Cow in Different Languages
Discover 'Cow' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Cow
Afrikaans koei | ||
Albanian lopë | ||
Amharic ላም | ||
Arabic بقرة | ||
Armenian կով | ||
Assamese গাই | ||
Aymara waka | ||
Azerbaijani inək | ||
Bambara misimuso | ||
Basque behia | ||
Belarusian карова | ||
Bengali গাভী | ||
Bhojpuri गाय | ||
Bosnian krava | ||
Bulgarian крава | ||
Catalan vaca | ||
Cebuano baka | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 牛 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 牛 | ||
Corsican vacca | ||
Croatian krava | ||
Czech kráva | ||
Danish ko | ||
Dhivehi ގެރި | ||
Dogri गौ | ||
Dutch koe | ||
English cow | ||
Esperanto bovino | ||
Estonian lehm | ||
Ewe nyi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) baka | ||
Finnish lehmä | ||
French vache | ||
Frisian ko | ||
Galician vaca | ||
Georgian ძროხა | ||
German kuh | ||
Greek αγελάδα | ||
Guarani vaka | ||
Gujarati ગાય | ||
Haitian Creole bèf | ||
Hausa saniya | ||
Hawaiian pipi | ||
Hebrew פָּרָה | ||
Hindi गाय | ||
Hmong nyuj | ||
Hungarian tehén | ||
Icelandic kýr | ||
Igbo ehi | ||
Ilocano baka | ||
Indonesian lembu | ||
Irish bó | ||
Italian mucca | ||
Japanese 牛 | ||
Javanese sapi | ||
Kannada ಹಸು | ||
Kazakh сиыр | ||
Khmer គោ | ||
Kinyarwanda inka | ||
Konkani गाय | ||
Korean 소 | ||
Krio kaw | ||
Kurdish çêlek | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) مانگا | ||
Kyrgyz уй | ||
Lao ງົວ | ||
Latin vitula eligans | ||
Latvian govs | ||
Lingala ngombe | ||
Lithuanian karvė | ||
Luganda ente | ||
Luxembourgish kéi | ||
Macedonian крава | ||
Maithili गाय | ||
Malagasy ombivavy | ||
Malay lembu | ||
Malayalam പശു | ||
Maltese baqra | ||
Maori kau | ||
Marathi गाय | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯟ | ||
Mizo bawng | ||
Mongolian үхэр | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) နွားမ | ||
Nepali गाई | ||
Norwegian ku | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ng'ombe | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଗା cow | ||
Oromo sa'a | ||
Pashto غوا | ||
Persian گاو | ||
Polish krowa | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) vaca | ||
Punjabi ਗਾਂ | ||
Quechua vaca | ||
Romanian vacă | ||
Russian корова | ||
Samoan povi | ||
Sanskrit गो | ||
Scots Gaelic bò | ||
Sepedi kgomo | ||
Serbian крава | ||
Sesotho khomo | ||
Shona mhou | ||
Sindhi ڳئون | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) එළදෙන | ||
Slovak krava | ||
Slovenian krava | ||
Somali sac | ||
Spanish vaca | ||
Sundanese sapi | ||
Swahili ng'ombe | ||
Swedish ko | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) baka | ||
Tajik гов | ||
Tamil மாடு | ||
Tatar сыер | ||
Telugu ఆవు | ||
Thai วัว | ||
Tigrinya ላሕሚ | ||
Tsonga homu | ||
Turkish inek | ||
Turkmen sygyr | ||
Twi (Akan) nantwibaa | ||
Ukrainian корова | ||
Urdu گائے | ||
Uyghur كالا | ||
Uzbek sigir | ||
Vietnamese con bò | ||
Welsh buwch | ||
Xhosa inkomo | ||
Yiddish קו | ||
Yoruba maalu | ||
Zulu inkomo |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, "koei" can also refer to a female or young hippopotamus. |
| Albanian | Lopë likely derives from Proto-Albanian "*lopa" or Proto-Illyrian "*lowp," akin to Illyrian "lāpus," Proto-Italic "*loupo-," Proto-Slavonic "*lovъ," Proto-Armenian "*lōw-k"} |
| Amharic | In the Shewa dialect of Amharic, ላም can also mean "a large domestic animal, especially one that is kept for milk or meat" |
| Arabic | The word "بقرة" can also refer to a female elephant or a wild cow. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word for 'cow', 'կով', is related to the Proto-Indo-European word 'gwou-', meaning 'cow, bull'. It also shares cognates with other Indo-European languages, such as the Latin 'bos', the Greek 'bous', and the Sanskrit 'gau'. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "inək" in Azerbaijani finds its roots in the Proto-Turkic word "inek," also meaning "cow." |
| Basque | The word "behia" is thought to come from the Proto-Basque root "*behi" meaning "female animal". |
| Belarusian | The word "карова" may be derived from Proto-Indo-European "*gʷer-w-ə" meaning "a horned animal" and is cognate with words like "cow" and "ghorn". |
| Bosnian | Although the word 'krava' has been primarily used to denote a female bovine animal, its initial Proto-Indo-European root has the broader sense of a horned animal. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "крава" is also used to mean "butter"} |
| Catalan | The word "vaca" in Catalan is derived from the Latin word "vacca" and also means "holiday" or "vacation". |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "baka" also means "maybe" or "perhaps" in some contexts. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character 牛 (niú) originally referred to male cattle, and the female counterpart was called 母牛 (mǔ niú; "mother cow"). |
| Chinese (Traditional) | '牛' is a character that is pronounced differently depending on the tone; it is 'niú' in the first tone, 'nìu' in the second and fourth, and 'niǔ' in the third. |
| Corsican | "Vacca" can mean "coward" in Corsican. |
| Croatian | In Chakavian, the word 'krava' can also refer to a big, bulky woman. |
