Updated on March 6, 2024
Budget, a simple word that holds great significance in our daily lives. It refers to a financial plan that outlines expected income and expenses over a specified period. But beyond its financial connotations, the word 'budget' also symbolizes prudence, planning, and responsibility.
Throughout history, budgeting has been crucial to the survival and success of individuals, communities, and nations. From ancient civilizations that lived by the cycles of agriculture to modern corporations that drive global economies, the ability to plan and manage resources has been a key factor in their prosperity.
Given its importance, it's no surprise that the word 'budget' has been incorporated into many languages around the world. Understanding its translation can provide valuable insights into different cultural perspectives on finance and resource management.
For instance, in Spanish, 'budget' translates to 'presupuesto', reflecting the importance of setting up a 'pre-approved' plan. In French, it's 'budget', similar to English, indicating the global impact of this concept. In Mandarin, it's '预算', which literally means 'pre-arrange numbers', emphasizing the necessity of foresight and strategic planning.
Explore the list below to discover how 'budget' is translated in various languages, and gain a new perspective on this universal concept.
Afrikaans | begroting | ||
The Afrikaans word "begroting" is derived from the Dutch word "begrooting", which in turn comes from the French word "budget", meaning a financial plan or statement. | |||
Amharic | በጀት | ||
The word በጀት derives from the French word "bougette" (small bag) but also means "pocket" in Amharic. | |||
Hausa | kasafin kudi | ||
"Kasafin kudi" is a Hausa word derived from Arabic meaning "money purse" or "savings". While it's commonly used to refer to a "budget", it literally means "a place to keep money safely". | |||
Igbo | mmefu ego | ||
The Igbo word "mmefu ego" literally translates to "sharing of money" indicating its communal origins and purpose. | |||
Malagasy | teti-bola | ||
"Teti-bola" can also mean "the portion to eat" or refer to a portion of something. | |||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | bajeti | ||
The Nyanja word "bajeti" is derived from the English word "budget" | |||
Shona | bhajeti | ||
Bhajeti can also mean "allocation" or "portion" in Shona. | |||
Somali | miisaaniyad | ||
The word "miisaaniyad" is derived from the Arabic word "mizan", meaning "balance". | |||
Sesotho | tekanyetso | ||
Tekanyetso, derived from 'tekanya,' is a Sesotho term signifying 'planning' or 'anticipating' fiscal resources in the context of budgeting. | |||
Swahili | bajeti | ||
The word "bajeti" in Swahili also means "a plan or proposal". | |||
Xhosa | uhlahlo lwabiwo-mali | ||
The Xhosa word 'uhlahlo lwabiwo-mali' literally means 'a tree of the sharing of finances'. | |||
Yoruba | isunawo | ||
Isunawo, a Yoruba word for "budget," also shares its etymology with the Yoruba word for "sand," indicating the transient nature of funds. | |||
Zulu | isabelomali | ||
Isabelomali is a Zulu term that derives from the word 'isabelo', which means 'a promise' or 'a pledge', indicating the binding nature of a budget. | |||
Bambara | baarakɛnafolo | ||
Ewe | gaɖaŋu | ||
Kinyarwanda | bije | ||
Lingala | mbongo | ||
Luganda | embalirira | ||
Sepedi | tekanyetšo | ||
Twi (Akan) | bɔgyete | ||
Arabic | ميزانية | ||
The word "ميزانية" can also mean "equilibrium" or "symmetry" in Arabic. | |||
Hebrew | תַקצִיב | ||
The word תַקצִיב comes from the Aramaic word תִקוּנָא meaning 'order' or 'arrangement'. | |||
Pashto | بودیجه | ||
The word "بودیجه" comes from the Persian word "باج" (bāj), which means "tax" or "impost". | |||
Arabic | ميزانية | ||
The word "ميزانية" can also mean "equilibrium" or "symmetry" in Arabic. |
Albanian | buxheti | ||
The word 'buxheti' derives from the French word 'budget', which in turn comes from the Latin 'bulga', meaning 'leather bag'. | |||
Basque | aurrekontua | ||
The Basque word for budget, 'aurrekontua', literally translates to 'front account'. | |||
Catalan | pressupost | ||
