Barely in different languages

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

Afrikaansskaars
The word "skaars" in Afrikaans originally meant "to shear" or "to cut", but it has since come to mean "barely" or "scarcely".
Amharicበጭንቅ
The word በጭንቅ "barely" derives from the verb ጭነቅ "to be stuck" and refers to a minimal or insufficient amount or quality.
Hausada 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.
Igbosonso
"Sonso" can be used to refer to something that is empty, hollow, or unripe.
Malagasyzara 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'.
Shonazvishoma
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.
Somalidirqi ah
The word "dirqi ah" in Somali can alternately mean "to come up short" or "to fail to meet expectations."
Sesothoka thata
"Ka thata" is derived from the verb "ho thata" (to be difficult), and also means "with difficulty."
Swahilivigumu
"Vigumu" is possibly derived from the Proto-Bantu root "-gumu" meaning "lacking" or "insufficient," and is related to the Swahili word "ngumu" meaning "difficult."
Xhosakancinci
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".
Yorubaawọ
Awọ in Yoruba can also mean 'small', 'little' or 'unripe'.
Zulungokulambisa
The word "ngokulambisa" (barely) can also mean "lightly" or "a little bit" in Zulu.
Bambarasisan
Ewekpᴐtᴐ vie ko
Kinyarwandagake
Lingalamoke
Lugandaokusigalawo katono
Sepedie sego gantši
Twi (Akan)

Barely in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicبالكاد
"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".
Hebrewבקושי
The word "בקושי" also has the connotation of "with difficulty or effort" in Hebrew.
Pashtoیوازې
The word 'یوازې' can also mean 'only' or 'merely' in Pashto.
Arabicبالكاد
"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

Albanianmezi
The Albanian word "mezi" has an Indo-European root, related to the English "medium" and "mediocre".
Basqueozta-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.
Catalanamb 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.
Croatianjedva
"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.
Danishknap
The word “knap” can mean “barely” or “hardly,” but it can also mean “tight” or “closely fitting.”
Dutchnauwelijks
In archaic Dutch, nauwelijks meant 'closely, in detail'.
Englishbarely
A less common meaning of 'barely' from the archaic noun 'bairn' can mean 'poor' or 'not well', particularly in the phrase 'bairnly'.
Frenchà peine
À peine ('barely') derives from Medieval Latin 'ad penam', meaning 'with difficulty' or 'under pain of'.
Frisianamper
It goes back to the Latin phrase ''ad unum per centum'', meaning ''one of a hundred''.
Galicianapenas
Galician “apenas” derives from Latin “vix”, meaning “barely” or “hardly”, and also “with difficulty”.
Germankaum
The word 'kaum' is derived from Middle High German 'kûme' or 'kûm' and can also mean 'hardly', 'scarcely' or 'only just'.
Icelandicvarla
'Varla' is cognate with Old Norse 'varla' (warily, hardly), Faroese 'varliga' (slowly) and Norwegian 'varlig' (cautious).
Irishar éigean
The word "ar éigean" in Irish can also mean "by the narrow margin", "hardly" or "scarcely".
Italianappena
The word "appena" comes from the Latin "ad poenam" (meaning "to punish") and can also mean "almost" or "nearly."
Luxembourgishkaum
"Kaum" is also the plural form of "Kand" (child).
Maltesebilkemm
"Bilkemm" is derived from the Arabic phrase "bil-ki-am", meaning "just enough to" or "with barely the amount of."
Norwegianså 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 Gaelicgann
The word `gann` has Gaelic cognates meaning `narrow` in space or in time.
Spanishapenas
The word "apenas" in Spanish evolved from the Latin "ad pedem", meaning "to the foot".
Swedishnätt och jämnt
"Nätt och jämnt" literally means "nice and even".
Welshprin
The Welsh word "prin" also means "beginning" or "start".

Barely in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianледзьве
"Ледзьве" (barely) comes from "ледзве" (hardly, scarcely), which in Old Church Slavonic means "with difficulty"
Bosnianjedva
The word "jedva" is derived from Proto-Slavic *jedva, which also means "hardly" or "with difficulty."
Bulgarianедва
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".
Czechsotva
Sotva derives from Old Czech "sotv", meaning "scarcely". Possibly from Proto-Germanic *sawat "scarcely", possibly related to Latin "satis" "enough".
Estonianvaevu
In addition to its usual meaning, "vaevu" can also refer to "scarcely" or "hardly".
Finnishtuskin
Tuska, a cognate of Tuskin, also means "agony" or "anguish".
Hungarianalig
The word "alig" is derived from the Turkic word "alg", meaning "lacking, insufficient" or from the Hungarian word "alá", meaning "under".
Latvianknapi
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".
Lithuanianvos 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".
Macedonianедвај
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").
Polishledwo
The verb "leźć" (climb), related to "ledwo," was used before the noun and was equivalent to "with difficulty; barely".
Romaniande abia
The Romanian word "de abia" derives from the verb "abea", meaning "scarcely" or "hardly".
Russianедва
"Едва" in Russian also means "hardly" or "with difficulty".
Serbianједва
In Slavic languages, the root "jedv-" means "one, single, only", hence the meaning of "scarcely" in Serbian.
Slovaksotva
The word "sotva" in Slovak comes from the Old Slavic word "sьto" meaning "only just".
Sloveniankomaj
The root word 'komaj' means 'hard' and is related to the words 'komajati' (to toil) and 'komajda' (barely).
Ukrainianледве
"Ледве" also means "almost not" in Ukrainian, and it stems from the word "ледь" meaning "ice".

