Bury in Different Languages
Discover 'Bury' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Bury, a simple word that holds great significance. It represents the end of physical existence, yet it is also a symbol of hope and renewal. Throughout history, burial practices have varied across cultures, reflecting their beliefs, values, and fears. From ancient Egypt's elaborate tombs to the simple graves of early Christian communities, the way we bury our dead reveals much about our cultural identity.
Moreover, the word 'bury' has interesting linguistic nuances. For instance, in German, 'beerdigen' means to bury, but it also metaphorically refers to 'putting something to rest' or 'ending something'. In Japanese, 'tsuchou' signifies both 'to bury' and 'to hide', reflecting the language's rich, context-dependent nature.
Understanding the translation of 'bury' in different languages not only broadens your linguistic horizons but also offers a fascinating glimpse into global cultural diversity. So, let's delve into the various translations of 'bury' and uncover the unique stories they tell.
Bury
Bury in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | begrawe | ||
| The Afrikaans word "begrawe" is derived from the Dutch word "begraven" and the Middle Low German word "begraven," both meaning "to bury." | |||
| Amharic | መቅበር | ||
| The word "መቅበር" (bury) is derived from the root word "ቅብር" (grave) and can also refer to the place of burial or the ceremony of burial. | |||
| Hausa | binne | ||
| "Binne" in Hausa is also used figuratively, similar to "bury" in English, to mean "hide" or "conceal" something. | |||
| Igbo | lie | ||
| The Igbo word "lie" also means "to hide" or "to conceal something." | |||
| Malagasy | nandevina | ||
| The Malagasy word "nandevina" is thought by linguists to be derived from the Proto-Austronesian root for "earth." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuyika maliro | ||
| The word "kuyika maliro" in Nyanja can also mean "to be buried" or "to be interred." | |||
| Shona | vigai | ||
| The Shona word "vigai" also means "to enclose" or "to wrap up". | |||
| Somali | duugid | ||
| The verb "duugid" comes from the Proto-Somali root "*dug-," meaning "to conceal" or "to cover up." | |||
| Sesotho | pata | ||
| The word "pata" has origins in the Bantu language and also means "to place" or "to put". | |||
| Swahili | kuzika | ||
| Kuzika's other meaning is 'to cover', as in covering oneself with a blanket. | |||
| Xhosa | ngcwaba | ||
| The word "ngcwaba" is also used in some phrases to refer to hiding or obscuring something. | |||
| Yoruba | sin | ||
| The verb ẹ̀ṣìn ('sin') may also mean 'to inter or to bury'. This is also true of its cognates in other Yoruba dialects | |||
| Zulu | ngcwaba | ||
| The word "ngcwaba" also refers to hiding something, implying that it's hidden from view. | |||
| Bambara | ka sutura | ||
| Ewe | ɖi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | bury | ||
| Lingala | kokunda | ||
| Luganda | okuziika | ||
| Sepedi | boloka | ||
| Twi (Akan) | sie | ||
Bury in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | دفن | ||
| The word "دفن" can also mean "to hide" or "to conceal" in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | לִקְבּוֹר | ||
| In biblical Hebrew, 'likbor' also means to honor a person through rituals or expressions of mourning. | |||
| Pashto | ښخول | ||
| "ښخول" (bury) in Pashto is also used in the sense of "to cover". It comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱelh₃- "to cover, to hide" which is also the origin of the English word "cell". | |||
| Arabic | دفن | ||
| The word "دفن" can also mean "to hide" or "to conceal" in Arabic. | |||
Bury in Western European Languages
| Albanian | varros | ||
| Varros, meaning "bury," derives from the Proto-Albanian *u̯arr- "to sink" and is cognate with the Latin "verro" | |||
| Basque | lurperatu | ||
| The word derives from the Proto-Basque verb *lur- and it originally meant to hide something. | |||
