Century in Different Languages
Discover 'Century' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
A century is a unit of time, often used to measure the historical distance between events or to categorize periods of history. It represents 100 consecutive years, and its passage marks significant changes in culture, technology, and human experience. For instance, the 20th century saw unprecedented advancements in science, medicine, and communication, while the 19th century was marked by the Industrial Revolution and its profound impact on society.
Given its importance in understanding and contextualizing human history, it's no wonder that people might want to know the translation of 'century' in different languages. After all, language is a powerful tool for bridging cultural divides and fostering global understanding.
For example, in Spanish, 'century' is 'siglo'; in French, it's 'siècle'; in German, 'Jahrhundert'; in Italian, 'cento anni'; in Russian, 'век' (pronounced 'vek'); and in Japanese, '世紀' (pronounced 'seiki'). These translations not only reflect linguistic diversity but also highlight the cultural significance of this unit of time.
Century
Century in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | eeu | ||
| The word "eeu" can also refer to a large amount or quantity of something. | |||
| Amharic | ክፍለ ዘመን | ||
| Hausa | karni | ||
| The word "karni" is used as a unit of measure to count periods of ten days instead of centuries. | |||
| Igbo | narị afọ | ||
| "Narị afọ" is derived from the words "narị" (hundred) and "afọ" (year), and can also refer to a long period of time. | |||
| Malagasy | taonjato | ||
| Taonjato is derived from 'taona', meaning 'year', and 'zato', denoting something 'complete' or 'perfect'. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zaka zana limodzi | ||
| The word "zaka zana limodzi" is often translated as "century" but it can also mean a period of 100 years, a group of 100 people, or a period of 100 days. | |||
| Shona | zana remakore | ||
| Zana remakore is an idiomatic expression which is also used metaphorically to imply "a long, very long" time. | |||
| Somali | qarnigii | ||
| The word "qarnigii" in Somali derives from the Arabic word "qarn" meaning "century" or "a period of about 100 years." | |||
| Sesotho | lekholo la lilemo | ||
| Swahili | karne | ||
| The name is thought to derive from the Arabic qarn "generation" or "age". | |||
| Xhosa | kwinkulungwane | ||
| "Khulukhulu" in the word may mean "old" or "senior". In Xhosa lore, a "kwinkulungwane" is an elderly, respected person worthy of honor. | |||
| Yoruba | orundun | ||
| "Orundun" also means "age" or "era" in Yoruba, implying the cyclical nature of time and the repetition of events over long periods. | |||
| Zulu | ikhulu leminyaka | ||
| Ikhulu leminyaka originates from the ancient Zulu concept of time denoted by periods of a lunar month. | |||
| Bambara | sànkɛmɛ | ||
| Ewe | ƒe alafa ɖeka | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ikinyejana | ||
| Lingala | ekeke | ||
| Luganda | ekikumi | ||
| Sepedi | ngwagakgolo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | mfeha | ||
Century in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | مئة عام | ||
| The word "مئة عام" literally means "one hundred years" in Arabic, but it can also refer to a period of time that is not necessarily exactly 100 years. | |||
| Hebrew | מֵאָה | ||
| The word 'מֵאָה' ('century') in Hebrew is related to the word 'counting' ('סַפִירָה'), suggesting its original meaning was 'a group of 100'. | |||
| Pashto | پیړۍ | ||
| In Pashto, the word "پیړۍ" ("peerai") can also refer to a "generation" or "decade" | |||
| Arabic | مئة عام | ||
| The word "مئة عام" literally means "one hundred years" in Arabic, but it can also refer to a period of time that is not necessarily exactly 100 years. | |||
Century in Western European Languages
| Albanian | shekulli | ||
