Back in Different Languages
Discover 'Back' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Back
Afrikaans terug | ||
Albanian mbrapa | ||
Amharic ተመለስ | ||
Arabic عودة | ||
Armenian ետ | ||
Assamese পিছলৈ | ||
Aymara qhipa | ||
Azerbaijani geri | ||
Bambara kɔ | ||
Basque atzera | ||
Belarusian назад | ||
Bengali পেছনে | ||
Bhojpuri पीछे | ||
Bosnian nazad | ||
Bulgarian обратно | ||
Catalan esquena | ||
Cebuano balik | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 背部 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 背部 | ||
Corsican daretu | ||
Croatian leđa | ||
Czech zadní | ||
Danish tilbage | ||
Dhivehi ފަހަތް | ||
Dogri पिच्छै | ||
Dutch terug | ||
English back | ||
Esperanto reen | ||
Estonian tagasi | ||
Ewe megbe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pabalik | ||
Finnish takaisin | ||
French retour | ||
Frisian rêch | ||
Galician de volta | ||
Georgian უკან | ||
German zurück | ||
Greek πίσω | ||
Guarani kupe | ||
Gujarati પાછા | ||
Haitian Creole tounen | ||
Hausa baya | ||
Hawaiian kua | ||
Hebrew חזור | ||
Hindi वापस | ||
Hmong rov qab | ||
Hungarian vissza | ||
Icelandic aftur | ||
Igbo azu | ||
Ilocano likud | ||
Indonesian kembali | ||
Irish ar ais | ||
Italian indietro | ||
Japanese バック | ||
Javanese bali | ||
Kannada ಹಿಂದೆ | ||
Kazakh артқа | ||
Khmer ត្រឡប់មកវិញ | ||
Kinyarwanda inyuma | ||
Konkani फाटीं | ||
Korean 뒤 | ||
Krio bak | ||
Kurdish paş | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) گەڕانەوە | ||
Kyrgyz артка | ||
Lao ກັບຄືນໄປບ່ອນ | ||
Latin rursus | ||
Latvian atpakaļ | ||
Lingala mukongo | ||
Lithuanian atgal | ||
Luganda mabega | ||
Luxembourgish zréck | ||
Macedonian назад | ||
Maithili पाछू | ||
Malagasy indray | ||
Malay belakang | ||
Malayalam തിരികെ | ||
Maltese lura | ||
Maori tuara | ||
Marathi परत | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯇꯨꯡ | ||
Mizo hnung | ||
Mongolian буцаж | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နောက်ကျော | ||
Nepali फिर्ता | ||
Norwegian tilbake | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kubwerera | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପଛକୁ | ||
Oromo dugda | ||
Pashto شاته | ||
Persian بازگشت | ||
Polish plecy | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) de volta | ||
Punjabi ਵਾਪਸ | ||
Quechua qipaman | ||
Romanian înapoi | ||
Russian назад | ||
Samoan tua | ||
Sanskrit पृष्ठभागः | ||
Scots Gaelic air ais | ||
Sepedi morago | ||
Serbian назад | ||
Sesotho morao | ||
Shona kumashure | ||
Sindhi پوئتي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ආපසු | ||
Slovak späť | ||
Slovenian nazaj | ||
Somali gadaal | ||
Spanish espalda | ||
Sundanese balik deui | ||
Swahili nyuma | ||
Swedish tillbaka | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) bumalik | ||
Tajik бозгашт | ||
Tamil மீண்டும் | ||
Tatar кире | ||
Telugu తిరిగి | ||
Thai กลับ | ||
Tigrinya ዝባን | ||
Tsonga tlhelela | ||
Turkish geri | ||
Turkmen yza | ||
Twi (Akan) akyire | ||
Ukrainian назад | ||
Urdu پیچھے | ||
Uyghur back | ||
Uzbek orqaga | ||
Vietnamese trở lại | ||
Welsh yn ôl | ||
Xhosa umva | ||
Yiddish צוריק | ||
Yoruba pada | ||
Zulu emuva |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "terug" in Afrikaans is derived from the Dutch word "terugge" and also means "again" or "in return". |
| Albanian | "Mbrapa", meaning "back", also has the alternate meaning of "behind" or "after" in Albanian. |
| Amharic | The word "ተመለስ" (back) can also refer to the concept of "return" or "come back" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "عودة" (عودة), apart from meaning "back" or "return," also refers to a stringed musical instrument similar to a lute in Western music. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "ետ" (back) derives from Proto-Indo-European "*wed-" (away), sharing cognates with English "with", "without" and "wind". |
| Azerbaijani | "Geri" is cognate with "geriye" in Turkish, ultimately both deriving from the Proto-Turkic root *keyri- meaning "behind, back." |
| Basque | The word `atzera` can also refer to the past or a previous moment, or may be an expression of regret. |
| Belarusian | Слово назад в Белорусском означает так же как и в русском «назад», но еще и «снова». |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "পেছনে" can also mean "afterward" or "behind in time or position." |
| Bosnian | In the dialect of Bosnian spoken in the town of Fojnica, "nazad" is also used to mean "again" |
| Bulgarian | The word "обратно" can also mean "on the contrary" or "on the other hand". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "esquena" derives from the Latin word "schina," meaning "spine" or "backbone." |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word 'balik' has various meanings, including 'return', 'back again', and 'recover' |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 背 (bèi) also means to memorize or recite. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The first character 背 in the word "背部" (back) means "to turn the back on" or "to carry on the back". |