| Catalan | enterrar | ||
| The word "enterrar" in Catalan has an alternate meaning of "to keep something secret or hidden". | |||
| Croatian | pokopati | ||
| The word "pokopati" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *pokopati, which also means "to cut" or "to dig". This suggests that the original meaning of the word was "to bury by digging a hole". | |||
| Danish | begrave | ||
| The Danish word "begrave" not only means "to bury," but also "to regret profoundly." | |||
| Dutch | begraven | ||
| The etymology of the Dutch word "begraven" is unclear, but it may be related to the German word "graben" or the Old English word "graf"} | |||
| English | bury | ||
| The word "bury" comes from the Old English word "byrgan," which means "to conceal" or "to hide." | |||
| French | enterrer | ||
| The word 'enterrer' in French also refers to interring or hiding something, as in 'enterrer une affaire' (to bury an affair). | |||
| Frisian | begrave | ||
| The word “begrave” in Frisian can also mean “to dig up” or “to excavate”. | |||
| Galician | enterrar | ||
| In Galician, "enterrar" can also mean "to enclose" or "to hide" something. | |||
| German | begraben | ||
| Graben ('grave') stems from 'graben' ('dig'), 'begraben' also means to cover something in the ground to keep it safe. | |||
| Icelandic | jarða | ||
| "Jarðar" means both to "entomb" and "earth", | |||
| Irish | adhlacadh | ||
| The word "adhlacadh" also means "to commit", "to place", or "to entrust" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | seppellire | ||
| "Seppellire" in Italian comes from the Latin "sepelire," meaning "to cover up" or "to envelop." | |||
| Luxembourgish | begruewen | ||
| The verb "begruewen" is cognate to German "begraben" (also meaning "to bury"), and is further rooted in Proto-West Germanic "*bigraban," meaning "to dig". This word's ultimate root is Proto-Indo-European "*ghrebh-," meaning "to seize, cut, carve". | |||
| Maltese | midfuna | ||
| Midfuna is derived from the Arabic word 'dafan', which means 'to hide' or 'to cover up', and also has the alternate meaning of 'to dig a hole'. | |||
| Norwegian | begrave | ||
| "Begrave" also means "to engrave" when used in the passive voice: "Den ble inngravert" ("It was engraved") | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | enterrar | ||
| In Portuguese, «enterrar» also means to hide or conceal something. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | adhlacadh | ||
| The word "adhlacadh" can also be used to describe the process of hiding something or keeping it secret. | |||
| Spanish | enterrar | ||
| Enterar is also a Spanish word that means 'to inform, to make aware'. This word comes from the Latin word 'interrare', which means 'to bury', and is related to the English word 'interment' | |||
| Swedish | begrava | ||
| The word 'begrava' is related to the Old Norse word 'grafa', which means 'to dig'. It can also be used to refer to the act of planting a seed in the ground. | |||
| Welsh | claddu | ||
| In addition to "bury," 'claddu' can also mean "dig" or "plant." | |||
Bury in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | пахаваць | ||
| The word "пахаваць" in Belarusian also means "to cover" and is related to the word "пакрыць" meaning "to cover with something". | |||
| Bosnian | sahraniti | ||
| Sahraniti derives from the Middle Latin 'sepranire', meaning 'to set apart, or to divide', and is likely related to the German 'separieren', which means 'to separate', 'to put aside' or 'to isolate'. This suggests that the concept of burial in Bosnian is linked to the idea of segregation and isolation. | |||
| Bulgarian | погребете | ||
| "Погребете" in Bulgarian can also mean to "sink" or "drown" something in addition to "burying" it. | |||
| Czech | pohřbít | ||
| The Czech word "pohřbít" has alternate meanings including "to kill" and "to extinguish". | |||
| Estonian | matma | ||
