Barely in Different Languages
Discover 'Barely' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'barely' is a small word with a big impact. It is an adverb that means 'only just' or 'by a small amount' in English. This word is often used to describe situations where something has barely happened or where there is only a small amount of something.
The word 'barely' has cultural importance in literature, music, and film. It is used to express surprise, relief, or concern. For example, in the famous line from the movie 'Titanic', 'I'm the king of the world!', Jack's statement would have less impact if he had said 'I'm somewhat of a king in the world of the Titanic' - the word 'barely' adds emphasis and drama to the statement.
Knowing the translation of 'barely' in different languages can be useful for travelers, language learners, and writers. It can help you understand cultural nuances and communicate more effectively with people from different backgrounds.
For example, in Spanish, 'barely' translates to 'escasamente', while in French, it translates to 'barely'. In German, it translates to 'kaum', and in Japanese, it translates to 'ほとんど' (hotondo).
In this article, we will explore the significance and cultural importance of the word 'barely' and provide a list of translations in different languages. Whether you're a language learner, a writer, or a traveler, this information will help you expand your vocabulary and deepen your understanding of different cultures.
Barely
Barely in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | skaars | ||
| The word "skaars" in Afrikaans originally meant "to shear" or "to cut", but it has since come to mean "barely" or "scarcely". | |||
| Amharic | በጭንቅ | ||
| The word በጭንቅ "barely" derives from the verb ጭነቅ "to be stuck" and refers to a minimal or insufficient amount or quality. | |||
| Hausa | da kyar | ||
| "Da kyar" in Hausa shares the same root with "kara" which means "to climb" or "to overcome", indicating the sense of a struggle in achieving something. | |||
| Igbo | sonso | ||
| "Sonso" can be used to refer to something that is empty, hollow, or unripe. | |||
| Malagasy | zara raha | ||
| The root word "zara raha" suggests the meaning "not yet there", thus signifying an incomplete state. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | pang'ono | ||
| The word 'pang'ono', meaning 'barely' in Nyanja, is also used to refer to 'a small amount' or 'a little bit'. | |||
| Shona | zvishoma | ||
| The word “zvishoma” may also refer to a state of “almost being able to do or achieve something” and it may be used figuratively to mean “nearly” as in "zvinenge zvashoma" - it was nearly like this. | |||
| Somali | dirqi ah | ||
| The word "dirqi ah" in Somali can alternately mean "to come up short" or "to fail to meet expectations." | |||
| Sesotho | ka thata | ||
| "Ka thata" is derived from the verb "ho thata" (to be difficult), and also means "with difficulty." | |||
| Swahili | vigumu | ||
| "Vigumu" is possibly derived from the Proto-Bantu root "-gumu" meaning "lacking" or "insufficient," and is related to the Swahili word "ngumu" meaning "difficult." | |||
| Xhosa | kancinci | ||
| The Xhosa word "kancinci" stems from the noun "nci" (edge) and can also mean "by the edge of, on the verge of" or to "scrape or shave". | |||
| Yoruba | awọ | ||
| Awọ in Yoruba can also mean 'small', 'little' or 'unripe'. | |||
| Zulu | ngokulambisa | ||
| The word "ngokulambisa" (barely) can also mean "lightly" or "a little bit" in Zulu. | |||
| Bambara | sisan | ||
| Ewe | kpᴐtᴐ vie ko | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gake | ||
| Lingala | moke | ||
| Luganda | okusigalawo katono | ||
| Sepedi | e sego gantši | ||
| Twi (Akan) | pɛ | ||
Barely in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | بالكاد | ||
| "بالكاد" is a loanword from Turkish "belki" (maybe), which itself is from Persian "بالك" (perhaps), ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₂-, meaning "to protect" or "to watch out for". | |||
| Hebrew | בקושי | ||
| The word "בקושי" also has the connotation of "with difficulty or effort" in Hebrew. | |||
| Pashto | یوازې | ||
| The word 'یوازې' can also mean 'only' or 'merely' in Pashto. | |||
