Chicken in Different Languages
Discover 'Chicken' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Chicken
Afrikaans hoender | ||
Albanian pule | ||
Amharic ዶሮ | ||
Arabic دجاج | ||
Armenian հավի | ||
Assamese কুকুৰা | ||
Aymara wallpa | ||
Azerbaijani toyuq | ||
Bambara sisɛ | ||
Basque oilaskoa | ||
Belarusian курыца | ||
Bengali মুরগি | ||
Bhojpuri चूजा | ||
Bosnian piletina | ||
Bulgarian пиле | ||
Catalan pollastre | ||
Cebuano manok | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 鸡 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 雞 | ||
Corsican gaddina | ||
Croatian piletina | ||
Czech kuře | ||
Danish kylling | ||
Dhivehi ކުކުޅު | ||
Dogri कुक्कड़ू | ||
Dutch kip | ||
English chicken | ||
Esperanto kokido | ||
Estonian kana | ||
Ewe koklo | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) manok | ||
Finnish kana | ||
French poulet | ||
Frisian hin | ||
Galician polo | ||
Georgian ქათამი | ||
German hähnchen | ||
Greek κοτόπουλο | ||
Guarani ryguasu | ||
Gujarati ચિકન | ||
Haitian Creole poul | ||
Hausa kaza | ||
Hawaiian moa | ||
Hebrew עוף | ||
Hindi मुर्गी | ||
Hmong qaib | ||
Hungarian csirke | ||
Icelandic kjúklingur | ||
Igbo ọkụkọ | ||
Ilocano manok | ||
Indonesian ayam | ||
Irish sicín | ||
Italian pollo | ||
Japanese チキン | ||
Javanese pitik | ||
Kannada ಕೋಳಿ | ||
Kazakh тауық | ||
Khmer សាច់មាន់ | ||
Kinyarwanda inkoko | ||
Konkani चिकन | ||
Korean 치킨 | ||
Krio fɔl | ||
Kurdish mirîşk | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) مریشک | ||
Kyrgyz тоок | ||
Lao ໄກ່ | ||
Latin pullum | ||
Latvian cālis | ||
Lingala soso | ||
Lithuanian vištiena | ||
Luganda enkoko | ||
Luxembourgish poulet | ||
Macedonian пилешко | ||
Maithili मुर्गी | ||
Malagasy akoho | ||
Malay ayam | ||
Malayalam കോഴി | ||
Maltese tiġieġ | ||
Maori heihei | ||
Marathi कोंबडी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯌꯦꯟꯅꯥꯎ ꯃꯆꯥ | ||
Mizo ar | ||
Mongolian тахиа | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကြက်သား | ||
Nepali कुखुरा | ||
Norwegian kylling | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nkhuku | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଚିକେନ୍ | ||
Oromo lukkuu | ||
Pashto چرګه | ||
Persian مرغ | ||
Polish kurczak | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) frango | ||
Punjabi ਮੁਰਗੇ ਦਾ ਮੀਟ | ||
Quechua chiwchi | ||
Romanian pui | ||
Russian курица | ||
Samoan moa | ||
Sanskrit कुक्कुट | ||
Scots Gaelic cearc | ||
Sepedi nama ya kgogo | ||
Serbian пилетина | ||
Sesotho khoho | ||
Shona huku | ||
Sindhi ڪڪڙ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කුකුල් මස් | ||
Slovak kura | ||
Slovenian piščanec | ||
Somali digaag | ||
Spanish pollo | ||
Sundanese hayam | ||
Swahili kuku | ||
Swedish kyckling | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) manok | ||
Tajik чӯҷа | ||
Tamil கோழி | ||
Tatar тавык | ||
Telugu చికెన్ | ||
Thai ไก่ | ||
Tigrinya ደርሆ | ||
Tsonga huku | ||
Turkish tavuk | ||
Turkmen towuk | ||
Twi (Akan) akokɔ | ||
Ukrainian курка | ||
Urdu چکن | ||
Uyghur توخۇ | ||
Uzbek tovuq | ||
Vietnamese thịt gà | ||
Welsh cyw iâr | ||
Xhosa inkukhu | ||
Yiddish הינדל | ||
Yoruba adiẹ | ||
Zulu inyama yenkukhu |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "hoender" is derived from the Old Dutch word "hoenre," meaning "domestic fowl". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "pule" is derived from the Proto-Albanian form "*pulja" and is related to the Greek word "pouli" and the Slavic word "ptica". It can also refer to a young bird or a timid person. |
| Amharic | The word "ዶሮ" also means "bird" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "دجاج" can also refer to a type of small fish or a particular breed of pigeon. |
| Armenian | The word "հավի" also refers to a type of bird in Armenian mythology that is associated with water and fertility. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "toyuq" can also refer to young chicks or baby birds in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The Basque "oilaskoa" derives from "oila", meaning "fowl", and "asko", meaning "plenty" or "multitude". |
| Belarusian | "Курыца" in Belarusian comes from the Proto-Slavic word *kura*, which originally meant "bird." |
| Bengali | The word "মুরগি" is derived from the Sanskrit word "मुरग" (murag), which means "fowl" or "bird". |
| Bosnian | The origin of the Bosnian word "piletina" is not fully understood, but some scholars believe it may derive from the Latin word "pulletina". |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "пиле" can also refer to the young or offspring of other animals or even humans. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word 'pollastre' also refers to a young, inexperienced person. |
| Cebuano | In the Philippines, 'manok' can also refer to a cockfighting contest. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 鸡 may also refer to the astrological sign of the Rooster in the Chinese zodiac. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In Chinese, the character "雞" can also refer to a unit of time, approximately two hours. |
| Corsican | The etymology of gallus, and hence of gaddina, is probably related to its crow, which may have been imitated by gallum, whence the Latin word. |
| Croatian | In Dalmatia, the word 'piletina' can also refer to poultry in general, not just chickens specifically. |
