული | ||
German alternative | ||
Greek εναλλακτική λύση | ||
Guarani ambuekua | ||
Gujarati વૈકલ્પિક | ||
Haitian Creole altènatif | ||
Hausa madadin | ||
Hawaiian kahi koho ʻē aʻe | ||
Hebrew חֲלוּפָה | ||
Hindi विकल्प | ||
Hmong lwm txoj | ||
Hungarian alternatív | ||
Icelandic val | ||
Igbo ọzọ | ||
Ilocano alternatibo | ||
Indonesian alternatif | ||
Irish rogha eile | ||
Italian alternativa | ||
Japanese 代替 | ||
Javanese alternatif | ||
Kannada ಪರ್ಯಾಯ | ||
Kazakh балама | ||
Khmer ជំនួស | ||
Kinyarwanda ubundi | ||
Konkani पर्याय | ||
Korean 대안 | ||
Krio ɔda | ||
Kurdish şûndor | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) جێگرەوە | ||
Kyrgyz альтернатива | ||
Lao ທາງເລືອກ | ||
Latin aliud | ||
Latvian alternatīva | ||
Lingala mosusu | ||
Lithuanian alternatyva | ||
Luganda okuteeka mu kifo kya | ||
Luxembourgish alternativ | ||
Macedonian алтернатива | ||
Maithili विकल्प | ||
Malagasy anarana iombonana amin'ny | ||
Malay alternatif | ||
Malayalam ബദൽ | ||
Maltese alternattiva | ||
Maori kē | ||
Marathi पर्यायी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯇꯣꯞꯄ ꯃꯍꯨꯠ | ||
Mizo tlukpui | ||
Mongolian өөр хувилбар | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အခြားရွေးချယ်စရာ | ||
Nepali वैकल्पिक | ||
Norwegian alternativ | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) njira ina | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିକଳ୍ପ | ||
Oromo filannoo | ||
Pashto بدیل | ||
Persian جایگزین | ||
Polish alternatywny | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) alternativo | ||
Punjabi ਵਿਕਲਪ | ||
Quechua chullachinakuy | ||
Romanian alternativă | ||
Russian альтернатива | ||
Samoan isi filifiliga | ||
Sanskrit वैकल्पिक | ||
Scots Gaelic roghainn eile | ||
Sepedi ye nngwe | ||
Serbian алтернатива | ||
Sesotho mofuta o mong | ||
Shona imwe nzira | ||
Sindhi متبادل | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) විකල්ප | ||
Slovak alternatíva | ||
Slovenian alternativa | ||
Somali beddelaad | ||
Spanish alternativa | ||
Sundanese alternatif | ||
Swahili mbadala | ||
Swedish alternativ | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kahalili | ||
Tajik алтернатива | ||
Tamil மாற்று | ||
Tatar альтернатива | ||
Telugu ప్రత్యామ్నాయం | ||
Thai ทางเลือก | ||
Tigrinya ኣማራፂ | ||
Tsonga xin'wana | ||
Turkish alternatif | ||
Turkmen alternatiwasy | ||
Twi (Akan) foforɔ | ||
Ukrainian альтернатива | ||
Urdu متبادل | ||
Uyghur ئۇنىڭدىن باشقا | ||
Uzbek muqobil | ||
Vietnamese thay thế | ||
Welsh dewis arall | ||
Xhosa enye indlela | ||
Yiddish אנדער ברירה | ||
Yoruba omiiran | ||
Zulu okunye |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The root of "alternatief" is the Latin "alter," meaning "other" or "different." |
| Albanian | The word "alternative" is thought to have ultimately derived from the Latin phrase "alternus" meaning "every other" or "by turns." |
| Amharic | The word "አማራጭ" can also mean "a choice made between two things" or "an option." |
| Arabic | In Arabic, the word "لبديل" (badīl) can also refer to a substitute, exchange, or compensation. |
| Azerbaijani | The Azerbaijani word "alternativ" is derived from the French "alternative", which means "choice" or "option". |
| Basque | In Basque, 'alternatiba' is derived from Latin 'alternare', meaning 'to alternate'. |
| Belarusian | The word "альтэрнатыва" in Belarusian also refers to a dilemma or a choice between two options. |
| Bengali | The word 'বিকল্প' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'विकल्प', which means 'option' or 'choice'. |
| Bosnian | "Alternativa" is a Bosnian word that comes from the Latin word "alternare," which means "to alternate" or "to change from one thing to another." |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "алтернатива" also refers to a type of folk song with improvised lyrics. |
| Catalan | "Alternativa" in Catalan also means "a choice of two possibilities." |
| Cebuano | Used as a noun, "alternatibo" can also mean "alternative choice" or "a different option". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word "另类" also refers to eccentricity, weirdness, or oddness in terms of thought or behavior |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The word "另類" ("alternative" in English) originally referred to deviant behavior or unorthodox thoughts, but now has a more neutral connotation, implying something that is unconventional or different. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "alternativa" can also mean "dilemma" or "choice between two options." |
| Croatian | The word "alternativa" in Croatian can also refer to an alternative military service or a type of music festival. |
