Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'compare' holds immense significance in our daily lives, as it allows us to evaluate the similarities and differences between things, people, or ideas. This ability to compare has been a crucial aspect of human cognition and decision-making, shaping our cultural evolution and societal norms. From comparing products before making a purchase to contrasting historical events to gain a deeper understanding, the act of comparison is ubiquitous and versatile.
Moreover, the concept of comparison transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries. For instance, the Spanish translation of 'compare' is 'comparar,' while in French, it is 'comparer.' In German, the word 'vergleichen' captures the essence of comparison. These translations not only reflect linguistic diversity but also highlight the global cultural importance of the concept of comparison.
Delving into the translations of 'compare' in different languages offers a fascinating journey into the world of language and culture. By understanding these translations, we not only expand our vocabulary but also develop a greater appreciation for the richness and nuances of various languages and cultures.
Afrikaans | vergelyk | ||
"Vergelyk" comes from the Dutch "vergelijken" and Old French "virgiliare", and also has connotations of "make equivalent" in law. | |||
Amharic | አወዳድር | ||
The Amharic word "አወዳድር" can also mean "to compare something to something else", or "to measure something against something else". | |||
Hausa | kwatanta | ||
Kwatanta, a Hausa word, also means to 'put two objects together to see if they match' and 'to measure one object against another'. | |||
Igbo | tulee | ||
In Igbo, the term "tulee" not only means "compare" but also refers to the act of "testing" or "inspecting" something to determine its quality or suitability. | |||
Malagasy | mampitaha | ||
The Malagasy word "mampitaha" also means "to weigh" or "to measure". | |||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | yerekezerani | ||
The word 'yerekezerani' can also refer to the act of examining or scrutinizing something closely | |||
Shona | enzanisa | ||
The word "enzanisa" also means "to be alike" or "to correspond". | |||
Somali | isbarbar dhig | ||
The word 'isbarbar dhig' literally means 'to make like' or 'to equalize'. | |||
Sesotho | bapisa | ||
In Sesotho, 'bapisa' can also mean 'to make similar' or 'to imitate'. | |||
Swahili | linganisha | ||
The word "linganisha" can also mean "to equate" or "to measure against each other" in Swahili. | |||
Xhosa | thelekisa | ||
In Nguni languages including Xhosa, the word "thelekisa" is cognate with Zulu "thelekisa," which in turn is derived from the Proto-Bantu root "*tela-,*" meaning "to choose"} | |||
Yoruba | afiwe | ||
Afiwe, which means "compare," can also be used to imply "contrast" in Yoruba. | |||
Zulu | qhathanisa | ||
The word "qhathanisa" can also mean "to equal" or "to be the same as". | |||
Bambara | ka sanga | ||
Ewe | tsɔe sɔ | ||
Kinyarwanda | gereranya | ||
Lingala | kokokanisa | ||
Luganda | okugattika | ||
Sepedi | bapetša | ||
Twi (Akan) | fa toto ho | ||
Arabic | قارن | ||
Its Arabic form (قارن) originates from the Greek word (korone) and the Latin word (corona) or the Syriac (quorna), which signify a circle used to encircle someone's head as a wreath. | |||
Hebrew | לְהַשְׁווֹת | ||
The verb "לְהַשְׁווֹת" is derived from the root "שָׁוֶה", meaning "equal" or "alike". It also suggests the idea of "making two things comparable" or "establishing a similarity" between them. | |||
Pashto | پرتله کول | ||
Arabic | قارن | ||
Its Arabic form (قارن) originates from the Greek word (korone) and the Latin word (corona) or the Syriac (quorna), which signify a circle used to encircle someone's head as a wreath. |
Albanian | krahasoj | ||
The Albanian word 'krahasoj', meaning 'compare', is of Proto-Indo-European origin and shares its roots with Slavic words like the Russian 'сравнивать'. | |||
Basque | alderatu | ||
