Color in Different Languages
Discover 'Color' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Color
Afrikaans kleur | ||
Albanian ngjyrë | ||
Amharic ቀለም | ||
Arabic اللون | ||
Armenian գույնը | ||
Assamese ৰং | ||
Aymara sami | ||
Azerbaijani rəng | ||
Bambara ɲɛ | ||
Basque kolore | ||
Belarusian колер | ||
Bengali রঙ | ||
Bhojpuri रंग | ||
Bosnian boja | ||
Bulgarian цвят | ||
Catalan color | ||
Cebuano kolor | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 颜色 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 顏色 | ||
Corsican culore | ||
Croatian boja | ||
Czech barva | ||
Danish farve | ||
Dhivehi ކުލަ | ||
Dogri रंग | ||
Dutch kleur | ||
English color | ||
Esperanto koloro | ||
Estonian värv | ||
Ewe amadede | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kulay | ||
Finnish väri- | ||
French couleur | ||
Frisian kleur | ||
Galician cor | ||
Georgian ფერი | ||
German farbe | ||
Greek χρώμα | ||
Guarani sa'y | ||
Gujarati રંગ | ||
Haitian Creole koulè | ||
Hausa launi | ||
Hawaiian kala | ||
Hebrew צֶבַע | ||
Hindi रंग | ||
Hmong xim | ||
Hungarian szín | ||
Icelandic litur | ||
Igbo agba | ||
Ilocano maris | ||
Indonesian warna | ||
Irish dath | ||
Italian colore | ||
Japanese 色 | ||
Javanese warna | ||
Kannada ಬಣ್ಣ | ||
Kazakh түс | ||
Khmer ពណ៌ | ||
Kinyarwanda ibara | ||
Konkani रंग | ||
Korean 색깔 | ||
Krio kɔlɔ | ||
Kurdish reng | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ڕەنگ | ||
Kyrgyz түс | ||
Lao ສີ | ||
Latin color | ||
Latvian krāsa | ||
Lingala langi | ||
Lithuanian spalva | ||
Luganda erangi | ||
Luxembourgish faarf | ||
Macedonian боја | ||
Maithili रंग | ||
Malagasy loko | ||
Malay warna | ||
Malayalam നിറം | ||
Maltese kulur | ||
Maori tae | ||
Marathi रंग | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯆꯨ | ||
Mizo rawng | ||
Mongolian өнгө | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အရောင် | ||
Nepali रंग | ||
Norwegian farge | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mtundu | ||
Odia (Oriya) ରଙ୍ଗ | ||
Oromo halluu | ||
Pashto رنګ | ||
Persian رنگ | ||
Polish kolor | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) cor | ||
Punjabi ਰੰਗ | ||
Quechua llinpi | ||
Romanian culoare | ||
Russian цвет | ||
Samoan lanu | ||
Sanskrit वर्ण | ||
Scots Gaelic dath | ||
Sepedi mmala | ||
Serbian боја | ||
Sesotho 'mala | ||
Shona ruvara | ||
Sindhi رنگ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) වර්ණ | ||
Slovak farba | ||
Slovenian barva | ||
Somali midab | ||
Spanish color | ||
Sundanese warna | ||
Swahili rangi | ||
Swedish färg | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kulay | ||
Tajik ранг | ||
Tamil நிறம் | ||
Tatar төс | ||
Telugu రంగు | ||
Thai สี | ||
Tigrinya ሕብሪ | ||
Tsonga muhlovo | ||
Turkish renk | ||
Turkmen reňk | ||
Twi (Akan) ahosuo | ||
Ukrainian колір | ||
Urdu رنگ | ||
Uyghur رەڭ | ||
Uzbek rang | ||
Vietnamese màu sắc | ||
Welsh lliw | ||
Xhosa umbala | ||
Yiddish פאַרב | ||
Yoruba awọ | ||
Zulu umbala |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Middle Dutch, "cleur" meant "shining, light, brightness" and "joy, gladness, cheerfulness, clarity". |
| Albanian | "Ngjyrë" shares the same root with "njeri" (human) and "njohur" (known), suggesting a connection between perception, knowledge, and humanity. |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "ቀለም" can also refer to a "flag", "pen", "pencil", "ink", or "paint." |
| Arabic | The word "اللون" (al-lawn) in Arabic is derived from the Semitic root "l-w-n", which means "to be dyed" or "to take a color." |
| Armenian | "Գույնը" also means "sort, type" and derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰéu̯n-, meaning "to strike, kill," or "to wound, slay, beat," hence "sort, type, race." |
| Azerbaijani | The word "rəng" also means "paint" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The word "kolore" also refers to a type of plant dye used to produce a purple-red color in Basque textiles and clothing. |
| Belarusian | The word 'колер' is also used to describe the shade or tint of a color. |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "রঙ" (rong) is also used figuratively to describe the character, mood, or overall tone of something. |
| Bosnian | 'Boja' also means 'fight' or 'struggle' in the context of 'boja i muka' (agony and torment) |
| Bulgarian | Цвят ('color') also means 'flower' in Bulgarian, a usage seen in other Slavic languages such as Serbian and Russian. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "color" is derived from the Latin word "color", meaning "hue" or "tint". |
| Cebuano | Cebuano 'kolor' may derive from proto-Austronesian *qulun 'charcoal' or *kulay 'color, paint'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 颜色 also means "mood" in Chinese, as in "good mood" (好颜色) or "bad mood" (坏颜色). |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 顏色 can refer to a person's complexion, such as 紅潤 (rosy) or 蒼白 (pale). |
| Corsican | In Corsican dialects, the word "culaghju" or "culureddu" is used to indicate a type of black pigment or dye. |
| Croatian | The word "boja" also means "paint" and comes from the Proto-Slavic *bojь- or *bojа, meaning "fight" or "struggle", alluding to the violent action of applying paint. |
