Bread in Different Languages
Discover 'Bread' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Bread is a staple food in many cultures, providing sustenance and comfort for people all over the world. Its significance extends beyond the dinner table, as it has been a symbol of life, prosperity, and sacrifice throughout history. From the ancient Egyptians who worshipped the god of bread, to the Christian tradition of breaking bread during communion, bread has played a central role in our cultural and spiritual lives.
Given its importance, it's no wonder that people might want to know how to say 'bread' in different languages. After all, travelers, foodies, and language enthusiasts alike can deepen their connection to a culture by learning a few key words in the local language. Plus, it's always fun to impress your friends with your linguistic skills!
Here are just a few examples of how to say 'bread' in various languages, from the romantic languages of Europe to the ancient tongues of the Middle East:
- French: pain
- Spanish: pan
- Italian: pane
- German: brot
- Hebrew: לחם (lechem)
- Arabic: خبز (khobz)
Bread
Bread in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | brood | ||
| The Afrikaans word "brood" can also refer to a type of mushroom. | |||
| Amharic | ዳቦ | ||
| "ዳቦ" may also refer to a piece of bread or a small loaf of bread. | |||
| Hausa | burodi | ||
| The Hausa word 'burodi' also means 'food' or 'meal'. | |||
| Igbo | achịcha | ||
| The Igbo word “achịcha” also means “cake” or “sweet potato pudding”. | |||
| Malagasy | -kanina | ||
| The Malagasy word "-kanina" originates from the Proto-Austronesian word "*kaniŋ", which means "eat" and the suffix "-na", which indicates a noun. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | mkate | ||
| Nyanja "mkate" likely originates from Portuguese "pão de trigo" via Swahili "mkate wa ngano" | |||
| Shona | chingwa | ||
| The word 'chingwa' ultimately originates from the Proto-Bantu root '-kwá', which means 'to eat' or 'to consume'. | |||
| Somali | rooti | ||
| The Somali word 'rooti' is derived from the Arabic word 'ruṭb', meaning 'moist' or 'soft'. | |||
| Sesotho | bohobe | ||
| In Sesotho, "bohobe" is also used to describe something that provides comfort or nourishment, akin to the feeling of satisfying hunger with bread. | |||
| Swahili | mkate | ||
| "Mkate" is also a term used in Tanzania for a person born during the bread shortage in 1945. | |||
| Xhosa | isonka | ||
| Isonka is derived from the word 'isonka', meaning 'to crush' or 'to grind' in Xhosa | |||
| Yoruba | akara | ||
| "Akara" has other meanings such as "skillfully". It derives from the verb "ka", meaning "to do; make". | |||
| Zulu | isinkwa | ||
| "Isinkwa" is a form of the more general word for "food" ("insuluko") and "corn" ("impofu"). | |||
| Bambara | buuru | ||
| Ewe | abolo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | umutsima | ||
| Lingala | limpa | ||
| Luganda | omugaati | ||
| Sepedi | borotho | ||
| Twi (Akan) | paanoo | ||
Bread in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | خبز | ||
| The Arabic word "خبز" can also mean "livelihood" or "sustenance." | |||
| Hebrew | לחם | ||
| The Hebrew word "לחם" comes from the root "לחם" which in Arabic means "to be hungry". | |||
| Pashto | ډوډۍ | ||
| The Pashto word "ډوډۍ" can also refer to a thin, flatbread called Chapati. | |||
| Arabic | خبز | ||
| The Arabic word "خبز" can also mean "livelihood" or "sustenance." | |||
Bread in Western European Languages
| Albanian | bukë | ||
| The word "bukë" in Albanian is cognate with the Latin word "panis" and the Proto-Indo-European root *peh₂-, both meaning "bread". | |||
| Basque | ogia | ||
| "Ogia'' can also be used to refer to "a living", or even to someone who's lazy and won't do any work. | |||
| Catalan | pa | ||
| In ancient Greek, the word "pa" meant "meal" or "food". | |||
| Croatian | kruh | ||
| In Croatian, the word "kruh" can also refer to a loaf of bread, a piece of bread, or the bread used in the Eucharist. | |||
| Danish | brød | ||
| The Danish word "brød" can also refer to a wedding or a celebration. | |||
| Dutch | brood | ||