The word "pressupost" comes from the Medieval Latin "praepositus" meaning "chief" and "positus" meaning "set" or "placed". | |||
Croatian | proračun | ||
The word proračun is derived from the Latin word pro rata, meaning "in proportion." | |||
Danish | budget | ||
In Danish, 'budget' can also mean 'to budget' or 'to plan'. | |||
Dutch | begroting | ||
In Dutch, "begroting" can mean either "budget" or "estimate". | |||
English | budget | ||
The word "budget" derives from the Middle French word "bougette" meaning "small bag", referring to the leather bag used to hold official documents, including financial records. | |||
French | budget | ||
The word "budget" is derived from the Old French word "bougette," meaning "small bag" or "purse." | |||
Frisian | begrutting | ||
Frisian 'begrutting' also means 'plan' or 'intention'. | |||
Galician | orzamento | ||
The word "orzamento" comes from the Latin "ora", meaning "hour", and "mentum", meaning "mind", so it originally meant "hourly rate". | |||
German | budget | ||
"Budget" derives from the French "bougette", meaning "small leather pouch". | |||
Icelandic | fjárhagsáætlun | ||
The Icelandic word 'fjárhagssáætlun' is composed from 'fé'/ˈfeɪː/, meaning 'money', 'hagur'/'haːɣʏɾ/, 'fortune' and 'sátt'/ˈsau̯ht/, 'settlement', so literally 'a settlement on the fortune of money'. | |||
Irish | buiséad | ||
The word "buiséad" is derived from the French word "bouget," meaning "wallet" or "knapsack." | |||
Italian | budget | ||
"Budget" derives from the Old French word "bougette," meaning "small bag" or "wallet." | |||
Luxembourgish | budget | ||
An alternative meaning of 'budget' in Luxembourgish is 'small purse' or 'handbag'. | |||
Maltese | baġit | ||
The word "baġit" also refers to a "box used as a bed for infants". | |||
Norwegian | budsjett | ||
The word "budsjett" is derived from the Old French word "bougette", meaning a small bag or wallet. | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | despesas | ||
The word "despesas" derives from the Latin "dispendere," meaning "to spend." | |||
Scots Gaelic | buidseit | ||
The Scots Gaelic word "buidseit" may also mean "wallet" or "purse". | |||
Spanish | presupuesto | ||
In Latin, 'prae' means 'before' and 'suppositum' means 'placing under,' thus the 'pre-supposition' of funding needed before the start of a project. | |||
Swedish | budget | ||
In Swedish, 'budget' was originally an adjective ('budgete') describing the distribution of taxes to various public services. | |||
Welsh | cyllideb | ||
The term 'cyllideb' derives from 'cyllido' ('to enclose'), suggesting a 'container' for financial matters. |
Belarusian | бюджэт | ||
The word "бюджэт" in Belarusian comes from the French word "budget", which in turn comes from the Old French word "bougette", meaning "small bag" or "purse". | |||
Bosnian | budžet | ||
The word "Budžet" originates from the French word "bougette", meaning "small bag" or "purse". | |||
Bulgarian | бюджет | ||
The word "бюджет" in Bulgarian comes from the French word "budget", which in turn comes from the Latin word "bulga", meaning "a leather bag" or "a purse". | |||
Czech | rozpočet | ||
The word "rozpočet" originates from the Old Czech word "rozpočtít", meaning "to divide" or "to calculate". | |||
Estonian | eelarve | ||
"Eelarve" is derived from the Old Germanic "*ga-laubaz", meaning "permission to leave". | |||
Finnish | budjetti | ||
The Finnish word 'budjetti' originates from the French 'bougette', meaning 'small pouch' or 'wallet'. | |||
Hungarian | költségvetés | ||
The Hungarian word 'költségvetés' originally meant 'expense accounting', and it still carries this meaning in some contexts. | |||
Latvian | budžetu | ||
The Latvian word "budžetu" is derived from the French word "budget", which in turn originated from the Anglo-Norman word "bougette", meaning "small bag". This is a reference to the practice of carrying money in a small bag. | |||
Lithuanian | biudžetą | ||
The word "biudžetą" comes from the French word "budget" (meaning purse or bag), which in turn is derived from the Old French word "bougette" (meaning small bag). | |||