| The word "shekulli" comes from "shekull" (100 years), which in turn came from the Latin "saeculum" (age, generation). | |||
| Basque | mendean | ||
| The Basque word "mendean" can also mean "epoch" or "era". | |||
| Catalan | segle | ||
| "Segle" comes from the Latin word "saeculum" which means both "century" and "generation". | |||
| Croatian | stoljeću | ||
| The word "stoljeće" derives from the Proto-Slavic "stъľьta," meaning "hundred," and has cognates in other Slavic languages such as Russian "столетие" and Polish "stulecie." | |||
| Danish | århundrede | ||
| The Danish word "århundrede" literally translates to "a hundred years", reflecting its etymology. | |||
| Dutch | eeuw | ||
| Eeuw is a cognate of the English word 'age' and can also refer to a person's lifetime or a particular era. | |||
| English | century | ||
| The word `century` derives from the Latin word `centum`, meaning "hundred," and is commonly used to refer to a period of 100 years. | |||
| French | siècle | ||
| The word "siècle" comes from the Latin word "saeculum," which means "age," "generation," or "human life." | |||
| Frisian | ieu | ||
| "Ieu" is both singular and plural, and can also mean "age" or "human life." | |||
| Galician | século | ||
| The Galician word "século" can also mean "period of time", "age", or "era". | |||
| German | jahrhundert | ||
| The German word 'Jahrhundert' literally translates to 'year-hundred' and also refers to a period of one hundred years. | |||
| Icelandic | öld | ||
| "Öld" also means "age", and it's related to the word "aldur" (which means the same). | |||
| Irish | haois | ||
| In Old Irish, "haois" was pronounced "wess" or "wes" and meant "lifetime" or "age". | |||
| Italian | secolo | ||
| The word "secolo" in Italian can also mean "world" or "age", reflecting its Latin origin "saeculum". | |||
| Luxembourgish | joerhonnert | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "Joerhonnert" also refers to the "turn of the century" or a "hundred-year period" in time. | |||
| Maltese | seklu | ||
| The Maltese word "seklu" ultimately derives from the Latin word "saeculum", meaning both "century" and "generation" or "age". | |||
| Norwegian | århundre | ||
| In Old Norse, "árhundre" meant "hundred years", but could also mean "generation" or "lifetime". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | século | ||
| In Portuguese, the word "século" not only refers to a century but also to a secular (non-religious) perspective or mindset. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | linn | ||
| The word derives from the Old Gaelic "linn", meaning "a pool". | |||
| Spanish | siglo | ||
| "Siglo" derives from the Latin "saeculum," which can also mean "generation" or "age". | |||
| Swedish | århundrade | ||
| The word "århundrade" comes from the Old Norse word "árhund", which means "hundred years", and is cognate with the English word "hundred." | |||
| Welsh | ganrif | ||
| The word 'ganrif' in Welsh can also refer to a 'hundred' or a 'large number'. | |||
Century in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | стагоддзя | ||
| Стагоддзя comes from the word стаг (stag) and its alternate meaning includes a male deer during summer. | |||
| Bosnian | vijeka | ||
| "Vijeka" comes from Latin "vicus", which meant "village" or "district". | |||
| Bulgarian | век | ||
| The word "век" in Bulgarian has an additional meaning of "a long period of time", not just "a century". | |||
| Czech | století | ||
| Czech "století" originated as a measure of the distance covered in a hundred paces and, in addition to "century," has meanings like "column" and "heap". | |||
| Estonian | sajandil | ||
| The word "sajand" comes from the Old Germanic *hund "hundred" and the suffix *-and "period of time". | |||
| Finnish | vuosisadalla | ||
| In Finnish, "vuosisadalla" literally means "by hundreds" or "with hundreds". | |||
| Hungarian | század | ||
| Század's other meaning is 'hundred', deriving from the Proto-Hungarian word 'szaz', meaning 'hundred'. | |||