| The verb "matma" is also figuratively used to mean "to kill" and "to cover something with something else". | |||
| Finnish | haudata | ||
| The word derives from Proto-Finnic *hauta-, *haudata, meaning “hole” or “grave | |||
| Hungarian | temetni | ||
| The word "temetni" originally meant "to cover up" or "to conceal", and can also be used in the sense of "to put something away", "to hide", or "to bury a treasure" | |||
| Latvian | apglabāt | ||
| Derived from the Proto-Baltic root *agl-, meaning 'to bury' or 'to cover up' | |||
| Lithuanian | palaidoti | ||
| The Lithuanian word "palaidoti" also means "to plant", as when burying seeds in the ground. | |||
| Macedonian | закопа | ||
| The word "закопа" can also mean "hide" or "conceal". | |||
| Polish | pogrzebać | ||
| The Polish term "pogrzebać" also means "spoil", "mess up", or "make a mess of" something. | |||
| Romanian | îngropa | ||
| Derived from the Latin "integrare" (to make whole), "îngropa" also means "to integrate" or "to assimilate". | |||
| Russian | похоронить | ||
| The word "похоронить" is also used to describe the destruction or concealment of something. | |||
| Serbian | закопати | ||
| The Serbian word "закопати" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*kopati", meaning "to dig". | |||
| Slovak | pochovať | ||
| The word "pochovať" can also refer to hiding or concealing something | |||
| Slovenian | pokopati | ||
| "Pokopati" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "pogrebati" which also means "to bury" but can also mean "to sink". | |||
| Ukrainian | поховати | ||
| In Ukrainian, "поховати" primarily means "to bury", but it can also mean "to hide" or "to conceal" something. | |||
Bury in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কবর দেওয়া | ||
| Bengali "কবর দেওয়া" comes from "কাফর", a loanword from Persian with connotations of infidelity, suggesting burial as a means to conceal the dead from God's gaze and protect others from their infidel presence. | |||
| Gujarati | દફનાવી | ||
| The Gujarati word "દફનાવી" (dafnavī) is derived from the Arabic word "دفن" (dafn), which means "to bury" or "to inter." | |||
| Hindi | गाड़ | ||
| The word "गाड़" can also mean "to insert" or "to plunge" in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ಹೂತುಹಾಕಿ | ||
| The Kannada verb "ಹೂತುಹಾಕಿ" may also mean to hide or store something. | |||
| Malayalam | അടക്കം ചെയ്യുക | ||
| Marathi | दफन | ||
| "दफन" in Marathi can also mean to hide or conceal something. | |||
| Nepali | गाड्नु | ||
| The Nepali word "गाड्नु" also means "to conceal" or "to hide". | |||
| Punjabi | ਦਫਨਾਉਣਾ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | භූමදාන කරන්න | ||
| Tamil | அடக்கம் | ||
| The Tamil word 'அடக்கம்' not only signifies physical burial but also has broader meanings including suppressing, containing, and calming. | |||
| Telugu | ఖననం | ||
| The word "ఖననం" in Telugu can also refer to the act of covering or hiding something, not just burying. | |||
| Urdu | دفن | ||
| The Urdu word "دفن" also has the connotation of "hiding" or "concealing". | |||
Bury in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 埋葬 | ||
| The character "葬" in "埋葬" also has the meaning of "to marry into a family". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 埋葬 | ||
| The character "葬" in "埋葬" originally meant "to cover up" or "to hide". | |||
| Japanese | 埋め込む | ||
| The verb 埋め込む can also mean to embed, set (in), or implant. | |||
| Korean | 묻다 | ||
| The term '묻다' is also employed in Korean to indicate the insertion or embedding of an item within a matrix, cavity, or the ground, as well as the process of putting an object in place and covering it with soil or debris to conceal or preserve it. | |||
| Mongolian | оршуулах | ||
| The word "оршуулах" can also refer to the process of sinking something into another substance, or to hiding something. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | သင်္ဂြိုဟ် | ||
Bury in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | mengubur | ||