| In Dutch, the word "brood" can also refer to a group of young animals that have recently hatched or been born. | |||
| English | bread | ||
| The word 'bread' derives from the Old English word 'breod', meaning 'food' or 'nourishment'. | |||
| French | pain | ||
| Pain also means "suffering" in French, similar to its etymology from the Latin word "panem," which means "punishment." | |||
| Frisian | bôle | ||
| "Bôle" is cognate with the Dutch and German word for butter, "boter" and "butter", which probably reflects the butter-like consistency and fat content of bread made from freshly ground flour. | |||
| Galician | pan | ||
| Galician "pan" derives from Proto-Indo-European "peh₂-n-," meaning "cattle, livestock," also related to Latin "pecus" (cattle). | |||
| German | brot | ||
| The word "Brot" can also refer to a loaf or a roll of bread. | |||
| Icelandic | brauð | ||
| The word "brauð" can also refer to a type of flatbread made from barley or rye flour. | |||
| Irish | arán | ||
| There are some words that sound similar to "arán" in Irish because of a process called apophony, such as "oire" (edge) and "oile" (oil). | |||
| Italian | pane | ||
| The Italian word 'pane' also refers to a window, as in a 'window pane', and is related to the Latin word 'pannus' meaning 'cloth'. | |||
| Luxembourgish | brout | ||
| The word "Brout" is derived from the Old High German word "brod" and is related to the English word "bread" and the German word "Brot." | |||
| Maltese | ħobż | ||
| "Ħobż" originally meant "dough" in the Phoenician language | |||
| Norwegian | brød | ||
| In Sweden, 'bröd' can also refer to the act of baking or a group of bakers. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | pão | ||
| "Pão" can also mean "blockhead" in Portuguese slang. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | aran | ||
| 'Aran' in Scots Gaelic can also refer to a piece or a portion of bread, or an amount sufficient for a meal. | |||
| Spanish | pan de molde | ||
| The Spanish "pan de molde" is called so because it's shaped like a mold and baked in a square or rectangular tin, a practice that goes back to the Romans and Greeks. | |||
| Swedish | bröd | ||
| The word "bröd" in Swedish is closely related to the word "brygga," which means "to brew" or "to make" in Old Norse. | |||
| Welsh | bara | ||
| In Welsh, "bara" denotes bread as a loaf, and historically also signifies "summit" or "topmost point of a mountain". | |||
Bread in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | хлеб | ||
| "Хлеб" (bread) is believed to derive from the Proto-Slavic word *xlebos, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *klebʰ- (to cleave, break). | |||
| Bosnian | hleb | ||
| "Hleb" can mean either "bread" or "gift" in Bosnian, stemming from the Proto-Slavic words "*xlěbъ" for "bread" and "*glěbъ" for "lump of earth, clay". | |||
| Bulgarian | хляб | ||
| The word "хляб" is also a Bulgarian word for "earth", possibly related to the Albanian word "bukë" meaning "mold, cast" | |||
| Czech | chléb | ||
| The words chleb and chléb both mean 'bread' in Czech. | |||
| Estonian | leib | ||
| The Estonian word "leib" is thought to derive from an ancient Indo-European root word that also gave rise to the words "loaf" and "bread" in English. | |||
| Finnish | leipää | ||
| The Finnish word for “bread”, “leipä”, comes from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic word “hlaibaz”, originating from a Proto-Indo-European noun | |||
| Hungarian | kenyér | ||
| 'Kenyér' originated from the Proto-Indo-European term 'gʰer-', implying 'to grind' and referring to any meal made from ground grains. | |||
| Latvian | maize | ||
| The Latvian term "maize" also refers to wheat, while "corn" refers specifically to barley. | |||
| Lithuanian | duona | ||
| "The Lithuanian word "duona" is a cognate of Greek "δοῦνα" (doùna), meaning "dough," Latin "farina" (flour), and Sanskrit "dhu" (to grind)." | |||
| Macedonian | леб | ||
| The word "леб" in Macedonian is derived from an old Slavic word that originally meant "round" or "flattened". | |||
| Polish | chleb | ||
| The Polish word "chleb" also refers to a loaf of bread or a piece of bread. | |||
| Romanian | pâine | ||
