Childhood in Different Languages
Discover 'Childhood' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Childhood
Afrikaans kinderjare | ||
Albanian fëmijëria | ||
Amharic ልጅነት | ||
Arabic مرحلة الطفولة | ||
Armenian մանկություն | ||
Assamese শিশুকাল | ||
Aymara wawasa | ||
Azerbaijani uşaqlıq | ||
Bambara denmisɛnya | ||
Basque haurtzaroa | ||
Belarusian дзяцінства | ||
Bengali শৈশব | ||
Bhojpuri बचपन | ||
Bosnian djetinjstvo | ||
Bulgarian детство | ||
Catalan infància | ||
Cebuano pagkabata | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 童年 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 童年 | ||
Corsican zitellina | ||
Croatian djetinjstvo | ||
Czech dětství | ||
Danish barndom | ||
Dhivehi ކުޑައިރުގެ ދުވަސްތައް | ||
Dogri बचपन | ||
Dutch kindertijd | ||
English childhood | ||
Esperanto infanaĝo | ||
Estonian lapsepõlv | ||
Ewe ɖevinyenye | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pagkabata | ||
Finnish lapsuus | ||
French enfance | ||
Frisian bernetiid | ||
Galician infancia | ||
Georgian ბავშვობა | ||
German kindheit | ||
Greek παιδική ηλικία | ||
Guarani mitãreko | ||
Gujarati બાળપણ | ||
Haitian Creole anfans | ||
Hausa yarinta | ||
Hawaiian kamaliʻi | ||
Hebrew יַלדוּת | ||
Hindi बचपन | ||
Hmong thaum yau | ||
Hungarian gyermekkor | ||
Icelandic barnæsku | ||
Igbo nwata | ||
Ilocano kinaubing | ||
Indonesian masa kecil | ||
Irish óige | ||
Italian infanzia | ||
Japanese 子供時代 | ||
Javanese bocah cilik | ||
Kannada ಬಾಲ್ಯ | ||
Kazakh балалық шақ | ||
Khmer កុមារភាព | ||
Kinyarwanda ubwana | ||
Konkani भुरगेपण | ||
Korean 어린 시절 | ||
Krio we a bin pikin | ||
Kurdish zarotî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) منداڵی | ||
Kyrgyz балалык | ||
Lao ໄວເດັກ | ||
Latin pueritia | ||
Latvian bērnība | ||
Lingala bomwana | ||
Lithuanian vaikyste | ||
Luganda obuto | ||
Luxembourgish kandheet | ||
Macedonian детството | ||
Maithili बाल्यावस्था | ||
Malagasy ankizy | ||
Malay zaman kanak-kanak | ||
Malayalam കുട്ടിക്കാലം | ||
Maltese tfulija | ||
Maori tamarikitanga | ||
Marathi बालपण | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯉꯥꯡ ꯑꯣꯏꯔꯤꯉꯩ ꯃꯇꯝ | ||
Mizo naupanlai | ||
Mongolian бага нас | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကလေးဘဝ | ||
Nepali बाल्यकाल | ||
Norwegian barndom | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ubwana | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପିଲାଦିନ | ||
Oromo ijoollummaa | ||
Pashto ماشومتوب | ||
Persian دوران کودکی | ||
Polish dzieciństwo | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) infância | ||
Punjabi ਬਚਪਨ | ||
Quechua wawa kay | ||
Romanian copilărie | ||
Russian детство | ||
Samoan tamaititi | ||
Sanskrit बाल्यकाल | ||
Scots Gaelic leanabas | ||
Sepedi bobjana | ||
Serbian детињство | ||
Sesotho bongoana | ||
Shona uduku | ||
Sindhi نن childhoodپڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ළමා කාලය | ||
Slovak detstva | ||
Slovenian otroštvo | ||
Somali carruurnimada | ||
Spanish infancia | ||
Sundanese budak leutik | ||
Swahili utoto | ||
Swedish barndom | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pagkabata | ||
Tajik кӯдакӣ | ||
Tamil குழந்தை பருவம் | ||
Tatar балачак | ||
Telugu బాల్యం | ||
Thai วัยเด็ก | ||
Tigrinya ቁልዕነት | ||
Tsonga vuhlangi | ||
Turkish çocukluk | ||
Turkmen çagalyk | ||
Twi (Akan) mmɔfrabrɛ | ||
Ukrainian дитинство | ||
Urdu بچپن | ||
Uyghur بالىلىق | ||
Uzbek bolalik | ||
Vietnamese thời thơ ấu | ||
Welsh plentyndod | ||
Xhosa ebuntwaneni | ||
Yiddish קינדשאַפט | ||
Yoruba igba ewe | ||
Zulu ebuntwaneni |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Kinderjare, akin to the Dutch word “kinderjaren”, is derived from the Early Germanic word “kind” (child) and “jaren” (years). |
| Albanian | The word "fëmijëria" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰelh₃-, meaning "to grow" or "to care for." |
| Amharic | ልጅነት can also refer to the quality of being childish or immature. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word for childhood, "մանկություն," is derived from an old Iranian term that also includes meanings like "childlessness" or "immaturity." |
| Azerbaijani | The Azerbaijani word "uşaqlıq" can also refer to the period of one's life between adolescence and young adulthood. |