| Czech | The word "alternativní" in Czech can mean "experimental" or even "extraordinary". |
| Danish | The Danish word "alternativ" can also mean "option", "choice", or "possibility". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "alternatief" also has the meaning "different" or "extra", not just "alternative". |
| Esperanto | "Alternativo" in Esperanto derives from the same Indo-European root as "alter," meaning "the other one." |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "alternatiivne" derives from the Latin word "alternus", meaning "reciprocal" or "by turns". |
| Finnish | Vaihtoehto is derived from the Finnish words "vaihtaa" (to change) and "ehto" (condition) |
| French | The French word "alternative" can also mean "exchange" or "barter". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "alternatyf" is likely derived from the Latin word "alternus", meaning "by turns" or "one after the other". |
| Galician | The word "alternativa" in Galician also means "choice" or "option". |
| German | In German, "Alternative" can refer to a second name, a pseudonym, or a spare wheel. |
| Greek | In Greek, the word εναλλακτική λύση also refers to a political party called Alternative Solution for Greek Independence. |
| Haitian Creole | Altènatif (alternative) in Haitian Creole can also mean "second-hand" or "used". |
| Hausa | "Madaɗin" comes from Arabic for "help, assistance, aid, support, relief" |
| Hawaiian | Derived from **kahi** (one of, one part of) & **koho** (choice), a choice other than the one already made. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "חֲלוּפָה" also refers to an exchange or replacement. |
| Hindi | The word "विकल्प" has multiple meanings in Vedic Sanskrit including “difference,” "exchange or substitution," “rival or enemy," and "option or alternative." |
| Hmong | In English, "lwm txoj" could mean "alternative" or "another way". |
| Hungarian | The word "alternatív" can also refer to anything that is not considered mainstream or traditional. |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, "val" can refer to elections as well as having a double meaning of "choice or option". |
| Igbo | In Igbo, ọzọ may also refer to the "highest grade" title in traditional Igbo society. |
| Indonesian | Istilah "alternatif" berasal dari bahasa latin "alter" yang berarti "lain" atau "berbeda". Di Indonesia, kata ini kerap digunakan untuk merujuk pada metode pengobatan non-konvensional. |
| Italian | In Italian, 'alternativa' can also refer to a choice or option, or a dilemma or a difficult situation. |
| Japanese | "代替" is a Japanese word that can also mean 'substitute', 'surrogate', or 'replacement'. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "alternatif" is derived from the Sanskrit word "alternatas" which means "other" or "different". |
| Kannada | The word "ಪರ್ಯಾಯ" can also mean "a synonym" or "a way out" |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "балама" can also refer to a "parallel" or "sideline". |
| Khmer | ជំនួស (Chumnuoh) originates from the Sanskrit word “pratinaidha,” meaning “to resist” or “to fight against”. |
| Korean | 대안 is the Sino-Korean rendering of the Buddhist concept pratyaya, meaning "dependent origination" or "conditioning." |
| Kurdish | In older texts, 'şûndor' is used as 'alternative, choice, option, variant'. |
| Kyrgyz | В кыргызском языке слово «альтернатива» имеет дополнительное значение - «выбор». |
| Latin | In addition to its main meaning, "aliud" can also mean "something else," "something different," or "something other than the first." |
| Latvian | In Latvian, the word "alternatīva" is also used to describe a "choice" or an "option". |
| Lithuanian | In Polish, the word "alternatywa" can also mean "alternative", but it is more commonly used to refer to a "choice" or an "option" |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish it has two different forms, "Alternativ" (without an umlaut) means "alternating" and "Alternativ" (with umlaut) means "alternative." |
| Macedonian | "Алтернатива" (alternative) comes from the Latin word "alter", meaning "other". It can also refer to a choice between two or more options. |
| Malagasy | The phrase literally means "other way of speaking." |
| Malay | Alternatif also means 'turn by turn' or 'alternate' in Malay, derived from the Arabic word 'al-tarāfayn' meaning 'the two sides'. |
| Malayalam | As a noun, "ബദൽ" can also mean a substitute teacher. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "alternattiva" originates from the Italian word "alternativa", meaning "option" or "choice". |
| Maori | The word "kē" in Māori can also refer to "different" or "other" in the context of a comparison. |