| The Romanian word "pâine" is derived from the Latin word "panis" and can also refer to the biblical manna in some contexts. | |||
| Russian | хлеб | ||
| "хлеб" (bread) in Russian can also mean "grain," "harvest," or "the bread on the holy table in Orthodox churches." | |||
| Serbian | хлеб | ||
| The word 'хлеб' also refers to the Eucharist or any holy bread in Serbian. | |||
| Slovak | chlieb | ||
| The Slovak word "chlieb" is cognate with the German "Laib" and the Old English "hláf," and originally meant "loaf". | |||
| Slovenian | kruh | ||
| "Kruh" means "bread" in Slovenian, but it also has a double meaning related to the word "kruh", which means "circle" or "wheel". | |||
| Ukrainian | хліб | ||
| The word "хліб" (bread) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*xlěbъ," which also means "grain" and "food." | |||
Bread in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | রুটি | ||
| The Sanskrit equivalent of "রুটি" is "अरुटी" (aruTi), which is cognate to the Persian "آرد" (aarda), meaning flour; and it might be the Indo-Aryan cognates of the Proto-Indo-European "*h₃er-ti-" (to plough/cut), suggesting an old agricultural connection, like with other flour products (like "রুটা" (ruTha), "পুরি" (puri), etc.). | |||
| Gujarati | બ્રેડ | ||
| The word "ब्रેड" is derived from the Old English word "bread", which is thought to have come from the Proto-Germanic word "braudan", meaning "to break off". It can also refer to a flat, round cake made from flour (typically wheat) or a substance used as food for animals. | |||
| Hindi | रोटी | ||
| रोटी (roti) has no direct etymology in English, but it shares a common root with the word "roti" in several other Indo-European languages, including Persian, Pashto, and Nepali. | |||
| Kannada | ಬ್ರೆಡ್ | ||
| The word "bread" in Kannada, "ಬ್ರೆಡ್," is derived from the Portuguese word "broa," meaning "loaf of bread." | |||
| Malayalam | റൊട്ടി | ||
| The word "റൊട്ടി" ("bread") is derived from the Sanskrit word "रोटि" ("bread"), which is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*h₁rewdʰ-" ("to tear"), which also gives rise to the English word "rut". The word "റൊട്ടി" can also mean "money" or "wealth" in Malayalam slang. | |||
| Marathi | ब्रेड | ||
| The Marathi word 'ब्रेड' (bread) is derived from the Portuguese word 'broa' meaning 'coarse bread'. | |||
| Nepali | रोटी | ||
| The word "रोटी" (roti) in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "रोटिका" (rotika), meaning "a round flat cake of bread." | |||
| Punjabi | ਰੋਟੀ | ||
| As a loanword from Sanskrit, 'ਰੋਟੀ' (bread) is also used in Punjabi as a metaphor for 'food' or 'sustenance'. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | පාන් | ||
| Sinhala "පාන්" is etymologically derived from Sanskrit "पाण्" (paṇ), meaning nourishment or food | |||
| Tamil | ரொட்டி | ||
| The Tamil word ரொட்டி can also refer to a type of flatbread, a small loaf, or a sweet bun. | |||
| Telugu | రొట్టె | ||
| The word "రొట్టె" (bread) in Telugu is derived from the Sanskrit word "रोट्टिका" (roṭṭikā), which means "a round, flat cake". | |||
| Urdu | روٹی | ||
| The Urdu word "روٹی" originates from Persian and ultimately Sanskrit, where it also referred to a type of sweet or seasoned cake or biscuit, not just baked dough. | |||
Bread in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 面包 | ||
| 面包 is derived from the French word "pain", meaning "bread". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 麵包 | ||
| The character '麵' in '麵包' also means 'noodles', and it originally referred to a flatbread made from wheat flour. | |||
| Japanese | パン | ||
| The word "パン" (bread) in Japanese originated from the Portuguese word "pão" during the 16th century. | |||
| Korean | 빵 | ||
| "빵" is also a Korean slang term for a good-looking person, especially a woman. | |||
| Mongolian | талх | ||
| The word "талх" comes from the Mongolian word for "life-force" or "vitality". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ပေါင်မုန့် | ||
| Also refers to a sweet glutinous rice cake, made with sticky rice, coconut milk, and sugar | |||
Bread in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | roti | ||
| Roti is derived from Sanskrit word "rotika" which also means bread in English and "rot " which means to pound. | |||