The Basque word "alderatu" can also mean "to change" or "to transform." | |||
Catalan | comparar | ||
The Catalan word "comparar" is derived from the Latin word "comparare," which also means "to acquire" or "to obtain." | |||
Croatian | usporedi | ||
The verb "usporediti" is derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *sъpordti, meaning "to put side by side", "to contrast". The root *sъp- is also found in other Slavic languages, such as Russian "сравнивать" (sravnivat'), Polish "porównywać" (porównywać), and Czech "porovnávat" (porovnávat). | |||
Danish | sammenligne | ||
In Norwegian, it means "put together" or "assemble", which is reflected in the word's etymology, derived from "sam-" (together) and "menne" (join). | |||
Dutch | vergelijken | ||
'Vergelijken' is derived from the Old Dutch 'ver-gelîken'. 'Ver-' means 'apart' and 'gelijken' means 'to equal'. So, in a way, to compare is to make something apart equal. | |||
English | compare | ||
Compare is a verb of Latin origin, deriving from comparare "to procure, provide, obtain," and compar "equal, like, similar." | |||
French | comparer | ||
In French, "comparer" has an archaic alternate meaning of "to wait", derived from its Latin origin "comparere" (to appear). | |||
Frisian | ferlykje | ||
The word "ferlykje" comes from the Middle Dutch word "verghelijken" and is also related to the English word "fright". | |||
Galician | comparar | ||
The Galician verb "comparar" can also mean "to buy", as in Spanish, and is derived from Latin "comparare", meaning "to procure". | |||
German | vergleichen sie | ||
Cognate with English 'verify', from Latin 'verificare' (make true), from 'verus' (true). | |||
Icelandic | bera saman | ||
"Bera saman" is sometimes used as a slang term for "to get drunk" due to its literal meaning of "to bring together." | |||
Irish | déan comparáid idir | ||
The Irish term "déan comparáid idir" can have the secondary meaning "to compare prices" and also functions as a preposition with the meaning "in comparison to". | |||
Italian | confrontare | ||
The word "confrontare" also means "to challenge" or "to face" in Italian. | |||
Luxembourgish | vergläichen | ||
Vergläichen is derived from the Old High German word | |||
Maltese | qabbel | ||
"Qabbel" comes from the Arabic word "qābala" meaning "front" or "facing". | |||
Norwegian | sammenligne | ||
The term 'sammen' in 'sammenligne' is derived from the Old Norse 'samr,' meaning 'together,' denoting the act of putting two or more things side by side for comparison. | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | comparar | ||
From Latin comparare, meaning "to put together, to match". | |||
Scots Gaelic | dèan coimeas | ||
Spanish | comparar | ||
Comparar comes from the Latin word "comparare", meaning "to match together" or "to place side by side." | |||
Swedish | jämföra | ||
The word "jämföra" is derived from the Old Norse word "jamfari", meaning "to make equal" or "to put side by side for comparison." | |||
Welsh | cymharu | ||
Despite its modern meaning, the Old Welsh word "cymharu" originally meant "a step" or "a stride". |
Belarusian | параўнайце | ||
The Belarusian word "параўнайце" (compare) is derived from the Proto-Slavic root "*porъvnati", which also means "to check" or "to examine". | |||
Bosnian | uporedi | ||
Uporediti u značenju "izjednačiti" u srpskohrvatskom ima korijen u riječi "por", što znači "sa", i nastavak "rediti". | |||
Bulgarian | сравнете | ||
“Сравнете” is also a shortened version of “сравнете цифрите” which means “compare the numbers”. | |||
Czech | porovnat | ||
The word "porovnat" may also mean "to settle" or "to make peace". | |||
Estonian | võrdlema | ||
The word "võrdlema" is derived from the Proto-Finno-Ugric word *werta, meaning "worth" or "value". | |||
Finnish | vertailla | ||
Originally, 'vertailla' referred to the physical act of comparing by placing objects side by side, with 'taila' meaning 'side' and ' | |||
Hungarian | hasonlítsa össze | ||
The verb "hasonlítsa össze" comes from the noun "hasonlat" (likeness, similarity), which in turn is derived from the verb "hasonlít" (to resemble). | |||