| Arabic | بالكاد | ||
| "بالكاد" is a loanword from Turkish "belki" (maybe), which itself is from Persian "بالك" (perhaps), ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₂-, meaning "to protect" or "to watch out for". | |||
Barely in Western European Languages
| Albanian | mezi | ||
| The Albanian word "mezi" has an Indo-European root, related to the English "medium" and "mediocre". | |||
| Basque | ozta-ozta | ||
| "Ozta-ozta" is derived from the Basque word "ozta", meaning "almost" or "barely", and is used to emphasize the closeness of a margin or the narrowness of an escape. | |||
| Catalan | amb prou feines | ||
| The expression "amb prou feinēs" ("쎱amb pro쒩 fe쒓n쎱s"; literally: "with enough finesses") originated with the 19th-century Catalan writer Mari쒡 쎠ngels Fort, who used it with reference to a person or animal barely alive. | |||
| Croatian | jedva | ||
| "Jedva" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "jьdva", which originally meant "with difficulty" or "hardly". Its use as an adverb meaning "barely" or "scarcely" developed later in the Slavic languages. | |||
| Danish | knap | ||
| The word “knap” can mean “barely” or “hardly,” but it can also mean “tight” or “closely fitting.” | |||
| Dutch | nauwelijks | ||
| In archaic Dutch, nauwelijks meant 'closely, in detail'. | |||
| English | barely | ||
| A less common meaning of 'barely' from the archaic noun 'bairn' can mean 'poor' or 'not well', particularly in the phrase 'bairnly'. | |||
| French | à peine | ||
| À peine ('barely') derives from Medieval Latin 'ad penam', meaning 'with difficulty' or 'under pain of'. | |||
| Frisian | amper | ||
| It goes back to the Latin phrase ''ad unum per centum'', meaning ''one of a hundred''. | |||
| Galician | apenas | ||
| Galician “apenas” derives from Latin “vix”, meaning “barely” or “hardly”, and also “with difficulty”. | |||
| German | kaum | ||
| The word 'kaum' is derived from Middle High German 'kûme' or 'kûm' and can also mean 'hardly', 'scarcely' or 'only just'. | |||
| Icelandic | varla | ||
| 'Varla' is cognate with Old Norse 'varla' (warily, hardly), Faroese 'varliga' (slowly) and Norwegian 'varlig' (cautious). | |||
| Irish | ar éigean | ||
| The word "ar éigean" in Irish can also mean "by the narrow margin", "hardly" or "scarcely". | |||
| Italian | appena | ||
| The word "appena" comes from the Latin "ad poenam" (meaning "to punish") and can also mean "almost" or "nearly." | |||
| Luxembourgish | kaum | ||
| "Kaum" is also the plural form of "Kand" (child). | |||
| Maltese | bilkemm | ||
| "Bilkemm" is derived from the Arabic phrase "bil-ki-am", meaning "just enough to" or "with barely the amount of." | |||
| Norwegian | så vidt | ||
| The expression "så vidt" can also mean "to the point" or "as far as". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | mal | ||
| "Mal" can also mean poorly or badly, as in "estou mal" (I feel poorly) | |||
| Scots Gaelic | gann | ||
| The word `gann` has Gaelic cognates meaning `narrow` in space or in time. | |||
| Spanish | apenas | ||
| The word "apenas" in Spanish evolved from the Latin "ad pedem", meaning "to the foot". | |||
| Swedish | nätt och jämnt | ||
| "Nätt och jämnt" literally means "nice and even". | |||
| Welsh | prin | ||
| The Welsh word "prin" also means "beginning" or "start". | |||
Barely in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | ледзьве | ||
| "Ледзьве" (barely) comes from "ледзве" (hardly, scarcely), which in Old Church Slavonic means "with difficulty" | |||
| Bosnian | jedva | ||
| The word "jedva" is derived from Proto-Slavic *jedva, which also means "hardly" or "with difficulty." | |||
| Bulgarian | едва | ||
| Bulgarian "едва" originates from Old Church Slavonic "едва" (hardly) and is related to "едвали" (hardly), which in turn is connected to the root "ед-" (one) and the suffix "-вали" (doubtful). Thus, "едва" initially meant "with difficulty" or "almost not". | |||
| Czech | sotva | ||
| Sotva derives from Old Czech "sotv", meaning "scarcely". Possibly from Proto-Germanic *sawat "scarcely", possibly related to Latin "satis" "enough". | |||
| Estonian | vaevu | ||
| In addition to its usual meaning, "vaevu" can also refer to "scarcely" or "hardly". | |||