| Czech | The word "kuře" in Czech also refers to a young female of some other birds, such as a quail or a partridge. |
| Danish | The Danish word "kylling" is derived from the Old Norse word "kylna", meaning "young bird". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "kip" can also refer to a nap or a young male animal, both derived from historical slang. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "kokido" may also derive from a PIE root shared with "guglielmo" and "cuckoo". |
| Estonian | In addition to "chicken," "kana" can refer to a "hen," "fowl," or a "domestic bird." |
| Finnish | The verb form of "kana" is "kania", used in expressions like "kanianlihaa" ("chicken meat"). |
| French | The word "poulet" in French, meaning "chicken," is derived from the Latin "pullus" and also refers to a young man of effeminate character. |
| Frisian | Frisian "hin" is cognate with English "hen" and derives from Proto-West-Germanic "*huni" (which also gave rise to Modern German "Henne"). |
| Galician | In Galician, "polo" can also refer to an animal's foot, hoof, or claw. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word for chicken, "ქათამი" (katami), is cognate with the Persian word "katak" and the Armenian word "katav", all of which derive from the Proto-Indo-European root "*ket-", meaning "young animal". |
| German | The word "Hähnchen" derives from Middle High German "Han", meaning "rooster", and diminutive suffix "-chen". |
| Greek | Etymology of ' κοτόπουλο' (Greek for chicken) is unclear but could be related to words for 'cut' or 'wing' or from 'κότας' (male chicken). |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word ''ચિકન'' also refers to an embroidery style popular in Lucknow, India. |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, "poul" is derived from the French word "poule" and can also refer to a "young girl" or a "young woman". |
| Hausa | The Hausa word 'kaza' can also refer to a type of traditional Hausa fabric or a small basket used for storing personal items. |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, "moa" also refers to a long spear or dart used for hunting or warfare. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word עוף (of) originally meant "bird" and can still be used in that sense, but in modern Hebrew it usually refers specifically to chickens. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word "मुर्गी" (chicken) is derived from the Sanskrit word "मुकुरिका" (hen). |
| Hmong | The word "qaib" is also used to refer to a "hen" |
| Hungarian | Csirke, the Hungarian word for "chicken," also refers to small and young children as a term of endearment. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "kjúklingur" can also refer to a young person, particularly one who is inexperienced or naive. |
| Igbo | Ọkụkọ also means "a male chicken" in addition to its primary meaning of "chicken". |
| Indonesian | The word "ayam" in Indonesian also refers to a type of fabric worn by women |
| Irish | In Irish folklore, the word 'sicín' can also refer to a mischievous fairy or ghost that takes the form of a chicken. |
| Italian | The Italian word "pollo" can also mean "colt" or "male animal". |
| Japanese | The word 「チキン」 can refer to both chicken and cowardice in Japanese, due to the homophony of 「腰が引ける」 (to be cowardly), which sounds like 「鶏が引ける」 (for a chicken to lay an egg). |
| Javanese | In Javanese, 'pitik' can also refer to a small bird or a young chicken. |
| Kannada | The word "ಕೋಳಿ" in Kannada can also refer to a "young girl" or a "female chicken". |
| Kazakh | The word "тауық" is cognate with the Turkish word "tavuk", both ultimately derived from the Proto-Turkic word *taγuq. |
| Khmer | The term "សាច់មាន់" not only means "chicken" but also has the alternate meaning of "flesh" or "meat" in general. |
| Korean | The Korean word 치킨 (chicken) can also refer to fried chicken dishes, similar to its Japanese and English cognates. |
| Kurdish | The word "mirîşk" is derived from the Persian word "murgh" meaning "bird". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "тоок" can also mean "offspring" or "brood" in Kyrgyz, indicating its broader significance beyond referring solely to poultry. |
| Lao | The word ໄກ່ can also mean "rooster" or "cock" in Lao. |
| Latin | Pullus also means 'boy' in Latin. |
| Latvian | The word cālis is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kekwl-, which also gave rise to the words ‘cockerel’ and ‘cockroach’. |
| Lithuanian | The word "vištiena" is derived from the Proto-Baltic word "*vis-ti̯ā" and is related to the Old Prussian word "wistian" and the Latvian word "vista." |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word 'poulet' derives from the Old French 'pol' and is cognate with the English 'poultry'. |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word for "chicken" comes from Ottoman Turkish "piliç", which itself comes from Persian "pīlak". |
| Malagasy | The word "akoho" in Malagasy comes from the Malay word "ayam" and also means "egg". |
| Malay | "Ayam" also means "I" or "we" depending on the context of the sentence in Malay. |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word 'കോഴി' ('kōzhi') derives from the Sanskrit term 'kukkuta', meaning 'cock' or 'rooster'. |