| Basque | The word "haurtzaroa" is derived from the Basque words "haur" (child) and "aro" (time) which means "age of children". |
| Belarusian | The word "дзяцінства" also has the connotation of "childishness" or "immaturity". |
| Bengali | "শৈশব" (śaiśaba) is derived from the Sanskrit word "शैशव" (śaiśava), which means "infancy" or "childhood". |
| Bosnian | The word "djetinjstvo" in Bosnian also refers to the state of being childish or immature. |
| Bulgarian | Bulgarian word "детство" also describes the period of a human's life from adolescence to young adulthood, between "детство" (childhood) and "зрелост" (maturity). |
| Catalan | Catalan "infància" comes from Late Latin "infantia" (non-speaking state), while "infant" derives from Latin "infans" (unable to speak). |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "童年" in Chinese can also refer to one's youthful or innocent days. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "童" originally refers to "a young bird that cannot yet fly" and "年" refers to "a year". Therefore,童年 originally means "immaturity" or "juvenile period". |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "zitellina" may also mean "youth" or the "first stage of childhood". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "djetinjstvo" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *dětinĭstvo, which also meant "childish behavior". |
| Czech | "Dětství" (etymologically related to "děti," meaning "children") has alternate meanings including "immaturity." |
| Danish | Barndom is also a Danish word for a children's home or orphanage. |
| Dutch | The word "kindertijd" can also refer to the period of life between childhood and adulthood |
| Esperanto | The word 'infanaĝo' comes from the Latin word 'infantia', meaning 'childhood', and has the same meaning in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | In Estonian, |
| Finnish | "Lapsus" also means "a slip" or "a mistake" in Latin, possibly related to the idea of childhood as a time of mistakes. |
| French | The word "enfance" derives from the Latin "infantia," meaning both "childhood" and "not being able to speak." |
| Frisian | The word "bernetiid" is related to the Old English word "bearnteald", meaning "child's age". |
| Galician | In Galician, "infancia" also means "the early stage of something's development". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word |
| German | The German word "Kindheit" not only means "childhood," but also originally meant "state of being a child" or "condition of being a child." |
| Greek | "Παιδική ηλικία" literally means "childhood age" in Greek, showing that childhood is seen as a stage of life. |
| Gujarati | બાળપણ is derived from the Sanskrit word 'बाल्य' meaning 'young' or 'childlike' and refers to the period of life from birth to the onset of puberty. |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'anfans' in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word 'enfance', which also means 'childhood'. |
| Hausa | The word 'yarinta' can also mean 'youth' or ' adolescence' in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | "Kamaliʻi" also means "chief" or "royal" in Hawaiian, indicating the honored status of children in traditional Hawaiian society. |
| Hebrew | "יַלדוּת" also means "birth", "descent" and "lineage". |
| Hindi | "बचपन" can also mean 'infancy' or 'youth' in Hindi, depending on context. |
| Hmong | The term 'thaum yau' also refers to a state of innocence and purity. |
| Hungarian | Gyermekkor derives from 'gyermek' ('child') and the suffix '-kor' ('age') which is related to the 'time' meaning of 'kor' (meaning 'era' or 'period'). |
| Icelandic | The word 'barnæsku' is derived from the Old Norse word 'barnsku', which originally meant 'childishness' or 'immaturity'. |
| Igbo | "Nwata" has a broader meaning than just "childhood"; it also connotes "a person's formative years". |
| Indonesian | The word "masa kecil" in Indonesian literally translates to "small time", reflecting the idea that childhood is a fleeting and precious period. |
| Irish | The Irish word for childhood, "óige", also refers to youth or the time of life when one is at their prime. |
| Italian | The Italian word 'infanzia' ultimately derives from the Latin 'infans', meaning 'unable to speak' and referring to a young child. |
