Car in Different Languages
Discover 'Car' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Car
Afrikaans voertuig | ||
Albanian makina | ||
Amharic መኪና | ||
Arabic سيارة | ||
Armenian մեքենա | ||
Assamese বাহন | ||
Aymara k'añasku | ||
Azerbaijani avtomobil | ||
Bambara mɔbili | ||
Basque autoa | ||
Belarusian машына | ||
Bengali গাড়ি | ||
Bhojpuri कार | ||
Bosnian auto | ||
Bulgarian кола | ||
Catalan cotxe | ||
Cebuano awto | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 汽车 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 汽車 | ||
Corsican vittura | ||
Croatian automobil | ||
Czech auto | ||
Danish bil | ||
Dhivehi ކާރު | ||
Dogri कार | ||
Dutch auto | ||
English car | ||
Esperanto aŭto | ||
Estonian auto | ||
Ewe ʋu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) sasakyan | ||
Finnish auto | ||
French voiture | ||
Frisian auto | ||
Galician coche | ||
Georgian მანქანა | ||
German auto | ||
Greek αυτοκίνητο | ||
Guarani mba'yruguata | ||
Gujarati કાર | ||
Haitian Creole machin | ||
Hausa mota | ||
Hawaiian kaʻa | ||
Hebrew אוטו | ||
Hindi गाड़ी | ||
Hmong tsheb | ||
Hungarian autó | ||
Icelandic bíll | ||
Igbo ụgbọ ala | ||
Ilocano kotse | ||
Indonesian mobil | ||
Irish carr | ||
Italian macchina | ||
Japanese 車 | ||
Javanese mobil | ||
Kannada ಕಾರು | ||
Kazakh автомобиль | ||
Khmer ឡាន | ||
Kinyarwanda imodoka | ||
Konkani कार | ||
Korean 차 | ||
Krio motoka | ||
Kurdish trimbêl | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ئۆتۆمبێل | ||
Kyrgyz унаа | ||
Lao ລົດ | ||
Latin currus | ||
Latvian mašīna | ||
Lingala motuka | ||
Lithuanian automobilis | ||
Luganda emmotoka | ||
Luxembourgish auto | ||
Macedonian автомобил | ||
Maithili कार | ||
Malagasy fiara | ||
Malay kereta | ||
Malayalam കാർ | ||
Maltese karozza | ||
Maori motuka | ||
Marathi गाडी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯀꯥꯔ | ||
Mizo lirthei | ||
Mongolian машин | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကား | ||
Nepali कार | ||
Norwegian bil | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) galimoto | ||
Odia (Oriya) କାର | ||
Oromo konkolaataa | ||
Pashto موټر | ||
Persian ماشین | ||
Polish samochód | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) carro | ||
Punjabi ਕਾਰ | ||
Quechua carro | ||
Romanian mașină | ||
Russian машина | ||
Samoan taʻavale | ||
Sanskrit कारयानम् | ||
Scots Gaelic càr | ||
Sepedi mmotoro | ||
Serbian ауто | ||
Sesotho koloi | ||
Shona mota | ||
Sindhi ڪار | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) මෝටර් රථ | ||
Slovak auto | ||
Slovenian avto | ||
Somali baabuur | ||
Spanish coche | ||
Sundanese mobil | ||
Swahili gari | ||
Swedish bil | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kotse | ||
Tajik мошин | ||
Tamil கார் | ||
Tatar машина | ||
Telugu కారు | ||
Thai รถยนต์ | ||
Tigrinya መኪና | ||
Tsonga movha | ||
Turkish araba | ||
Turkmen awtoulag | ||
Twi (Akan) kaa | ||
Ukrainian автомобіль | ||
Urdu گاڑی | ||
Uyghur ماشىنا | ||
Uzbek mashina | ||
Vietnamese xe hơi | ||
Welsh car | ||
Xhosa imoto | ||
Yiddish מאַשין | ||
Yoruba ọkọ ayọkẹlẹ | ||
Zulu imoto |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Voertuig is derived from the Dutch word "voertuig", which means "vehicle". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "makina" is derived from the Italian word "macchina", which means "machine". |
| Amharic | The word መኪና (mäkina) is derived from the Arabic word ماكينة (makina), which in turn comes from the Greek word μηχανή (mêkhanē), meaning "machine" or "device." |
| Arabic | The word "سيارة" (car) in Arabic is derived from the root word "سار" (to move), and also refers to a "procession" or "convoy". |
| Armenian | մեքենա also refers to "a mechanical appliance, device, or a tool" in Armenian. |
| Azerbaijani | "Avtomobil" is the same word for "car" in Russian, from which it likely originates. |
| Basque | "Autoa" comes from the French word "automobile", which itself has Greek roots that mean "self-moving". |