| Czech | The word "barva" also means "paint" or "dye" in Czech. |
| Danish | In Old Norse, “farve” meant 'to dye,' and still does in modern Danish, whereas in most other Germanic languages it became 'color'. |
| Dutch | Derived from the Proto-Germanic */klutiz/ "to wash"; related to "clean" and "cloth". |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "koloro" ultimately derives from the medieval Latin "coloro", but is pronounced with a shorter "o" as in the French word "couleur". |
| Estonian | Värv is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *wäre, which means both |
| Finnish | The word "väri" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*wärje" meaning "paint, dye, or ink". |
| French | "Couleur" comes from Latin "color", which means "to dye" or "to color", like "coloring" in English. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "kleur" is related to the Dutch word "kleur" (meaning "hue" or "shade"). |
| Galician | The Galician word "cor" also means "heart" in the same language, possibly deriving from the Latin word "cor," meaning "heart." |
| Georgian | The word "ფერი" also means "form" or "shape" in Georgian. |
| German | The German word 'Farbe' does not only refer to physical color but also to a hue or type. |
| Greek | Ancient Greeks used "Χρωμα" for both "color" and "skin color". |
| Gujarati | The word "રંગ" can also refer to a particular shade or hue of a color. |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole 'koulè' derives from Old French 'colorer' or 'couleor' (colour), related to Latin 'colorare' (to dye), 'colorem' (dye) & ultimately 'colere' (to filter). In Haitian Creole 'koulè' is also synonymous with 'appearance'. Thus 'koulè' in the sense of 'looking well' & its opposite. |
| Hausa | In Hausa, "launi" also refers to a person's character or personality. |
| Hawaiian | Kala also means "to turn pale" or "to blanch" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The Semitic root of צֶבַע also signifies "to dip" as in dyeing cloth. |
| Hindi | The word 'रंग' also means 'melody' in music and 'essence' in philosophy. |
| Hmong | "Xim" can also mean "hue" or the "appearance of an object to the eye". |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "szín" not only means "color", but also "scene", "play", or "stage". |
| Icelandic | The word "litur" also means "appearance" or "form" and is an aspect of an idiom meaning "to look well". |
| Igbo | "Agba" also means "paint," "dye," or "stain" which may also mean "varnish" or "enamel." |
| Indonesian | Warna also means 'caste' in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. |
| Irish | Irish 'dath' also means 'tooth', from PIE root *dent-, with cognates in a wide range of Indo-European languages |
| Italian | "Colore" in Italian can also refer to a monk's habit, flag, or the suit of a playing card. |
| Javanese | In Javanese, "warna" is also used to refer to the "character" or "nature" of something or someone. |
| Kannada | ಬಣ್ಣ is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *paṇṇu, meaning 'to adorn' or 'to paint'. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "түс" can also mean "image" or "figure". |
| Khmer | ពណ៌ (pŏərn) is a Khmer word that has multiple meanings, including 'color', 'quality', 'nature', and 'kind'. |
| Korean | The word "색깔" is derived from the words "색채" (hue) and "깔" (to spread or lay out), suggesting that color is something that is spread or laid out over an object. |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word 'reng', meaning 'color', may also be used in the phrase 'rengîn çêkirin', where it denotes the action of 'decorating' or 'beautifying'. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz, "түс" also refers to the complexion of a person's skin. |
| Lao | The word ສີ (sí) in Lao can also mean 'hue', 'tint', 'shade', or 'complexion'. |
| Latin | "Color" can also mean "dye" in Latin. |
| Latvian | The word "krāsa" also has extended meanings like "paint" and "beauty". |
| Lithuanian | The word "spalva" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*spel-," which means "to shine" or "to be bright." |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Faarf" is cognate with the German word "Farbe" and the English word "colour". It can also refer to the suit of cards known as "diamonds". |
| Macedonian | The word "боја" in Macedonian can also refer to paint, dye, or a suit in a deck of cards. |
| Malagasy | The word "loko" in Malagasy also means "hue". |
| Malay | The word "warna" in Malay is cognate with the Sanskrit word "varna" (meaning "caste" or "social class"), suggesting a historical connection between color and social hierarchy. |
| Malayalam | The word "നിറം" also means "caste" in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "kulur" originates from the Arabic word "kull" meaning "whole" or "all" and is also used to refer to a person's complexion. |
| Maori | The word "tae" has other meanings such as "sign", "appearance", and "symbol" in the Maori language. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "रंग" (rang) also refers to a type of folk music or theater from Maharashtra, India. |