Macedonian | буџет | ||
The word "буџет" is borrowed from French "budget", and is ultimately of Latin origin, from the Late Latin "bulga", meaning "leather bag". | |||
Polish | budżet | ||
In Polish, "budżet" derives from the French "bougette" meaning "leather bag" or "purse". | |||
Romanian | buget | ||
In Romanian, "buget" can also refer to the compartment in a vehicle where luggage is stored. | |||
Russian | бюджет | ||
The word budget comes from an Old French word for a bag and refers to public funds kept in such a bag. | |||
Serbian | буџет | ||
Буџет comes from French 'bougette', originally a leather wallet carried on a journey. | |||
Slovak | rozpočet | ||
The Slovak word "rozpočet" likely derives from the Czech word "rozpočet", which in turn is derived from the German word " rozpočet" (meaning "calculation") and ultimately from the Old French word "respost"} | |||
Slovenian | proračun | ||
The word "proračun" comes from the Middle High German word "brōtratschunge", meaning "provision for food and drink". | |||
Ukrainian | бюджету | ||
The word "бюджету" derives from the French word "bougette" meaning "small purse". |
Bengali | বাজেট | ||
The Bengali word "বাজেট" derives from the English word "budget", which in turn came from the French word "bougette" meaning "small leather bag". | |||
Gujarati | બજેટ | ||
The Gujarati word "બજેટ" is derived from the English word "budget", which itself came from the Middle French word "bougette", meaning "small bag". | |||
Hindi | बजट | ||
In Urdu and Hindi, 'bajt' primarily denotes 'talk' or 'chatter'; it's secondarily acquired the meaning 'budget' in the early 20th century, presumably influenced by English. | |||
Kannada | ಬಜೆಟ್ | ||
In Kannada, "ಬಜೆಟ್" (budget) also means "provision" or "arrangement". | |||
Malayalam | ബജറ്റ് | ||
The term budget is derived from the French word 'bougette' meaning 'small bag'. | |||
Marathi | अर्थसंकल्प | ||
"अर्थसंकल्प" (ArthasanKalpa) is derived from Sanskrit, where "अर्थ" (Artha) means "wealth" or "money" and "संकल्प" (Sankalpa) means "resolve" or "plan" | |||
Nepali | बजेट | ||
The word बजेट originated from the French word 'bougette' meaning 'small bag'. | |||
Punjabi | ਬਜਟ | ||
The Punjabi word 'ਬਜਟ' ('budget') derives from the English 'budget', meaning a financial plan, but can also refer to the state of being prepared and having everything needed. | |||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අයවැය | ||
"අයවැය" is also used in Sinhala to refer to the income and expenditure of a person or organization. | |||
Tamil | பட்ஜெட் | ||
The word 'பட்ஜெட்' derives from the French word 'bougette', which meant a leather bag used to carry money or documents. | |||
Telugu | బడ్జెట్ | ||
"బడ్జెట్" (budget) is derived from the French word "bougette," meaning a small leather bag. | |||
Urdu | بجٹ | ||
بجٹ also means "to be deprived of" or "to be poor" in Urdu. |
Chinese (Simplified) | 预算 | ||
预算, a loanword from Japan, also means "forecasting" or "estimating" in Chinese. | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 預算 | ||
The word "預算" (yùsuàn) is composed of "預" (yù), meaning "to estimate" or "to plan", and "算" (suàn), meaning "to calculate" or "to compute". | |||
Japanese | 予算 | ||
"予算" can also mean a "plan" or a "project" | |||
Korean | 예산 | ||
The word '예산' comes from the English word 'budget', which ultimately derives from the Old French 'bougette', meaning 'small bag' or 'money bag'. | |||
Mongolian | төсөв | ||
The word "төсөв" is derived from the verb "төсөх" (to plan, to design), and originally referred to a plan or a draft. | |||
Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘတ်ဂျက် | ||
The word "ဘတ်ဂျက်" in Myanmar (Burmese) is ultimately derived from the English word "budget" and retains its original meaning, but has also taken on the additional meaning of "a meeting between two or more people to discuss and agree on something". |
Indonesian | anggaran | ||
The word "anggaran" is derived from the Sanskrit word "agra" meaning "first" or "chief". It initially referred to the first meeting of a royal council to discuss state finances. | |||
Javanese | anggaran | ||