| Belarusian | The word "машына" can also refer to a mechanical device or a tool in general in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | "গাড়ি" can also refer to an aircraft, a ship, or a train in Bengali. |
| Bosnian | The word 'auto' can also be used to refer to a bicycle in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | In Bulgarian, "кола" can also mean "wheel" or "bicycle". |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "cotxe" derives from the French "coche", originally meaning "saddle". |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano/Bisaya word 'awto' is derived from the Spanish word 'auto' meaning 'automobile'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word "汽车" literally means "self-moving vehicle" in Chinese. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 汽車 means more than just "car" in Chinese; it can also refer to trains, buses, trucks, and any other motorized vehicle. |
| Corsican | In Corsica, "vittura" means "carriage" and can also refer to the body or frame of a car. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "automobil" is derived from Greek "autos" ("self") and Latin "mobilis" ("movable"), hence meaning "self-moving". |
| Czech | The Czech word "auto" originally meant "carriage" and later adopted its current meaning of "car". |
| Danish | The suffix '-bil' in Danish also means 'automobile', as seen in 'cykelbil' (cyclecar) or 'motorcykelbil' (motorcycle combination) |
| Dutch | Though it means "car" in English, "auto" means "bus" in Dutch; "car" is "automobiel". |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "aŭto" derives from Latin "autos", "self"; Greek "auto-", "self" influences its modern meaning. |
| Estonian | The word "auto" comes from the Greek word "autos," meaning "self," and refers to the automobile's ability to move under its own power, without the need for an external force, such as an animal or a human. |
| Finnish | The word “auto” is commonly used as a short form of “automobile” but it originally referred to a self-moving vehicle or automaton. |
| French | The word "voiture" derives from the Latin "vectura," meaning "the act of carrying" or "vehicle." |
| Frisian | In Frisian, "auto" is derived from the Ancient Greek "autos" (self) and originally referred to a self-propelled vehicle. |
| Galician | In Galician, "coche" can also mean "cradle," deriving from the Proto-Celtic *koχ-so-. |
| German | The word "Auto" in German comes from the Greek word "αυτοκινήτον", meaning self-propelled. |
| Greek | The Greek term “αυτοκίνητο,” derived from “αυτό,” meaning “self,” and “κίνηση,” meaning “motion,” suggests its power of self-propulsion. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "કાર" also means "work" or "business". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "machin" in Haitian Creole originated from the French word "machine" and can also refer to any complex or unfamiliar object. |
| Hausa | The word "mota" is derived from the French word "moto" and can also refer to a motorcycle or any vehicle with an engine. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "kaʻa" can also refer to a canoe or a sled. |
| Hebrew | In the Bible, the word אוטו refers to a beast of burden, which is where modern scholars believe the Yiddish אוטא (auto) and German Auto, from which the English word “automobile” derives, also came from. |
| Hindi | गाड़ी can also refer to an oxcart, train, chariot, or any wheeled vehicle in Hindi. |
| Hmong | The word "tsheb" in Hmong is also used to refer to any vehicle with wheels, such as bicycles, motorcycles, and even tractors. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, the word "autó" also means "self" or "automatic", originating from the Greek "auto" meaning "self". |
| Icelandic | Bíll can also refer to the letter 'B' in Icelandic sign language. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word `ụgbọ` can also mean `ship` or `vessel`, and `ala` means `land` or `ground`. |