| Corsican | "Daretu" also means "to take a detour". This is because people often had to avoid bandits and go circuitously when they were travelling. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word for "back", "leđa", derives from Proto-Slavic word "lędъ" (flat side), which was likely originally used to mean "waist, belly". |
| Czech | The word "zadní" is also used to describe something that is located behind something else, or that is the last in a series. |
| Danish | The word 'tilbage' is cognate with 'tilbake' in Norwegian and 'tillbaka' in Swedish, all meaning 'back', and derives from the Old Norse word 'tilbaka' with the same meaning. |
| Dutch | The word 'terug' in Dutch can also refer to a payment, such as a refund or compensation. |
| Esperanto | "Reen" (back) in Esperanto stems from the English word "rear". |
| Estonian | The word "tagasi" also means "again" in Estonian. |
| Finnish | It originates from the Proto-Baltic term *at-gʰes, which also appears in Lithuanian and Latvian, where it means "again" or "back". |
| French | The word "retour" originally meant "turn around", from the Latin word "retornare" (to turn back). |
| Frisian | In Frisian, "rêch" also refers to the dorsum of an animal or a mountain ridge. |
| Galician | The word "de volta" in Galician can also mean "again" or "once more". |
| Georgian | In Georgian, the word "უკან" (uk'an) can also mean "afterwards" or "later". |
| German | The etymology of "zurück" is unknown; it might be related to "Zeile" ("line") or "rücken" ("to move"). |
| Greek | "Πίσω": Not only "back" in space, but "back" in time or "backward" in thought. |
| Gujarati | The word 'પાછા' comes from the Gujarati word 'પાછો', which literally means 'reversed'. Additionally, it can also mean 'again', like in the phrase 'પાછા ફરો', which means 'come back'. |
| Haitian Creole | The term "tounen" can also refer to a type of traditional Haitian dance typically performed by women. |
| Hausa | Hausa "baya" also denotes a type of grass bag or mat, or a particular style of male clothing, and may be related to the verb "baya" (to carry). |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, "kua" also refers to the windward or leeward side of an island, the edge or border of something, or a backbone. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "חזור" can also mean "to repeat" or "to return to a previous state". |
| Hindi | The word "वापस" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अपास," meaning "away" or "from a distance." |
| Hmong | The word "rov qab" can also mean "back to", "return to", or "be in front of" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, "vissza" can also mean "again" and is related to the words "visszavezet" (to lead back) and "visszahoz" (to bring back). |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, 'aftur' can also mean 'again' or 'in return'. |
| Igbo | Azu also means "behind" or "latter" and is used in phrases like "azu ụlọ" (behind the house) and "azu ụbọchị" (later in the day). |
| Indonesian | "Kembali" is also used to mean "again" and "over". |
| Irish | The Irish word "ar ais" can also mean "again" or "backwards". |
| Italian | The Latin root of "indietro" is "in directum," "in a straight line," with "retro" meaning "backwards," so "straight back and away". |
| Japanese | The word "バック" can also mean "a bag" or "to reverse" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "bali" also means "again" and can be used to indicate repetition or continuation of an action. |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಹಿಂದೆ" (back) also means "previous" in the sense of time or order. |
| Kazakh | The word "артқа" can also refer to a "reserve" or "remaining quantity" in Kazakh. |
| Korean | The Sino-Korean word 뒤 (hui) can also mean "to be behind" or "to be subordinate to." |
| Kurdish | The word "paş" in Kurdish can also refer to a mountain pass. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "артка" (back) in Kyrgyz also means "support" or "patronage". |
| Latin | "Rursus" can also be used in Latin to mean "again", "in return", or "on the other hand." |
| Latvian | The word "atpakaļ" comes from Proto-Indo-European "*h₂ep-," which also means "back" or "behind."} |
| Lithuanian | The word "atgal" is cognate with the Latin word "retro" and the Greek word "ὀπίσω" (opisō), both meaning "backwards". |
| Luxembourgish | The etymology of "zréck" is unclear, but it has cognates in Middle High German "zurücke". Other meanings include "return" and "response." |
| Macedonian | The word "назад" in Macedonian originates from the Proto-Slavic word "nazadъ", which also means "behind". |
| Malagasy | "Indray" also means "later" or "after" in Malagasy. |
| Malay | In Malay, the word "belakang" can also refer to the past or the origin of something. |
| Malayalam | The word തിരികെ in Malayalam can also mean 'again' or 'in return'. |
| Maltese | 'Lura' is also used to refer to the ridge of a mountain or the spine of an animal. |