| Japanese | "子供" can mean "child" and "時代" can mean "age" or "period", so "子供時代" can also mean "childlike era". |
| Javanese | The term "bocah cilik" can also refer to a child or the younger sibling of a person. |
| Kannada | The word "ಬಾಲ್ಯ" also refers to the early stages of anything other than humans, such as plants or animals. |
| Kazakh | Бал алық шақ is composed of "бал," meaning "honey," and "алық," meaning "taking". This reflects the belief that childhood is a sweet and valuable time. |
| Khmer | The word "កុមារភាព" is etymologically related to the Sanskrit word "kumāra" meaning "prince" or "youth". It can also refer to the stages of adolescence and early adulthood. |
| Korean | The word “어린 시절” in Korean can be interpreted literally as 'times of being young', a time when 'speech is not yet mature'. |
| Kurdish | In some contexts, "zarotî" may refer to a period of innocence or freedom. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "балалык" can also refer to "child" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | The word "ໄວເດັກ" (vai-dek) in Lao also means "early" or "quickly", which reflects the fleeting nature of childhood. |
| Latin | As a noun, “pueritia” refers more to boyhood or youth than to infancy or childhood. |
| Latvian | The Latvian word for childhood, bērnība, derives from the verb bērt (to pour) and may refer to the abundant energy of children. |
| Lithuanian | The word 'vaikyste' likely derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as 'young' (meaning 'boy' in Baltic languages). |
| Luxembourgish | "Kandheet" is derived from the Old High German "kindheit" and also means "innocence" or "naivety". |
| Macedonian | The word "детството" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *děťstvo, meaning "act of giving birth, childbearing." |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "ANKIZY" also means "the period of time when children live in their parents' house." |
| Malay | The word "zaman kanak-kanak" in Malay shares its etymology with the Proto-Austronesian word for "time", suggesting a sense of timelessness and innocence associated with childhood. |
| Malayalam | The word "കുട്ടിക്കാലം" (childhood) is derived from the words "കുട്ടി" (child) and "കാലം" (time). It can also refer to the early years of a person's life or the period of innocence and playfulness. |
| Maltese | The word "tfulija" is derived from the Latin "infantia" and also refers to the period between infancy and adolescence. |
| Maori | Tamarikitanga also means a stage in a person's life in which a child becomes a man or a woman. |
| Marathi | "It comes from Sanskrit बाल+प+ा+न balapana meaning "infancy, childishness". |
| Mongolian | In Mongolian, "бага нас" can also refer to the "past" or to "the beginning of something" |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ကလေးဘဝ" (childhood) in Myanmar (Burmese) can also mean "the state of being a child" or "the period of a child's life". |
| Nepali | The word "बाल्यकाल" is derived from the Sanskrit word "बाल्य" meaning "childhood" and "काल" meaning "time" or "period". |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word “barndom” can also refer to the stage of life from birth to adulthood, or the period of time in which a child is dependent on their parents. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Nyanja word "ubwana" can also mean "youth" or "adolescence" and sometimes refers to "the state of being a child". |
| Pashto | The word "ماشومتوب" is derived from the Arabic word "طفولة" and Persian word "کودکی" and means both "childhood" and the "young of animals" in Pashto. |
| Persian | The word "دوران کودکی" (lit. "cycle of childhood") in Persian refers to the period of one's life when one is a child. |
| Polish | "Dzieciństwo" shares the root "dzieci" with "dziecię" meaning "child" and is a diminutive form implying a period of life. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "infância" comes from the Latin word "infantia" and originally meant "lack of speech" |
| Punjabi | The word "ਬਚਪਨ" can also refer to a person's innocence or naivete, regardless of their age. |
| Romanian | The word "copilărie" is derived from the Latin "copula", meaning "bond" or "union", suggesting the strong bond between parent and child during childhood. |