| Mongolian | The word's root, 'öngö' or 'üngü', means 'to dye' or 'to paint', indicating a primary association with altering or applying color rather than perceiving it. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | "အရောင်" also means "the appearance of a person or thing to the eye, as distinguished from its substance or essential character." |
| Nepali | The word "रंग" in Nepali also means "hue" or "tint". |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, "farge" comes from Proto-Germanic *ferχwa-, akin to Old English "fearwian" (to dye) and modern "variegated" (multicolored). |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Mtundu means "kind" in Nyanja, but it can also refer to a person's skin tone, with lighter skin referred to as "mtundu uli" and darker skin as "mtundu ukakulu". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "رنګ" ("color") is said to hold the additional connotation of "variety" or "change" in different contexts. |
| Persian | The word "رنگ" in Persian, derived from the Old Persian "*ranja-," can also refer to dye, paint, or complexion. |
| Polish | The Polish word 'kolor' comes from the Latin 'color' and also refers to a 'kind' or 'type'. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Curiously, "cor" can also mean "heart" as in "dar o coração" (to give your heart). |
| Punjabi | The word "ਰੰਗ" (rang) in Punjabi refers to the concept of "emotion" or "mood" in addition to its primary meaning of "color." |
| Russian | The word "цвет" (color) in Russian can also refer to "a plant" or "a bloom". |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "lanu" is also used to describe the color of a person's skin. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "dath" in Scots Gaelic also means "stain" or "paint" and is cognate with the Irish word "dath". |
| Serbian | The word "боја" also means "paint" in Serbian, with the two meanings sharing the same etymology. |
| Sesotho | 'Mala' can also mean 'beauty' or 'blemish' |
| Shona | The word "ruvara" can also refer to the "skin color" or "race" of a person. |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, "rang" can also refer to the act of dyeing or tinting, and is related to the Sanskrit word "ranj", meaning "to dye". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | "වර්ණ" can also mean "caste" or "complexion" in Sinhala. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "farba" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *pьstra, meaning "spotted" or "variegated." |
| Slovenian | The word 'barva' in Slovenian also refers to the act of dyeing. |
| Somali | The Somali word "midab" is derived from the Arabic word "midāba", which means "painting" or "ink". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, the word "color" can also mean "hue", "shade", "tint", or "pigment". |
| Sundanese | "Warna" is the root for the term for "human" (urang), implying that the Sundanese conceived the human condition in terms of color. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "rangi" can also refer to "variety" or "type". |
| Swedish | The word "färg" is derived from the Old Norse word "fargr", which means "beautiful". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "kulay" also means "meaning, purpose, or intention" |
| Tajik | In the Tajik language, "ранг" can also mean "type" or "species", broadening its semantic range beyond just "color" |
| Tamil | The word 'நிறம்' can also refer to a person's caste or social status in Tamil culture. |
| Telugu | The word "రంగు" (color) in Telugu is also used to refer to "paint" or "dye". |
| Thai | "สี" also means "hue" or "tone" in Thai. |
| Turkish | "Renk" comes from the Persian verb "reng āmadan" which means "to come to life". |
| Ukrainian | The word "колір" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *kolorъ, which also means "wheel" or "circle". |
| Urdu | The word رنگ (rang) in Urdu has Persian and Sanskrit roots, with its original meaning being "dye" or "pigment" and later expanding to encompass the concept of "color." |
| Uzbek | In Old Uyghur, the word "rang" referred to the concept of light, and was later used to refer to both "light" and "color" by the 14th century. |
| Vietnamese | "Màu sắc" derives from the Chinese word "màu sắc", which also means "color", and is used in some contexts to refer to the visual appearance of objects. |
| Welsh | "Lliw" derives from the Proto-Celtic "*liwo-" or "*liwos", a cognate of the Latin "līvor," meaning "blueness or leaden color", and the Old Church Slavonic "liva", meaning "slight blush". |
| Xhosa | The word "umbala" can also refer to a specific shade of brown or red, similar to the color of ochre. |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, "פאַרב" can also refer to complexion or blush, stemming from Proto-Germanic *farbaz, meaning "hue" or "dye." |
| Yoruba | The word 'awọ' in Yoruba also means 'change' or 'transformation'. |
| Zulu | The word 'umbala' in Zulu can also refer to a type of chameleon. |
| English | Color (Latin: colorem), also spelled colour, is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, blue, yellow, etc. |