| Finnish | tuskin | ||
| Tuska, a cognate of Tuskin, also means "agony" or "anguish". | |||
| Hungarian | alig | ||
| The word "alig" is derived from the Turkic word "alg", meaning "lacking, insufficient" or from the Hungarian word "alá", meaning "under". | |||
| Latvian | knapi | ||
| It is probably a cognate of Swedish "knapp" which derives from Low German "knapp" meaning "narrow" or "short". Alternatively, it may derive from German "knapp" in the same sense via Polish "knap". | |||
| Lithuanian | vos vos | ||
| The Lithuanian word "vos vos" can be traced back to the 16th century, and its original meaning was "very" or "much" rather than the present-day "barely". | |||
| Macedonian | едвај | ||
| The word "едвај" is cognate to the Bulgarian "едва" and derives from Proto-Slavic *jedva, which itself likely descends from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- "one". In Old Church Slavonic the word was rendered as едива and meant "with difficulty," with the modern sense emerging later in Macedonian and Bulgarian, though still retaining that initial sense in Serbo-Croatian (едва "only just now") and Russian (едва ли "it is unlikely"). | |||
| Polish | ledwo | ||
| The verb "leźć" (climb), related to "ledwo," was used before the noun and was equivalent to "with difficulty; barely". | |||
| Romanian | de abia | ||
| The Romanian word "de abia" derives from the verb "abea", meaning "scarcely" or "hardly". | |||
| Russian | едва | ||
| "Едва" in Russian also means "hardly" or "with difficulty". | |||
| Serbian | једва | ||
| In Slavic languages, the root "jedv-" means "one, single, only", hence the meaning of "scarcely" in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | sotva | ||
| The word "sotva" in Slovak comes from the Old Slavic word "sьto" meaning "only just". | |||
| Slovenian | komaj | ||
| The root word 'komaj' means 'hard' and is related to the words 'komajati' (to toil) and 'komajda' (barely). | |||
| Ukrainian | ледве | ||
| "Ледве" also means "almost not" in Ukrainian, and it stems from the word "ледь" meaning "ice". | |||
Barely in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সবে | ||
| "সবে" could also mean "just now" or "recently". | |||
| Gujarati | માંડ | ||
| The Gujarati word "માંડ" also means "barely enough" or "narrowly". | |||
| Hindi | मुश्किल से | ||
| "मुश्किल से" is a compound of the Arabic word "mushkil" (difficult) and the Persian suffix "-se" (from). | |||
| Kannada | ಕೇವಲ | ||
| ಕೇವಲ ('barely') originated from the Sanskrit word 'केवल' (kevala), meaning 'alone' or 'only' | |||
| Malayalam | കഷ്ടിച്ച് | ||
| Marathi | केवळ | ||
| केवळ means 'only' in Marathi, in addition to 'barely' | |||
| Nepali | मुश्किलले | ||
| मुश्किलले is derived from the Hindi word मुश्किल ( | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਿਰਫ | ||
| The word "ਸਿਰਫ" can also mean "only" or "just" in Punjabi. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | යන්තම් | ||
| The word 'යන්තම්' is also used to imply an excessive amount, meaning 'exceedingly'. | |||
| Tamil | அரிதாகவே | ||
| The Tamil word 'அரிதாகவே' has the alternate meaning 'rarely' in English. | |||
| Telugu | కేవలం | ||
| "కేవలం" (kēvalam) and "కేవలము" (kēvalamu) are both words in Telugu meaning "barely," "scarcely" or "merely." The words are both derived from Sanskrit, where "kevala" has the same meanings. | |||
| Urdu | بمشکل | ||
| The word "بمشکل" in Urdu is derived from the Persian word "بمشکل", meaning "with difficulty" or "hardly". | |||
Barely in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 仅仅 | ||
| In Chinese, “仅仅” is not only used to mean “barely”, but also to mean “just”, “only”, or “no more than”. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 僅僅 | ||
| The Chinese character "僅" can also mean "respectful" or "careful". | |||
| Japanese | かろうじて | ||
| "かろうじて" can also mean "by force" or "by a narrow escape". | |||
| Korean | 간신히 | ||
| “간신히” literally translates to “by the skin of the teeth” in the original Chinese phrase, “悬命于一发”. | |||
| Mongolian | арай гэж | ||
| The Mongolian word "арай гэж" can also mean "almost" or "nearly". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အနိုင်နိုင် | ||