| Javanese | roti | ||
| "Roti" (bread) in Javanese is cognate with "ruoti" (bread) in Finnish and "rot" (bread) in German and many other Germanic languages. | |||
| Khmer | នំបុ័ង | ||
| The word “នំបុ័ង” (num bong; bread) comes from the Sanskrit word “पुप्फ’ (puphpa; cake or pastry). | |||
| Lao | ເຂົ້າຈີ່ | ||
| "ເຂົ້າຈີ່" is an adaptation of the Thai word "ข้าวเหนียว" (sticky rice). | |||
| Malay | roti | ||
| Roti, the Malay word for bread, is derived from the Sanskrit word 'rotika' and has alternate meanings in other languages, such as 'money' in Hindi and 'daily meal' in Indonesian. | |||
| Thai | ขนมปัง | ||
| In the Thai language, "ขนมปัง" (khanom phang) literally translates to "sweet pastry" but is commonly used to refer to bread. | |||
| Vietnamese | bánh mỳ | ||
| Bánh mì was originally called bánh tây, meaning "Western bread", and is now used to refer specifically to the Vietnamese sandwich of the same name. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | tinapay | ||
Bread in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | çörək | ||
| The word "çörək" derives from the Proto-Turkic word "çörek" or "sörek" meaning "unleavened bread" or "flatbread". | |||
| Kazakh | нан | ||
| The word "нан" can also refer to a type of traditional flatbread in Kazakhstan, similar to a tortilla. | |||
| Kyrgyz | нан | ||
| The word "нан" in Kyrgyz is derived from the Persian word "نـان" (nān), which has the same meaning. | |||
| Tajik | нон | ||
| "Нон" derives from Middle Iranian "n"ān, which referred to "food" or "provisions". | |||
| Turkmen | çörek | ||
| Uzbek | non | ||
| The word 'non' is also used to describe any food used as a bread substitute, such as flatbreads or tortillas. | |||
| Uyghur | بولكا | ||
Bread in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | berena | ||
| "Berena" means "bread" in Hawaiian, but its literal meaning is "fern shoots". | |||
| Maori | taro | ||
| Maori 'taro' can also refer to taro root, a type of vegetable | |||
| Samoan | areto | ||
| The word 'areto' may have originated from 'afete,' the name for the Samoan fire god who is said to have cooked bread for the first time. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | tinapay | ||
| The word "tinapay" in Tagalog is derived from the root word "tina" (to cook) and the suffix "-pay" (a noun suffix), and originally referred to cooked rice rather than bread. | |||
Bread in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | t'ant'a | ||
| Guarani | mbujape | ||
Bread in International Languages
| Esperanto | pano | ||
| "Pano" also serves as the root for "papanino" ("sandwich") and "panjo" ("bakery"). | |||
| Latin | panem | ||
| Though "panem" usually refers to bread, its original meaning was more akin to bread dough or leavened dough in general. | |||
Bread in Others Languages
| Greek | ψωμί | ||
| The word 'ψωμί' may derive from the ancient Greek verb 'ψάω', meaning 'to rub, crush' or 'to knead'. | |||
| Hmong | mov ci | ||
| The term also refers to any food, especially one that is consumed as a staple. | |||
| Kurdish | nan | ||
| In the Kurdish language, "nan" can also refer to a type of flatbread commonly eaten in the region. | |||
| Turkish | ekmek | ||
| The word | |||
| Xhosa | isonka | ||
| Isonka is derived from the word 'isonka', meaning 'to crush' or 'to grind' in Xhosa | |||
| Yiddish | ברויט | ||
| The word "ברויט" (bread) in Yiddish also means "livelihood" or "sustenance." | |||
| Zulu | isinkwa | ||
| "Isinkwa" is a form of the more general word for "food" ("insuluko") and "corn" ("impofu"). | |||
| Assamese | লোফ | ||
| Aymara | t'ant'a | ||
| Bhojpuri | रोटी | ||
| Dhivehi | ޕާން | ||
| Dogri | ब्रैड | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | tinapay | ||
| Guarani | mbujape | ||
| Ilocano | tinapay | ||
| Krio | bred | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | نان | ||
| Maithili | रोटी | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯜ | ||
| Mizo | chhangthawp | ||
| Oromo | daabboo | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ରୁଟି | | ||
| Quechua | tanta | ||
| Sanskrit | रोटिका | ||
| Tatar | икмәк | ||
| Tigrinya | ሕምባሻ | ||
| Tsonga | xinkwa | ||