| Latvian | gadsimtā | ||
| In Latvian, "gadsimtā" literally means "year of hundreds". | |||
| Lithuanian | amžiaus | ||
| The word "amžius" derives from the Proto-Baltic word *amžus, meaning "age" or "lifetime". | |||
| Macedonian | век | ||
| The word "век" can also mean "age" or "era". | |||
| Polish | stulecie | ||
| The word 'stulecie' derives from the German word 'Stuhl' which is a seat for official meetings. | |||
| Romanian | secol | ||
| The term "secol" derives from Latin word "saeculum" meaning "generation" or "age". | |||
| Russian | век | ||
| In Old Russian, "век" could also mean "a person's lifetime" or "eternity". | |||
| Serbian | века | ||
| The Serbian word "veka" also means "eyelash" and is related to the Polish word "wieko" meaning "lid". | |||
| Slovak | storočia | ||
| The word "storočia" in Slovak can also mean "era" or "age". | |||
| Slovenian | stoletja | ||
| The word "stoletje" comes from the Old Slavic word "stoletije" which meant a "hundred years". | |||
| Ukrainian | століття | ||
| The Ukrainian word "століття" can also mean "generation" or "lifetime". | |||
Century in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | শতাব্দী | ||
| শতাব্দী শব্দটির আরেকটি অর্থ হল 'ব্যক্তির জীবনের ১০০ বছর'। | |||
| Gujarati | સદી | ||
| The Gujarati word "સદી" (sadi) is cognate with the Hindi and Sanskrit words "सदी" (sadi) and "शत" (shata), all of which mean "hundred". | |||
| Hindi | सदी | ||
| "सदी" (century) comes from the Sanskrit word "शताब्दि" (śatābdi), meaning "hundred years," and can also mean "age" or "era." | |||
| Kannada | ಶತಮಾನ | ||
| The word 'ಶತಮಾನ' is derived from Sanskrit and can also mean a 'hundredth part' or a 'short period'. | |||
| Malayalam | നൂറ്റാണ്ട് | ||
| "നൂറ്റാണ്ട്" also means "one hundred years" in Malayalam, which is cognate with the English word "century". | |||
| Marathi | शतक | ||
| "शतक" in Marathi not only refers to a century in the Western sense (100 years), but also carries the meaning of a group of 100 items, such as a collection of poems or flowers. | |||
| Nepali | शताब्दी | ||
| In its alternative form "शतकी", "शताब्दी" also means "a woman who has lived for a hundred years." | |||
| Punjabi | ਸਦੀ | ||
| The word 'ਸਦੀ' ('century') in Punjabi also means 'lifetime' or 'age'. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සියවස | ||
| In Sinhala usage, the word "සියවස" may refer to a century in general (as in the Gregorian calendar), but it can also mean "one's own era", which could refer to any unspecified time period. | |||
| Tamil | நூற்றாண்டு | ||
| நூற்றாண்டு (nootraandu) literally means 100 years, but figuratively refers to an important milestone or a period of great change. | |||
| Telugu | శతాబ్దం | ||
| The Telugu word శతాబ్దం (satābdam) is ultimately derived from Sanskrit "śata" meaning "hundred" and refers to a century or a period of one hundred years. | |||
| Urdu | صدی | ||
| The word 'صدی' ('century') in Urdu is derived from the Arabic word 'sad' ('hundred'), and can also refer to a group of one hundred or a ratio of 1 to 100. | |||
Century in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 世纪 | ||
| 世纪 is used in Chinese to refer to a 100-year period, and also figuratively to any period of time that seems especially significant. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 世紀 | ||
| The word "世紀" also has a meaning of "generation" or "era" in the context of human history or culture. | |||
| Japanese | 世紀 | ||
| The word "世紀" also means "world" or "generation" in Japanese. | |||
| Korean | 세기 | ||
| Though written with the Chinese characters for 'world and generation,' '세기' also means 'century' in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | зуун | ||
| The word | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ရာစုနှစ် | ||
Century in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | abad | ||
| The word "abad" can also mean "long time" or "era". | |||