| Czech | The Czech word "kráva" is thought to be related to the old Czech "kráti", which means "to steal", or possibly to the Proto-Slavic word "*kora", which means "bark". |
| Danish | In Danish, "ko" originally meant "calf" or "yearling" and was used for both sexes. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "koe" derives from Old Dutch "kou," also meaning "heifer." |
| Estonian | "Lehm" also refers to "clay" in Estonian, perhaps due to the similar appearance of clay and the brown hide of cows. |
| Finnish | The word 'lehmä' is derived from the Old Finnic word 'lehm', which means 'swampy pasture'. |
| French | The French word 'vache' originates from the Latin word 'vacca,' meaning 'cow,' but can also refer to 'a nasty woman' or 'a cow.' |
| Frisian | The word "ko" for "cow" in Frisian has a number of cognates in other Germanic languages. |
| Galician | In Galician, "vaca" can also mean "lazy" or "unmotivated person". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word for |
| German | The word "Kuh" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European word "*gʰów-s". It also means "heifer" and "calf". |
| Greek | The Greek word for 'cow', αγελάδα, may derive from the Sanskrit 'gaus', meaning 'cow' or 'ox', suggesting linguistic exchange and cultural connections spanning centuries and vast geographical distances. |
| Gujarati | The word "ગાય" also means "voice" in Sanskrit, and is cognate with the English word "covet". |
| Haitian Creole | Béf in Haitian Creole comes from the French word "bœuf" meaning "ox" and in the Haitian context, it means "cow". |
| Hausa | The word saniya also means 'she-goat' in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, the word "pipi" also means "female". |
| Hebrew | The word "פָּרָה" can also refer to a young female camel or calf. |
| Hindi | गाय (cow) also means a speech that is a collection of stories. |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "nyuj" not only means "cow" but also refers to females, particularly young or unmarried women. |
| Hungarian | Tehénszerszámmal 'botos bottal', tehénhús, illetve szalonna (tehén, tehénke, tehénke) jelölteti és hívogatták a hentesek árujukat. |
| Icelandic | The term "kýr" was used in the past for both steers and cows before developing its current gendered meaning; similarly in Finnish and Hungarian, the same term is used for both male and female cattle. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word for "cow", "ehi", is derived from the Proto-Benue-Congo word for "large mammal" and also means "elephant" in some dialects. |
| Indonesian | "Lembu" is derived from Proto-Austronesian "*kambu", which could also refer to "buffalo", with the distinction "sapi" later loaned from Sanskrit during the Hindu period. |
| Irish | The word "bó" in Irish can also refer to a goddess or a female spirit. |
| Italian | The Italian word "mucca" derives from the Latin "muccus" meaning "mucus", referring to the cow's nasal secretions. |
| Japanese | The word "牛" (ushi) originally meant "large beast" and was used to refer to a variety of animals, including deer and horses. |
| Javanese | Sapi can also refer to "meat" and specifically "beef." |
| Kannada | "ಹಸು" also means "hunger" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | The word "сиыр" also means "milk" in Kazakh |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "គោ" also means "elephant" and is of Old Khmer origin. |
| Korean | The Korean word '소' can also mean 'sound', as in the word '소리' (sound). |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "çêlek" also refers to a wooden spoon or scoop used for cooking and eating. |
| Kyrgyz | In certain contexts, "уй" can also signify "home" or "residence" within Kyrgyz society. |
| Lao | The word "ງົວ" can also refer to a buffalo or a plough ox. |
| Latin | The term "vitula eligans" is derived from the Latin word "vitulus" which refers to both a calf and a heifer. |
| Latvian | In Latvian, "govs" originally referred to any hooved animal, not just cows specifically. |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "karvė" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*krew-," which also means "meat," indicating the cow's significance as a source of sustenance. |
| Luxembourgish | "Kéi" also means "female" in Luxembourgish, related to the German "Kuh" and the English "quean" or "queenie". |
| Macedonian | The word "крава" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *korva, meaning "cow." |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "ombivavy" is derived from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian root *bawi "cow, buffalo". |
| Malay | The Malay word 'lembu', besides meaning 'cow', can also refer to the bull constellation, Taurus. |
| Malayalam | The word 'പശു' (cow) in Malayalam can also mean 'hunger' or 'to consume'. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word 'baqra' shares its etymology with the Arabic 'baqarah' and Hebrew 'baqarah' words for a cow or heifer. |
| Maori | Kau, meaning 'cow' in Māori, also refers to the act of milking a cow or the place where cows are kept. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, "गाय" (cow) is also used as a term of respect for an elderly woman. |