| Maori | In Māori, 'tuara' can also refer to a supporting beam or a person who carries a load on their back. |
| Marathi | In Sanskrit, "परत" ("parata") refers to a return journey, indicating its etymological connection to the concept of "back". |
| Mongolian | "Буцаж" is also used to refer to a backpack or other object carried on the back. |
| Nepali | The word 'फिर्ता' also means 'return' or 'refund' in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "tilbake" shares an etymological root with "tilt", as well as the English "teeter". All of these words refer to a rocking, swaying motion. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "kubwerera" can also mean "reversal" or "withdrawal". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "شاته" also means "to support" or "to protect". |
| Persian | بازگشت derives from the Proto-Iranian root *vart- meaning “to turn” and is cognate with Old Avestan varət̰aēn “returning” and Sanskrit vartate “it turns”. |
| Polish | The word "plecy" in Polish originated from the Proto-Slavic word "plěti" meaning "to spread out" and also refers to the wingspan of a bird. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Volta" (Portuguese for "back") also means "voltage" and comes from Latin *volta(re)*, "to turn". Related to English "volt." |
| Punjabi | The word "ਵਾਪਸ" (vāpas) can also mean "again" or "in return" in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | In Greek, "înapoi" means "in front," while in Romanian it means "in back." |
| Russian | The etymology of Russian "назад" is connected with Proto-Slavic *na-zadъ, which also meant "at once" or "right away". |
| Samoan | Tua may have evolved from the Proto-Austronesian */daɲu/ meaning "rear" or "behind". |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scottish Gaelic, the word 'air ais' can also refer to the 'after' or 'return'. |
| Serbian | The word "назад" can also refer to a previous time or event in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word for "back" is a cognate of the Nguni word for "behind", likely originating from the Bantu root for "follow". |
| Shona | The Shona word 'kumashure' originates from the Proto-Bantu noun *muboko, meaning 'back, rear, behind', and is also used to refer to the 'back of the head'. |
| Sindhi | The word ''پوئتي'' also means ''behind''. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In Sinhala, ආපසු also refers to a person's origin. |
| Slovak | "Späť" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*spatь" meaning "to sleep" and shares its root with the word "spánok" (sleep). |
| Slovenian | The word "nazaj" in Slovenian can also mean "a small amount of something" or "a short distance". |
| Somali | The word "gadaal" is etymologically related to the verb "gadaayin," meaning "to turn one's back on."} |
| Spanish | The word "espalda" also means "shoulder" in Spanish, and derives from the Latin "spatha", meaning "sword", as it was the part of the body where the sword was carried. |
| Sundanese | Balik deui in Sundanese literally means "to fish again", reflecting the region's fishing culture and reliance on the sea. |
| Swahili | The word "nyuma" may also mean "behind" or "after" in Swahili. |
| Swedish | Swedish "tillbaka" likely originates from "till" meaning "to" and "baka" meaning "bake," perhaps implying a return to one's homestead. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "bumalik" may also mean "to turn back" or "to return". |
| Tajik | The word "бозгашт" also means "return" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | In Tamil, the word "மீண்டும்" can be used to denote "the next (occasion, place, time)" as well as "the same (place, time)", similar to the English usage of "back". |
| Telugu | The word 'తిరిగి' can also mean to turn around, to return or to be inverted. |
| Thai | "กลับ" also means "to change one's mind, to go back on one's word, or to change one's ways". |
| Turkish | The word "geri" can also mean "return" or "again" in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | "Назад" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *nazadъ, meaning "back" and "again". |
| Urdu | The word "پیچھے" can also mean "behind" or "later" in terms of time or order. |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "orqaga" not only means "back", but also refers to a return to a previous state or position. |
| Vietnamese | "Trở lại" can mean "to come back" or "to return" and is derived from Sino-Vietnamese roots. |
| Welsh | Yn ôl is also used to mean "in arrears" and "behind" in terms of position or time. |
| Xhosa | The word "umva" in Xhosa can also refer to the "place where one lives and/or originates." |
| Yiddish | צוריק, which means "back," also has an alternate meaning of "again" or "once more." |
| Yoruba | The word "pada" in Yoruba also means "last position" or "lowest rank". |
| Zulu | "Emuva" can also mean "to return home" or "to be behind someone". |
| English | "Back" can also mean to support or endorse someone or something, or to return to a previous state or place. |