| Indonesian | Mobil, meaning 'car' in Indonesian, originates from 'mobile', referring to its ability to move. |
| Irish | The Irish word "carr" derives from the Latin "carrus" via Old French "car" and Middle English "carre," denoting a wheeled vehicle for transportation |
| Italian | "Macchina" comes from "machina," the feminine form of the Greek "mēkhanḗ" and originally meant any type of apparatus. |
| Japanese | 車 used to be pronounced 'kuruma' and meant 'wheel' |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "mobil" also refers to a "large object moving in place". |
| Kannada | The word "ಕಾರು" in Kannada, meaning "car", has other meanings such as "black", "dark", or "darkness". |
| Kazakh | "Автомобиль" has Turkic origins, specifically from "oto" and "mobil," which mean "self" and "move," respectively. |
| Khmer | In Khmer, “ឡាន” not only refers to “car”, but also to any wheeled vehicle such as a bicycle, a motorbike, even an airplane. |
| Korean | The Korean word "차" (car) derives from the Sino-Korean word "車", meaning "vehicle". It can also refer to "tea", derived from the Middle Chinese word "茶". |
| Kurdish | The word 'trimbêl' comes from the Arabic word 'ṭarabil', which means 'a saddle horse'. In some Kurdish dialects, trimbêl refers to a horse-drawn cart, rather than a car. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "унаа" in Kyrgyz originally meant "carriage" or "horse-drawn vehicle" and later expanded to include motorized vehicles. |
| Lao | The Lao word "ລົດ" can also mean "vehicle", "carriage", or "cart". |
| Latin | While 'currus' meant 'car' in Latin, it originally referred to a two-wheeled chariot. |
| Latvian | The word "mašīna" is derived from the German word "Maschine", which means "machine" or "engine". |
| Lithuanian | Automobilis is derived from the Greek words "autos" (self) and "mobilis" (movable). |
| Luxembourgish | The word 'Auto' in Luxembourgish also means 'bus' and is derived from the French word for 'automobile' ('automobile'). |
| Macedonian | The word "автомобил" in Macedonian originates from the Greek word "αὐτοκίνητον", meaning "self-propelled". |
| Malagasy | The word "fiara" in Malagasy originally meant "vehicle" but has since come to refer specifically to cars. |
| Malay | The word "kereta" in Malay originally referred to a horse-drawn carriage or cart |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "കാർ" (kāṛ) shares its etymological roots with the Sanskrit word "कृषि" (kṛṣi), meaning "ploughing, agriculture", possibly due to the historical use of oxen-drawn carts for farming purposes. |
| Maltese | The word "karozza" ultimately derives from the Italian word "carrozza", meaning "carriage." |
| Maori | "Motuka" derives from "waka" (canoe) and connotes movement across a surface. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, the word 'गाडी' (gāḍī) can also refer to a bullock cart, a palanquin, or a train. |
| Mongolian | The word "машин" in Mongolian also means "engine" or "machine". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ကား" can also refer to a "container" or a "tray" in Myanmar (Burmese). |
| Nepali | Nepali “कार” (kār), meaning "car," is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*kʷer-," which also means "wheel," and is related to the English word "car" and the Latin word "currere" (to run). |
| Norwegian | The word "bil" is also used in Norwegian to refer to a motorcycle or a bicycle, but its original meaning is "wheelbarrow". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "galimoto" in Nyanja is derived from the word "gari" which means "wagon" in Swahili. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "موټر" ("motor") also refers to a water mill, with the connotation of a moving object. |
| Persian | ماشین is also an Arabized form of the Old French 'machine' that means 'engine' or 'tool'. |