| Russian | The word "детство" derives from the Old Russian word "детище", meaning "child" or "offspring". |
| Samoan | The word 'tamaititi' also carries the connotation of 'innocence' and 'purity', reflecting a cultural perspective that childhood is a time of vulnerability and dependence. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word "leanabas" comes from the Old Irish word "leanam" meaning "love child" or "darling". |
| Serbian | The word “детињство” in Serbian can also mean “childishness” or “puerility.” |
| Sesotho | Bongoana is derived from the word `bongo` (play) and the suffix `-ana` (state or condition), hence it literally means `a state of playfulness`. |
| Shona | Uduku may also refer to the period of life between infancy and adolescence. |
| Sindhi | نن is also used as a term of endearment for a young child. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word ළමා කාලය (lamā kālaya) in Sinhala literally means 'the time of playing', implying the carefree and joyful nature of childhood. |
| Slovak | Detstva is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dětьstvo, which also means "infancy" or "early childhood." |
| Slovenian | The word "otroštvo" in Slovenian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*otrokъ", which meant both "child" and "servant". |
| Somali | The word "carruurnimada" can also refer to the period of one's life before marriage. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word for 'childhood', 'infancia', originally referred to the period when a child could not speak. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese term "budak leutik" not only means "childhood," but also refers to the "inner child" or the innocent and playful aspect of one's personality. |
| Swahili | The word "utoto" in Kiswahili can also refer to a young animal or a period of time in one's life. |
| Swedish | In Swedish, the word for "barn" (child) is derived from the Old Norse word "barn" meaning "well-born". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Pagkabata also has a second meaning in the Bikol language which refers to the state and process of being born. |
| Tajik | The word "кӯдакӣ" is derived from the Persian word " کودکی" (kudaki), which means "childhood" or "infancy". It can also refer to the period of a person's life before puberty. |
| Tamil | குழந்தை பருவம், literally 'a state of infancy or youth', can refer to both the early period of life of a child as well as its innocence and dependency. |
| Telugu | The word "బాల్యం" (childhood) is derived from the Sanskrit word "बाल" (child) and the suffix "-yam" (state or condition). It can also refer to a state of innocence, playfulness, and dependency. |
| Thai | The word "วัยเด็ก" can also mean "immaturity" or "foolishness" in Thai. |
| Turkish | A homonym of çocukluk, which means "childhood" in Turkish, is "çocukluk" meaning "immaturity". |
| Ukrainian | The word "дитинство" likely originates from the Ancient Greek "τέκνον" (child), and also denotes a carefree and innocent period in life. |
| Urdu | The word "بچپن" can also mean "foolishness" or "immaturity" in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | Uzbek "bolalik" means "childhood" and "youth" and derives from the word "bola" which means "to grow" or "to increase in size or number". |
| Vietnamese | "Thơ" here can be understood as "beginning" or "initial stage", similar to "thời nguyên thủy" (primitive period). |
| Welsh | The Welsh word 'plentyndod' derives from the phrase 'plen ty nadolig' meaning 'a child of Christmas'. |
| Xhosa | The word "ebuntwaneni" in Xhosa can also refer to the early period of life before adolescence. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "kindshaft" is derived from the German word "Kindheit" and shares the same meaning of "childhood." |
| Yoruba | Igba ewe can also mean 'season of youth' or 'period of adolescence'. |
| Zulu | The word 'ebuntwaneni' in Zulu is derived from the root word 'ubuntwana', which means 'childhood' or 'youth'. |
| English | The word 'childhood' derives from the Old English word 'cildhád', which originally meant 'the state of being a child', and later came to mean 'the period of a person's life from birth to adolescence'. |