Barely in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | nyaris | ||
| Nyaris's root word, 'nyari', also means 'to seek' or 'to search'. | |||
| Javanese | lagi wae | ||
| The word 'lagi wae' in Javanese also means 'every time', 'often', or 'frequently' in English. | |||
| Khmer | ទទេ | ||
| In some dialects, "ទទេ" can have a negative or sarcastic connotation as "just enough to get by". | |||
| Lao | ເປົ່າ | ||
| The Lao word "ເປົ່າ" derives from the Thai word "เป่า" (pàao), meaning "blow, inflate, or pump". | |||
| Malay | nyaris | ||
| "Nyaris" comes from the root word "nyari" meaning close to or nearly, suggesting that something is almost but not quite achieved. | |||
| Thai | แทบจะไม่ | ||
| The Thai word "แทบจะไม่" (barely) comes from the Sanskrit word "तत्पर" (intent on, enthusiastic), and the Thai word "แทบ" (almost, nearly), meaning "almost intent on, nearly enthusiastic". | |||
| Vietnamese | vừa đủ | ||
| "Vừa đủ" literally means "enough" and can also mean "nearly" or "about to." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bahagya | ||
Barely in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | ancaq | ||
| The word "ancaq" in Azerbaijani is also used to mean "only" or "but". | |||
| Kazakh | әрең | ||
| In Kazakh, "әрең" can also mean "only" or "hardly". | |||
| Kyrgyz | эптеп | ||
| The word “эптеп” (“barely”) is derived from the Old Turkic word “*äptǟ” (“only, barely”), which is also the etymon of the Turkish word “еptе” (“barely”). | |||
| Tajik | базӯр | ||
| "Базӯр" originally meant "narrow path" in Farsi, and it still has this meaning in the Tajik expression "базӯр роҳ". | |||
| Turkmen | zordan | ||
| Uzbek | zo'rg'a | ||
| "Zo'rg'a" also means "almost" (but not quite) or "nearly". In some contexts, it may also mean "rarely". | |||
| Uyghur | ئاران | ||
Barely in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | paepae | ||
| The Hawaiian word "paepae" can also mean "a platform or bench made of stone or wood". | |||
| Maori | papaki | ||
| In some contexts, papaki can also mean 'nearly' or 'almost'. | |||
| Samoan | tau lē | ||
| The Samoan word "tau lē" originally meant "barely moving" but now also means "barely" in general. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | bahagya | ||
| The Tagalog word "bahagya" also denotes something partial, incomplete, and slightly perceptible. | |||
Barely in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | k'achaki | ||
| Guarani | haimetéva | ||
Barely in International Languages
| Esperanto | apenaŭ | ||
| The Esperanto word "apenaŭ" derives from the Polish word "ledwie". | |||
| Latin | vix | ||
| The Latin word vix could also mean "scarcely". | |||
Barely in Others Languages
| Greek | μετά βίας | ||
| The word "μετά βίας" is derived from the phrase "μετά πάσης βίας", which means "with all force". | |||
| Hmong | nyuam qhuav muaj | ||
| The phrase nyuam qhuav muaj is also a term for a young child who just begins to crawl. | |||
| Kurdish | wekî tûne | ||
| "Wekî tûne" literally means "like a hair" in Kurdish and refers to a small amount or a narrow escape. | |||
| Turkish | zar zor | ||
| "Zar zor" comes from the Persian phrase "zor ba zor" meaning "with great difficulty or effort". | |||
| Xhosa | kancinci | ||
| The Xhosa word "kancinci" stems from the noun "nci" (edge) and can also mean "by the edge of, on the verge of" or to "scrape or shave". | |||
| Yiddish | קוים | ||
| "קוים" comes from the Polish "ledwie" | |||
| Zulu | ngokulambisa | ||
| The word "ngokulambisa" (barely) can also mean "lightly" or "a little bit" in Zulu. | |||
| Assamese | কোনোমতে | ||
| Aymara | k'achaki | ||
| Bhojpuri | खाली | ||
| Dhivehi | ކިރިޔާ | ||
| Dogri | मसां-मसां | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bahagya | ||
| Guarani | haimetéva | ||
| Ilocano | apaman | ||
| Krio | nɔ izi | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | جۆ | ||
| Maithili | मुश्किल सँ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯖꯤꯛꯇꯪ ꯉꯥꯏꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hram hram | ||
| Oromo | xoqqooma | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କ୍ୱଚିତ୍ | | ||
| Quechua | yaqa | ||
| Sanskrit | केवलं | ||
| Tatar | аракы | ||
| Tigrinya | ንንእሽተይ | ||
| Tsonga | talangi | ||