| Mengubur is related to the word 'kubur', which also means 'grave' | |||
| Javanese | ngubur | ||
| "Ngubur," also spelled "ngubar," means "to follow" in Javanese Old Script and was later adopted to describe a burial process. | |||
| Khmer | កប់ | ||
| "កប់" is also a slang word for "to hide something" | |||
| Lao | ຝັງ | ||
| The word "ຝັງ" can also mean "to hide" or "to conceal". | |||
| Malay | menguburkan | ||
| Menguburkan (meaning 'to bury') comes from the word 'kubur' (meaning grave), which is a loanword from the Arabic word 'qabr'. | |||
| Thai | ฝัง | ||
| The word "ฝัง" can also mean "to inlay" or "to implant". | |||
| Vietnamese | chôn | ||
| The word "chôn" is cognate with "chủng", "chung", "chôn", "chôn" which all have a meaning related to "to cover", "to conceal" and "to be together." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ilibing | ||
Bury in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | basdırmaq | ||
| "Basdırmaq" comes from the Proto-Altaic word "bastır-," meaning "to step" or "to press." | |||
| Kazakh | жерлеу | ||
| The word "жерлеу" ("bury") is also used in Kazakh to refer to the process of setting up a tent or other temporary shelter. | |||
| Kyrgyz | көмүү | ||
| "Көмүү" in Kyrgyz can also mean "to plant", "to hide", or "to conceal." | |||
| Tajik | дафн кардан | ||
| The Tajik word "дафн кардан" can also refer to the act of concealing or hiding something. | |||
| Turkmen | jaýlamak | ||
| Uzbek | dafn qilmoq | ||
| Dafn qilmoq is also an Uzbek expression that means 'to forget'. | |||
| Uyghur | دەپنە قىلىش | ||
Bury in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kanu | ||
| The word 'kanu' in Hawaiian can also mean 'to plant (a young plant)' or 'to cover (something) with earth'. | |||
| Maori | tanu | ||
| The Maori word 'tanu' can also refer to the act of planting or storing something in the ground. | |||
| Samoan | tanu | ||
| The word 'tanu' in Samoan can also mean 'to bury one's emotions' or 'to keep something hidden'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ilibing | ||
| "Ilibing" can also mean "to hide" or "to conceal". | |||
Bury in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | imaña | ||
| Guarani | ñotỹ | ||
Bury in International Languages
| Esperanto | enterigi | ||
| Latin | sepelite | ||
| The word "sepelite" in Latin, besides "bury," derives from *saepire* "to enclose," possibly also referring to an ancient custom of surrounding the tomb with a fence. | |||
Bury in Others Languages
| Greek | θάβω | ||
| The verb θάβω comes from the Indo-European root *dhabh- meaning "to hide" or "to protect." | |||
| Hmong | faus | ||
| The word "faus" in Hmong can also mean "to put away" or "to hide". | |||
| Kurdish | binerdkirin | ||
| The Kurdish word "binerdkirin" also means "to be hidden" or "to be concealed." | |||
| Turkish | gömmek | ||
| "Gömmek" in Turkish also refers to concealing something or burying it metaphorically, such as burying secrets or feelings. | |||
| Xhosa | ngcwaba | ||
| The word "ngcwaba" is also used in some phrases to refer to hiding or obscuring something. | |||
| Yiddish | באַגראָבן | ||
| "באַגראָבן" may refer to 18th century slang for a synagogue in the Lower East Side of New York City | |||
| Zulu | ngcwaba | ||
| The word "ngcwaba" also refers to hiding something, implying that it's hidden from view. | |||
| Assamese | পোতা | ||
| Aymara | imaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | गाड़ल | ||
| Dhivehi | ވަޅުލުން | ||
| Dogri | दब्बना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ilibing | ||
| Guarani | ñotỹ | ||
| Ilocano | ikali | ||
| Krio | bɛri | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ناشتن | ||
| Maithili | गाड़नाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯐꯨꯝꯕ | ||
| Mizo | phum | ||
| Oromo | awwaaluu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସମାଧି | ||
| Quechua | panpay | ||
| Sanskrit | नि- खन् | ||
| Tatar | күмү | ||
| Tigrinya | ቀብሪ | ||
| Tsonga | lahla | ||