| Mongolian | The word "үхэр" also carries the connotations of "strength" and "power" in Mongolian culture. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | Although the word "နွားမ" means "cow" in the modern context, it used to mean "female buffalo" in the past. |
| Nepali | The word "गाई" can also mean "earth" or "female" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, "ku" also means "female dog" as well as "the call or sound of birds". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Nyanja, "ng'ombe" can also refer to buffaloes or other large, herbivorous mammals. |
| Pashto | In some contexts, "غوا" can also refer to a "female buffalo" or a "buffalo calf" in Pashto. |
| Persian | The word "گاو" can also mean "bull" or a person who is "big and strong" in Persian. |
| Polish | Although "krowa" means cow, its alternate forms can mean "crow" and "to steal" |
| Punjabi | 'ਗਾਂ' (cow) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '*gʷów-' (cow), which also appears in Sanskrit ('go'), Latin ('bos'), and English ('cow'). |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "vacă" is derived from the Latin "vacca" and can also refer to a female elephant in the context of a circus. |
| Russian | The word "корова" originally meant "domestic animal" and is related to the verb "кормить" (to feed). |
| Samoan | The word "povi" is cognate with the Polynesian word "*poki" meaning "calf" or "cattle" and can refer to cows, horses, or pigs in certain contexts. |
| Scots Gaelic | 'Bò' can also mean 'a period of time' or 'a season' in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | "Крава" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "korova", which also means "female cow". |
| Sesotho | The word 'khomo' is cognate with Nguni languages, but has a secondary meaning of 'meat'. |
| Shona | The English word "ox" is derived from Proto-Indo-European *(h₁)ews or *(h₁)us "aurochs/bison" via Old English "oxa", later "ōx". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word for cow, ڳئون, also refers to a piece of gold jewelry worn by women on special occasions. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The term 'එළදෙන' (cow) also means 'one who gives' in Sinhala. |
| Slovak | "Krava" also means "coward" in Slovak, sharing an etymology with the Czech and Polish languages. |
| Slovenian | The word krava also means 'sorcery' or 'bewitching' and is the root of the word kravatar, meaning 'sorcerer'. |
| Somali | The Somali word "sac" originates from the Arabic word "saʾq", meaning "leg" or "shank" |
| Spanish | The word "vaca" in Spanish comes from the Latin word "vacca," which also means "cow." However, in some Spanish-speaking countries, such as Argentina and Uruguay, "vaca" can also refer to female cattle in general, while "toro" is used specifically for bulls. |
| Sundanese | In the archaic Sundanese lexicon, "sapi" denoted a male bull while "lembu" denoted a female cow. |
| Swahili | "Ng'ombe" (cow) is also related to the word "kung'oa" (to pull out), which refers to the process of pulling a newborn calf out of its mother's womb. |
| Swedish | In Swedish, 'ko' can also mean 'female' or be used as a friendly term of address, especially for a young woman. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Philippine mythology, 'baka' also refers to a type of forest spirit that protects the animals and mountains. |
| Tajik | Гов in Tajik derives from Old-Persian gau- meaning livestock and is closely related to Hindi gav meaning village which in itself derives from gau-} |
| Tamil | The word "மாடு" can also mean "strength" or "power" in Tamil. |
| Telugu | The Telugu word “ఆవు” derives from the Sanskrit word गो (go) meaning cattle, and can also refer to any bovine animal. |
| Thai | "วัว" can mean "money", "to chase" or "to run" in certain contexts. |
| Turkish | İnek is originally an Indo-European word and in many Germanic languages (like in English) it refers to male calves while in Turkish it refers to female cows. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "корова" (cow) is cognate with the English word "cow" and is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷou- "cow, bull". |
| Urdu | The word "گائے" can also refer to a type of grass or a type of snake in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | The word "sigir" in Uzbek also refers to the constellation Taurus. |
| Vietnamese | In Vietnamese, |
| Welsh | The word 'buwch' is derived from the Proto-Celtic word 'boug-', shared with other Celtic languages like Irish 'bó' and Scottish Gaelic 'bò'. |
| Xhosa | "Inkomo" also means "wealth" or "assets" in Xhosa. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "קו" is of Hebrew origin and is related to the Hebrew word "קוה" meaning "hope". |
| Yoruba | 'Maalu' can refer to either a female or male bovine in Yoruba; the male equivalent is 'ògùn maa' |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'inkomo' also means 'wealth' and 'treasure' in some contexts. |
| English | The word "cow" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷōus, meaning "cattle" or "horned animal". |