Latvian | salīdzināt | ||
"Salīdzināt" likely derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*selh₁-/*sl̥h₁-", meaning "to bind together" or "to join." | |||
Lithuanian | palyginti | ||
The word palyginti originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleḱ- , meaning "to braid" or "to plait". | |||
Macedonian | спореди | ||
It is likely that "спореди" originated from "по реди" which means "in order, consecutively" and is used for comparison (e.g. "еден по еден" - "one by one"). | |||
Polish | porównać | ||
Derived from Proto-Slavic *porvьnati, from PIE root *per- meaning "push" or "strike against". | |||
Romanian | comparaţie | ||
The Romanian word "comparaţie" is derived from the Latin word "comparare", meaning "to acquire" or "to get together." | |||
Russian | сравнить | ||
Compare (сравнить) means to put side by side, to discover and state points of similarity and/or difference. | |||
Serbian | упоредити | ||
The word 'упоредити' is derived from the Proto-Slavic verb *poriti, meaning 'to carry' or 'to bear'. | |||
Slovak | porovnaj | ||
The word porovnaj is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *porovnati, meaning "to put side by side". | |||
Slovenian | primerjaj | ||
Slovene "primerjaj" is related to other comparative terms in Slavic languages such as Russian "primeryat", Czech "přiměřovat", and Polish "przymierzać", all of which ultimately derive from Proto-Slavic "priměriti" ('to try on'). | |||
Ukrainian | порівняти | ||
The word 'порівняти' comes from the Proto-Slavic root *porvьnati, which also gave rise to words such as 'ровный' and 'ровнять'. |
Bengali | তুলনা করা | ||
The verb "তুলনা করা" also means "to compete with" or "to vie with" someone or something. | |||
Gujarati | તુલના | ||
Hindi | तुलना | ||
The word तुलना is derived from the Sanskrit root 'tul', meaning 'to weigh' or 'to measure'. | |||
Kannada | ಹೋಲಿಕೆ ಮಾಡಿ | ||
Malayalam | താരതമ്യം ചെയ്യുക | ||
The term 'tāratamam ceyyuka' is derived from the Sanskrit root 'tāra', which means 'star', and 'tāma', which means 'measure' or 'standard'. The term originally meant 'to measure against the stars', and was used to describe the practice of comparing the relative brightness of stars. | |||
Marathi | तुलना करा | ||
तुलना (tuḷnā) is derived from the Sanskrit word तरणा (taraṇā), meaning 'to pass beyond'. It can also refer to 'the difference or contrast between two or more things'. Compare with the English word 'contrast'. | |||
Nepali | तुलना | ||
The word 'तुलना' ('compare') in Nepali shares etymological roots with the Sanskrit word 'tulyana' meaning 'to balance' or 'to equate'. | |||
Punjabi | ਤੁਲਨਾ ਕਰੋ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සංසන්දනය කරන්න | ||
Tamil | ஒப்பிடுக | ||
The word 'ஒப்பிடுக' can also mean 'to examine' or 'to estimate'. | |||
Telugu | సరిపోల్చండి | ||
Urdu | موازنہ | ||
"موازنہ" is the Urdu word for "compare" and comes from the Arabic root "وزن" (wazn) meaning "weight" or "measure". |
Chinese (Simplified) | 比较 | ||
比较 also means 'relatively', a shade of contrast or difference. | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 比較 | ||
The character 比 (meaning “compare”) in 比較 (“compare”) originated as a pictograph depicting two people standing side by side. | |||
Japanese | 比較する | ||
"比較する" can also mean "to compete". | |||
Korean | 비교 | ||
비교 can mean not only 'compare' but also 'ratio', 'analogy', or 'proportion'. | |||
Mongolian | харьцуулах | ||
The word "харьцуулах" in Mongolian can also mean "to equate" or "to put on an equal footing". | |||
Myanmar (Burmese) | နှိုင်းယှဉ် | ||
Indonesian | membandingkan | ||
In Old Javanese, "bandhing" means "to be equal" or "to be the same", which is also the root of the words "banding" and "bandingkan" in Indonesian. | |||
Javanese | mbandhingake | ||
The word "mbandhingake" also has the alternate meanings of "to match" and "to equal". | |||
Khmer | ប្រៀបធៀប | ||
The word "ប្រៀបធៀប" is also used to describe the comparison of two or more things, often with the intent of finding similarities and differences. | |||