The word 'anggaran' in Javanese also means 'a portion of food' or 'a measure of rice'. | |||
Khmer | ថវិកា | ||
The word "ថវិកា" can also refer to a "wallet" or "purse". | |||
Lao | ງົບປະມານ | ||
Malay | belanjawan | ||
The word 'belanjawan' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'byaya' and the Arabic word 'nizam', meaning respectively 'expense' and 'order'. | |||
Thai | งบประมาณ | ||
"งบประมาณ" comes from two Pali words meaning "account" and "estimate" | |||
Vietnamese | ngân sách | ||
Ngân sách (budget) derived from the French | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | badyet | ||
Azerbaijani | büdcə | ||
The word "büdcə" comes from the Russian word "бюджет" which is thought to have been originally borrowed from the French "bougette" meaning a small leather bag used for carrying money. | |||
Kazakh | бюджет | ||
В казахском языке слово «бюджет» имеет то же значение, что и в русском языке. | |||
Kyrgyz | бюджет | ||
The word "бюджет" in Kyrgyz is also used to mean "estimation" or "expense estimate". | |||
Tajik | буҷа | ||
The word "буҷа" is also used in Tajik to refer to a small bag or sack. | |||
Turkmen | býudjet | ||
Uzbek | byudjet | ||
The Uzbek word "byudjet" is derived from the Persian word "byūdajēt" or "būdajēt", meaning "income" or "revenue". | |||
Uyghur | خامچوت | ||
Hawaiian | moʻohelu kālā | ||
The Hawaiian word for budget, moʻohelu kālā, comes from the words 'mo'o' (count) and 'helu' (number) with the addition of 'kāla' (time). This suggests that budgets were once only used for financial matters related to specific periods. | |||
Maori | pūtea | ||
The Maori word "pūtea" can also refer to a spring, a source of water, or a source of wealth, reflecting the interconnectedness of financial resources and natural resources in Maori culture. | |||
Samoan | paketi | ||
Pakēti can also be used as a colloquial term referring to the process of budgeting or financial planning. | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | badyet | ||
The Tagalog word "badyet" originally meant "bag" |
Aymara | chanicha | ||
Guarani | hepykuaarã | ||
Esperanto | buĝeto | ||
"Buĝeto" is derived from the French "budget" which means "bag" or "wallet" | |||
Latin | budget | ||
In Latin, "budget" means "a leather pouch" or "a small bag for money". |
Greek | προϋπολογισμός | ||
The Greek word "προϋπολογισμός" (budget) is derived from the verb "προϋπολογίζω," which means "to calculate in advance". | |||
Hmong | nyiaj txiag | ||
The word "nyiaj txiag" is derived from the Hmong words "nyiaj" (money) and "txiag" (plan), and it can also refer to a financial plan or a financial statement. | |||
Kurdish | sermîyan | ||
The word "sermîyan" in Kurdish is derived from the Persian word "sermâye", meaning "capital" or "wealth". In some contexts, it can also refer to a "treasure" or a "valuable item". | |||
Turkish | bütçe | ||
The word "bütçe" in Turkish is derived from the French word "budget", which itself comes from the Latin word "bulga", meaning "leather bag". | |||
Xhosa | uhlahlo lwabiwo-mali | ||
The Xhosa word 'uhlahlo lwabiwo-mali' literally means 'a tree of the sharing of finances'. | |||
Yiddish | בודזשעט | ||
The word 'budzhet' is an anglicism derived from Middle English 'bowgette' or Old French 'bougette,' both meaning 'small bag' or 'sack'. | |||
Zulu | isabelomali | ||
Isabelomali is a Zulu term that derives from the word 'isabelo', which means 'a promise' or 'a pledge', indicating the binding nature of a budget. | |||
Assamese | বাজেট | ||
Aymara | chanicha | ||
Bhojpuri | आमदनी आ खरचा के हिसाब | ||
Dhivehi | ބަޖެޓް | ||
Dogri | बजट | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | badyet | ||
Guarani | hepykuaarã | ||
Ilocano | presupuesto | ||
Krio | plan mɔni biznɛs | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | بوجە | ||
Maithili | बजट | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯕꯖꯦꯠ | ||
Mizo | sum hmanna | ||
Oromo | bajata | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ବଜେଟ୍ | ||
Quechua | presupuesto | ||
Sanskrit | अर्थसंकल्पम् | ||
Tatar | бюджет | ||
Tigrinya | በጀት | ||
Tsonga | mpimanyeto | ||