| Polish | In Polish, "samochód" comes from the words "sam" (self) and "chód" (walk), signifying self-propulsion. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Brazil, "carro" can also refer to a cart or a trolley. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਕਾਰ" (kāra) in Punjabi can also refer to a "deed" or "action". |
| Romanian | Originally the word "mașină" meant in Romanian "device" or "gadget". The alternate meaning of "car" appeared later, due to the most common device in a household being the car. |
| Russian | The Russian word машина (literally 'machine') has a broader meaning than the English word 'car' and can also mean various types of engines, appliances, and mechanisms. |
| Samoan | The word “taʻavale” derives from the Proto-Polynesian term “*tavale”. |
| Scots Gaelic | Scots Gaelic 'càr' has additional meanings such as 'boat' and 'fort', stemming from its Proto-Celtic root *kar- meaning 'to bend'. |
| Serbian | The word "ауто" is of Greek origin and also refers to "self" or "automatic" in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | Koloi is a noun meaning 'wheel' or 'carriage' in Sesotho and Zulu, and was chosen over the more common word 'teraka' to describe cars to reduce confusion with donkey carts. |
| Shona | In Shona, the word "mota" can also refer to a large pot or cauldron. |
| Sindhi | The word "ڪار" also means "work" or "business" in Sindhi. |
| Slovak | Auto, the Slovak word for car, shares the same root as "autumn," referring to the season when cars were historically produced before the invention of modern assembly lines. |
| Slovenian | The word "avto" is an abbreviation of the French word "automobile" and can also refer to a bus or motorcycle. |
| Somali | The word "baabuur" in Somali originates from the Indian word "babur" which means "a covered vehicle drawn by horses or elephants". |
| Spanish | The word 'coche' in Spanish initially meant 'carriage' before evolving to mean 'car'. |
| Sundanese | The word "mobil" comes from the Dutch word "mobiel", meaning "movable". |
| Swahili | The Swahili word 'gari' originates from the Arabic word 'qari' which means 'carrier' or 'something that carries'. |
| Swedish | In the past, 'bil' referred to a wheelbarrow, while 'automobil' meant 'car' |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "kotse" in Tagalog is derived from the Spanish word "coche," which means "vehicle" or "carriage." |
| Tajik | The Tajik word "мошин" could derive from the Russian "машина" meaning "machine", or possibly from the Sanskrit "माष" meaning "bean". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "கார்" can also refer to darkness, rain, clouds, or a specific time period. |
| Telugu | The word "కారు" (kāru) in Telugu can also refer to darkness or night. |
| Thai | The Thai word "รถยนต์" is derived from the Sanskrit word "रथ" (ratha), meaning "chariot", and the Pali word "ยนต์" (yanta), meaning "wheel or vehicle". |
| Turkish | The word "araba" in Turkish also means "wagon" or "carriage". |
| Ukrainian | The word "автомобіль" is derived from the Greek words "αὐτός" (self) and "κίνησις" (motion), meaning "self-moving." |
| Urdu | The word 'گاڑی' is derived from the Persian word 'گاردن' meaning 'to carry' and has alternate meanings like 'vehicle', 'carriage' or 'cart'. |
| Uzbek | The word "mashina" in Uzbek can also refer to a machine, engine, or apparatus. |
| Vietnamese | "Xe hơi" literally means "steam engine." It can also mean "boat." |
| Welsh | In Welsh, "car" can also refer to a friend, or familiar person. |
| Xhosa | The word 'imoto' also means 'sibling' or 'sister.' |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "מאַשין" (car) also means "engine" or "machine" in the broader sense. |
| Yoruba | Ọkọ ayọkẹlẹ is a Yoruba word that literally means 'vehicle of joy' or 'vehicle that brings joy'. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, the word "imoto" has connotations with "speed" and "agility," alluding to the movement of a car. |
| English | The word “car” is short for “carriage” and can refer to a wagon, railway carriage, or baby carriage in addition to an automobile. |