| Maltese | The word "tiġieġ" is derived from the Arabic word "دجاج" (dajāj), which means "poultry". |
| Maori | The Maori word "heihei" means "chicken" and also refers to something of no value. |
| Marathi | The word "कोंबडी" in Marathi originates from the Sanskrit word "kukkuṭa" which means "domestic fowl" |
| Mongolian | The word 'тахиа' can also refer to an unhatched egg, a chicken coop, or the meat of a chicken. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | In Myanmar, the word "ကြက်သား" ("chicken") can also refer to other types of poultry, such as duck or quail. |
| Nepali | The word 'कुखुरा' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kukkuṭa', which means 'cock' or 'rooster'. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "kylling" can also refer to a young grouse or a baby penguin. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word "nkhuku" is originally a derivative of the Proto-Bantu word "kuku", also used for "fowl" or "bird". |
| Pashto | The word چرګه ('charga') may originally derive from a verb meaning 'to fly' (پرګیدل). There are similar words with similar meanings in the Iranian languages, such as Persian مرغ ('morgh'). |
| Persian | The word "مرغ" in Persian originated in the Middle Persian "mrg", which referred to birds in general and not specifically chickens. |
| Polish | "Kurczak" derives from Proto-Slavic "*kurъ", meaning "rooster". Kurczak can also be used colloquially to refer to a police informant. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "frango" in Portuguese can also refer to a type of dance or a type of musical instrument. |
| Punjabi | In Sanskrit, the word 'murga' refers to a rooster, but in Punjabi, it is used to refer to chicken regardless of gender. |
| Romanian | "Pui" in Romanian also refers to a young male or unmarried man. |
| Russian | "Курица" can also refer to "an empty egg shell" |
| Samoan | The word “moa” can also refer to a type of banana in Samoa, called a “moa fala”. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word 'cearc' is cognate with the Irish 'cearc', Welsh 'iâr' and Breton 'yar', and derives from the Proto-Celtic *iarkā |
| Serbian | The word "пилетина" can also refer to other poultry, such as turkey or duck. |
| Shona | The word "huku" in Shona is a diminutive form of "hukurawa," and is often used to refer to a young chicken. |
| Sindhi | Some Sindhi speakers consider 'ڪڪڙ' to be a rude term for a chicken and instead prefer to use 'مُرغي'. |
| Slovak | The word 'kura' is also used in Slovak to refer to a 'hen' or 'female chicken'. |
| Slovenian | Slovene "piščanec" also means "rooster" and may be related to "to squeal, cry out". |
| Somali | The Somali word "digaag" is also used to refer to the meat of a chicken. |
| Spanish | "Pollo", 'chicken' in Spanish, originally referred to a young animal of any species, and only began to mean 'chicken' specifically after contact with the Americas. |
| Sundanese | In Old Sundanese, Hayam also means "animal, quadruped, fowl", thus "cattle" or "livestock" in Sundanese (modern Sundanese: sasatoan) |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "kuku" also refers to the sound a chicken makes. |
| Swedish | The word "kyckling" in Swedish is derived from the Old Norse word "kycklingr" and is also used to refer to a young bird or a small child. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "manok" is also used to refer to a rooster or a cockerel, especially in the context of cockfighting. |
| Tajik | The word "чӯҷа" also means "chick" or "bird" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | The word "கோழி" in Tamil, meaning "chicken", is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word "*kōli". |
| Telugu | The Telugu word 'చికెన్' (chicken) is derived from the Austronesian word 'manuk' which means 'bird'. |
| Thai | The Thai word "ไก่" shares an etymological root with the Sanskrit word "kukkuṭa" and the Proto-Austronesian word "ayam". |
| Turkish | "Tavuk", "rooster" or "broiler" in Turkish, is derived from the onomatopoeia "tav" which represents the sound of a chicken pecking at the ground. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "курка" also means "a trigger". |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "چکن" can also refer to a style of embroidery that uses small pieces of fabric to create patterns. |
| Uzbek | The word "tovuq" is also used to refer to a "ball" or a "small bird" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | "Thịt gà" (chicken) is a homophone with the word "thích gà" (to like women). |
| Welsh | Welsh "cyw iâr" translates to "chicken" or "chick" but originally meant "the brood of the hen". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word for 'chicken', 'inkukhu', is an onomatopoeia derived from the sound chickens make. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "הינדל" can also refer to a young woman or a pet name for a female. |
| Yoruba | "Adiẹ", the Yoruba word for "chicken", also means "a thing from the bush or farm" because chickens are primarily raised in those areas in Yoruba culture. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, 'inyama yenkukhu' also means 'meat of the forest fowl' or 'bird meat'. |
| English | The word 'chicken' derives from the Old English term 'cicen', which also meant 'young bird' or 'nestling'. |