Lao | ປຽບທຽບ | ||
The Lao word "ປຽບທຽບ" originates from Khmer and is composed of three stems that mean "make-like-equal" | |||
Malay | membandingkan | ||
"Membandingkan" comes from "banding", "bind", but the prefix "mem-" transforms the word into a transitive verb which means "to bind together with something" or "to link something to something". | |||
Thai | เปรียบเทียบ | ||
The Thai word เปรียบเทียบ is often used to form similes or metaphors, e.g. "เธอสวยเหมือนนางฟ้า" (literally "she is beautiful like an angel"). | |||
Vietnamese | so sánh | ||
The Vietnamese word "so sanh" (compare) is derived from the Chinese word "比照", meaning "to compare by looking at" or "to look at something in order to compare it with something else." | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | ihambing | ||
Azerbaijani | müqayisə et | ||
Comparison refers to the act of establishing the similarities and differences between two or more things by examining their qualities and characteristics | |||
Kazakh | салыстыру | ||
The verb "салыстыру" in Kazakh also means "to weigh". | |||
Kyrgyz | салыштыруу | ||
The verb "салыштыруу" can also mean "to compete" or "to be equal to" in Kyrgyz. | |||
Tajik | муқоиса кардан | ||
The word "муқоиса кардан" is derived from the Arabic word "qayasa," which means "to measure." | |||
Turkmen | deňeşdiriň | ||
Uzbek | taqqoslash | ||
Taqqoslash (compare) is sometimes written without diacritics (taqoqlash). | |||
Uyghur | سېلىشتۇرۇش | ||
Hawaiian | hoʻohālikelike | ||
The Hawaiian word "hoʻohālikelike" is rooted in the words "hālike" meaning "likeness" and "hoʻo" which signifies a causative action, together implying the act of making something similar. | |||
Maori | whakataurite | ||
The word "whakataurite" is derived from the Maori words "take" which means "to receive" and "whaka" which means "to make" or "to cause". | |||
Samoan | faʻatusatusa | ||
"Faʻatusatusa" derives from the Proto-Polynesian root *fakatusa, meaning "to make equal to" or "to imitate." | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | ihambing | ||
The root word of “ihambing” (“compare”) is "hambing," which means “evenness” or “equality,” emphasizing the notion of making a fair comparison. |
Aymara | alaña | ||
Guarani | mbojoja | ||
Esperanto | komparu | ||
The word "komparu" can also mean "to match" or "to be equal to". | |||
Latin | compare | ||
In Latin, comparare also means 'to gather together', 'to provide' or 'to prepare'. |
Greek | συγκρίνω | ||
Συγκρίνω originated from "κρινω" (judge) and the prefix "συν" (with), meaning "to judge together". | |||
Hmong | sib piv | ||
The word "sib piv" in Hmong can also mean "to check" or "to see". | |||
Kurdish | mûqayesekirin | ||
The word 'mûqayesekirin' in Kurdish comes from the Arabic word 'muqāyasa', which means 'comparison'. | |||
Turkish | karşılaştırmak | ||
The word may also indicate a comparison of similar objects with the connotation of "setting aside" the one under assessment. | |||
Xhosa | thelekisa | ||
In Nguni languages including Xhosa, the word "thelekisa" is cognate with Zulu "thelekisa," which in turn is derived from the Proto-Bantu root "*tela-,*" meaning "to choose"} | |||
Yiddish | פאַרגלייַכן | ||
The Yiddish word "פאַרגלייַכן" can also mean "to smooth over" or "to level out". | |||
Zulu | qhathanisa | ||
The word "qhathanisa" can also mean "to equal" or "to be the same as". | |||
Assamese | তুলনা কৰা | ||
Aymara | alaña | ||
Bhojpuri | तुलना | ||
Dhivehi | އަޅާކިޔުން | ||
Dogri | मकाबला करना | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | ihambing | ||
Guarani | mbojoja | ||
Ilocano | iyasping | ||
Krio | kɔmpia | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | بەراورد | ||
Maithili | तुलना | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯆꯥꯡꯗꯝꯅꯕ | ||
Mizo | khaikhin | ||
Oromo | wal bira qabuu | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ତୁଳନା କର | ||
Quechua | tupachiy | ||
Sanskrit | तूल | ||
Tatar | чагыштырыгыз | ||
Tigrinya | ኣወዳደረ | ||
Tsonga | fananisa | ||