Barely in South Asian Languages

Bengaliসবে
"সবে" could also mean "just now" or "recently".
Gujaratiમાંડ
The Gujarati word "માંડ" also means "barely enough" or "narrowly".
Hindiमुश्किल से
"मुश्किल से" is a compound of the Arabic word "mushkil" (difficult) and the Persian suffix "-se" (from).
Kannadaಕೇವಲ
ಕೇವಲ ('barely') originated from the Sanskrit word 'केवल' (kevala), meaning 'alone' or 'only'
Malayalamകഷ്ടിച്ച്
Marathiकेवळ
केवळ means 'only' in Marathi, in addition to 'barely'
Nepaliमुश्किलले
मुश्किलले is derived from the Hindi word मुश्किल (
Punjabiਸਿਰਫ
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'.
Tamilஅரிதாகவே
The Tamil word 'அரிதாகவே' has the alternate meaning 'rarely' in English.
Teluguకేవలం
"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.
Urduبمشکل
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".
Korean간신히
“간신히” literally translates to “by the skin of the teeth” in the original Chinese phrase, “悬命于一发”.
Mongolianарай гэж
The Mongolian word "арай гэж" can also mean "almost" or "nearly".
Myanmar (Burmese)အနိုင်နိုင်

Barely in South East Asian Languages

Indonesiannyaris
Nyaris's root word, 'nyari', also means 'to seek' or 'to search'.
Javaneselagi wae
The word 'lagi wae' in Javanese also means 'every time', 'often', or 'frequently' in English.
Khmerទទេ
In some dialects, "ទទេ" can have a negative or sarcastic connotation as "just enough to get by".
Laoເປົ່າ
The Lao word "ເປົ່າ" derives from the Thai word "เป่า" (pàao), meaning "blow, inflate, or pump".
Malaynyaris
"Nyaris" comes from the root word "nyari" meaning close to or nearly, suggesting that something is almost but not quite achieved.
Thaiแทบจะไม่
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".
Vietnamesevừa đủ
"Vừa đủ" literally means "enough" and can also mean "nearly" or "about to."
Filipino (Tagalog)bahagya

Barely in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniancaq
The word "ancaq" in Azerbaijani is also used to mean "only" or "but".
Kazakhәрең
In Kazakh, "әрең" can also mean "only" or "hardly".
Kyrgyzэптеп
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”).
Tajikбазӯр
"Базӯр" originally meant "narrow path" in Farsi, and it still has this meaning in the Tajik expression "базӯр роҳ".
Turkmenzordan
Uzbekzo'rg'a
"Zo'rg'a" also means "almost" (but not quite) or "nearly". In some contexts, it may also mean "rarely".
Uyghurئاران

Barely in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianpaepae
The Hawaiian word "paepae" can also mean "a platform or bench made of stone or wood".
Maoripapaki
In some contexts, papaki can also mean 'nearly' or 'almost'.
Samoantau 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

Aymarak'achaki
Guaranihaimetéva

Barely in International Languages

Esperantoapenaŭ
The Esperanto word "apenaŭ" derives from the Polish word "ledwie".
Latinvix
The Latin word vix could also mean "scarcely".

Barely in Others Languages

Greekμετά βίας
The word "μετά βίας" is derived from the phrase "μετά πάσης βίας", which means "with all force".
Hmongnyuam qhuav muaj
The phrase nyuam qhuav muaj is also a term for a young child who just begins to crawl.
Kurdishwekî tûne
"Wekî tûne" literally means "like a hair" in Kurdish and refers to a small amount or a narrow escape.
Turkishzar zor
"Zar zor" comes from the Persian phrase "zor ba zor" meaning "with great difficulty or effort".
Xhosakancinci
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".
Yiddishקוים
"קוים" comes from the Polish "ledwie"
Zulungokulambisa
The word "ngokulambisa" (barely) can also mean "lightly" or "a little bit" in Zulu.
Assameseকোনোমতে
Aymarak'achaki
Bhojpuriखाली
Dhivehiކިރިޔާ
Dogriमसां-मसां
Filipino (Tagalog)bahagya
Guaranihaimetéva
Ilocanoapaman
Krionɔ izi
Kurdish (Sorani)جۆ
Maithiliमुश्किल सँ
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯈꯖꯤꯛꯇꯪ ꯉꯥꯏꯕ
Mizohram hram
Oromoxoqqooma
Odia (Oriya)କ୍ୱଚିତ୍ |
Quechuayaqa
Sanskritकेवलं
Tatarаракы
Tigrinyaንንእሽተይ
Tsongatalangi

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