| Marathi | "पर्यायी" (alternative) in Marathi also means 'consecutive' or 'successive'. |
| Nepali | The word "वैकल्पिक" is derived from the Sanskrit word "विकल्प" (vikalpa), which means "option" or "choice" |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "alternativ" can also refer to a spare or substitute, or to an alternative reality. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "njira ina" can also mean "a different way" or "another road" in Nyanja (Chichewa). |
| Pashto | The Pashto translation of "alternative" (بدیل) literally means “replacement,” “substitute,” “change” or "different." |
| Persian | The word "جایگزین" in Persian can also mean "replacement" or "substitute". |
| Polish | In Polish, 'alternatywny' can also refer to a counterculture or non-mainstream perspective. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Alternativo" can mean "different" or "non-mainstream" in Portuguese. |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਵਿਕਲਪ" literally means "an option or choice", and is also used to denote a "solution to a problem" or a "substitute for something else". |
| Romanian | "Alternativa" means crossroads in Latin and refers to the two choices when traveling on horseback with one horse and two riders. |
| Russian | The word "альтернатива" comes from the Latin word "alternare," meaning "to alternate" or "to change." |
| Samoan | In Samoan, “isi filifiliga” (“alternative”) means “to choose” or “to select”. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Roghainn eile" literally means "other choice" in Scots Gaelic, reflecting its sense of being an option outside of the primary one. |
| Serbian | The word 'алтернатива' is a borrowing from Latin 'alternativus', and can refer to both an 'alternative' and a 'choice'. |
| Sesotho | The word 'mofuta o mong' (alternative) literally translates to 'another way'. |
| Shona | The Shona word "imwe nzira" is derived from the roots "imwe" (one) and "nzira" (path), emphasizing the concept of a different path or option. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Originally, the term meant "distinctive form" in Sinhala, and it was a term used to refer to the different styles of traditional Sri Lankan music. |
| Slovak | Its original meaning was "change". Later, it acquired the meaning of "option to make a choice". |
| Slovenian | The word "alternativa" in Slovenian can also mean "dilemma" or "choice between two options." |
| Somali | The word "beddelaad" can also mean "change" or "replacement" in Somali. |
| Spanish | The word "alternativa" in Spanish can also mean "a bullfighter's first public fight after receiving the alternative". |
| Sundanese | Sundanese has an additional meaning for the word "alternatif": "alternative healing". |
| Swahili | The word "mbadala" in Swahili can also mean "exchange" or "substitution". |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "alternativ" can also mean "choice" or "option". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Kahalin" also denotes one of the three traditional marriage rites during pre-Hispanic Philippines. |
| Tajik | Слово "алтернатива" произошло от латинского "alter", что означает "другой, иной". |
| Tamil | The word "மாற்று" in Tamil can also mean "substitute" or "exchange". |
| Thai | In Thai, "ทางเลือก" (alternative) also means "option" or "choice". |
| Turkish | Alternatif (alternative) comes from the Latin word "alternare," meaning "to alternate" or "to change." |
| Ukrainian | "Альтернатива" comes from the Latin word "alternare," meaning "to alternate," and refers to a choice between two or more options. |
| Urdu | The word "متبادل" is derived from the Arabic word "بَدَلَ" meaning "to exchange" or "to substitute". |
| Uzbek | The word "muqobil" in Uzbek is derived from the Arabic word "muqabala," which means "to compare" or "to contrast." |
| Vietnamese | "Thay thế" also means "to replace" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "dewis arall" is an idiomatic equivalent of the English "other choice". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "enye indlela" can also mean "different" or "distinct". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "אַנדער ברירה" (alternative) literally means "other choice" or "no other choice." |
| Yoruba | In its broader sense, 'omiiran' also conveys the idea of change, variety, or difference from the norm in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | Okunye means "alternative" in Zulu and is sometimes used humorously to mean "whatever". |
| English | The word 'alternative' derives from the Latin word 'alternare' meaning 'to alternate' and 'to exchange'. |