| Javanese | abad | ||
| In Javanese, the word "abad" can also mean "great-grandfather" or "great-grandmother". | |||
| Khmer | សតវត្សទី | ||
| Lao | ສະຕະວັດ | ||
| The word "ສະຕະວັດ" can also be used to refer to a long period of time, or to a particular time period in history. | |||
| Malay | abad | ||
| "Abad" is related to the Arabic word "ibadah" (worship), suggesting a notion of "period of time dedicated to worship". | |||
| Thai | ศตวรรษ | ||
| "ศตวรรษ" can also refer to the 100 parts or items that make up something. | |||
| Vietnamese | kỷ | ||
| The word "kỷ" also means "era" or "period" in Vietnamese. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | siglo | ||
Century in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | əsr | ||
| In Arabic, from which Azerbaijani borrowed the word, "əsr" means "an era or a generation". | |||
| Kazakh | ғасыр | ||
| The word ғасыр (ğasır) in Kazakh comes from the Arabic word غَسْق (ğasq), which means "twilight" or "dusk." | |||
| Kyrgyz | кылым | ||
| The word "кылым" can also mean "world" or "eternity" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | аср | ||
| The Tajik word "аср" (aspr) comes from the Arabic word "عصر" (ʿaṣr), which means both "century" and "afternoon". | |||
| Turkmen | asyr | ||
| Uzbek | asr | ||
| The Uzbek word "asr" derives from the Arabic word "aṣr" (عصر) meaning both "time" or "era" and the afternoon prayer. | |||
| Uyghur | ئەسىر | ||
Century in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kenekulia | ||
| The Hawaiian word "kenekulia" originates from the word "kēkē", meaning "hundred" | |||
| Maori | rautau | ||
| Rautau is also a Maori word for "hundred". | |||
| Samoan | seneturi | ||
| The Samoan word 'seneturi' is derived from the English word 'century' and also refers to a group of 100 people or things. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | siglo | ||
| "Siglo" is also an obsolete Spanish unit of currency worth 1⁄20 of a peso. | |||
Century in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | tunka mara | ||
| Guarani | sa ary | ||
Century in International Languages
| Esperanto | jarcento | ||
| Jarcent is derived from the Latin word "cent" and means "per one hundred". It can also refer to a certain period of time (100 years) or a group of 100 people. | |||
| Latin | saeculum | ||
| In Latin, "saeculum" initially meant a generation or an age, and only later took on the meaning of "century". | |||
Century in Others Languages
| Greek | αιώνας | ||
| The Greek word "αιώνας" also means "eternity" or "an indefinitely long period of time." | |||
| Hmong | caug xyoo | ||
| The Hmong word "caug xyoo" also means "one hundred years". | |||
| Kurdish | sedsal | ||
| The word "sedsal" also means "age" or "era" in Kurdish. | |||
| Turkish | yüzyıl | ||
| "Yüzyıl" originally referred to "100 horses" | |||
| Xhosa | kwinkulungwane | ||
| "Khulukhulu" in the word may mean "old" or "senior". In Xhosa lore, a "kwinkulungwane" is an elderly, respected person worthy of honor. | |||
| Yiddish | יאָרהונדערט | ||
| The Yiddish word "יאָרהונדערט" has two etymological roots, the Old High German *jar- "year" + *hun(d)ert "hundred." | |||
| Zulu | ikhulu leminyaka | ||
| Ikhulu leminyaka originates from the ancient Zulu concept of time denoted by periods of a lunar month. | |||
| Assamese | শতিকা | ||
| Aymara | tunka mara | ||
| Bhojpuri | सदी | ||
| Dhivehi | ޤަރުނު | ||
| Dogri | शतक | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | siglo | ||
| Guarani | sa ary | ||
| Ilocano | sangagasut a tawen | ||
| Krio | wan ɔndrɛd ia | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | سەدە | ||
| Maithili | सदी | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯆꯍꯤꯆꯥ | ||
| Mizo | za | ||
| Oromo | jaarraa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଶତାବ୍ଦୀ | ||
| Quechua | pachak wata | ||
| Sanskrit | शताब्दी | ||
| Tatar | гасыр | ||
| Tigrinya | ዘመን | ||
| Tsonga | khume ra malembe | ||