Debt in Different Languages
Discover 'Debt' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Debt
Afrikaans skuld | ||
Albanian borxh | ||
Amharic ዕዳ | ||
Arabic دين | ||
Armenian պարտք | ||
Assamese ধাৰ | ||
Aymara manu | ||
Azerbaijani borc | ||
Bambara juru | ||
Basque zorra | ||
Belarusian запазычанасць | ||
Bengali debtণ | ||
Bhojpuri कर्ज | ||
Bosnian dug | ||
Bulgarian дълг | ||
Catalan deute | ||
Cebuano utang | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 债务 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 債務 | ||
Corsican debitu | ||
Croatian dug | ||
Czech dluh | ||
Danish gæld | ||
Dhivehi ދަރަނި | ||
Dogri कर्ज | ||
Dutch schuld | ||
English debt | ||
Esperanto ŝuldo | ||
Estonian võlg | ||
Ewe fe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) utang | ||
Finnish velka | ||
French dette | ||
Frisian skuld | ||
Galician débeda | ||
Georgian ვალი | ||
German schuld | ||
Greek χρέος | ||
Guarani tepyme'ẽrã | ||
Gujarati દેવું | ||
Haitian Creole dèt | ||
Hausa bashi | ||
Hawaiian ʻaiʻē | ||
Hebrew חוֹב | ||
Hindi कर्ज | ||
Hmong nuj nqis | ||
Hungarian adósság | ||
Icelandic skuld | ||
Igbo ụgwọ | ||
Ilocano utang | ||
Indonesian hutang | ||
Irish fiach | ||
Italian debito | ||
Japanese 債務 | ||
Javanese utang | ||
Kannada ಸಾಲ | ||
Kazakh қарыз | ||
Khmer បំណុល | ||
Kinyarwanda umwenda | ||
Konkani कर्ज | ||
Korean 빚 | ||
Krio dɛt | ||
Kurdish suc | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) قەرز | ||
Kyrgyz карыз | ||
Lao ຫນີ້ສິນ | ||
Latin debitum | ||
Latvian parāds | ||
Lingala nyongo | ||
Lithuanian skolos | ||
Luganda ebbanja | ||
Luxembourgish schold | ||
Macedonian долг | ||
Maithili कर्जा | ||
Malagasy trosa | ||
Malay hutang | ||
Malayalam കടം | ||
Maltese dejn | ||
Maori nama | ||
Marathi कर्ज | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯦꯟꯗꯣꯟ | ||
Mizo leiba | ||
Mongolian өр | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အကြွေး | ||
Nepali .ण | ||
Norwegian gjeld | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) ngongole | ||
Odia (Oriya) ରୂଣ | ||
Oromo liqaa | ||
Pashto پور | ||
Persian بدهی | ||
Polish dług | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) dívida | ||
Punjabi ਕਰਜ਼ਾ | ||
Quechua manu | ||
Romanian creanţă | ||
Russian долг | ||
Samoan aitalafu | ||
Sanskrit ऋण | ||
Scots Gaelic fiachan | ||
Sepedi sekoloto | ||
Serbian дуг | ||
Sesotho mokoloto | ||
Shona chikwereti | ||
Sindhi قرض | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ණය | ||
Slovak dlh | ||
Slovenian dolga | ||
Somali deyn | ||
Spanish deuda | ||
Sundanese hutang | ||
Swahili deni | ||
Swedish skuld | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) utang | ||
Tajik қарз | ||
Tamil கடன் | ||
Tatar бурыч | ||
Telugu అప్పు | ||
Thai หนี้ | ||
Tigrinya ዕዳ | ||
Tsonga xikweleti | ||
Turkish borç | ||
Turkmen bergisi | ||
Twi (Akan) ɛka | ||
Ukrainian борг | ||
Urdu قرض | ||
Uyghur قەرز | ||
Uzbek qarz | ||
Vietnamese món nợ | ||
Welsh dyled | ||
Xhosa ityala | ||
Yiddish כויוו | ||
Yoruba gbese | ||
Zulu isikweletu |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "skuld" can also refer to a feeling of guilt or remorse, or a legal obligation. |
| Albanian | The word "borxh" in Albanian is derived from the Latin word "fors", meaning "chance," and also signifies "luck" or "fate" in some contexts. |
| Amharic | The word "ዕዳ" can also mean "burden" or "obligation". |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "دين" (dīn) also means "religion" or "faith". |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "պարտք" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *par-, meaning "to give back" and "to owe", suggesting a reciprocal obligation in lending and borrowing. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "borc" in Azerbaijani derives from the Persian word "vard" meaning "gift". The concept has evolved over time, with "borc" now referring to a financial obligation. |
| Basque | The Basque word "zorra" can also mean 'fox' in Spanish, likely due to the similarity in pronunciation and the shared Indo-European root *h₂wers- 'beast' |
| Belarusian | The word |
| Bengali | The word 'debtণ' is derived from a Sanskrit root meaning 'to bind' and is related to the English word 'duty'. |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, 'dug' can also refer to a hole in the ground or a unit of measurement for volume. |
| Bulgarian | The word "дълг" also means "duty" or "obligation" in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | In the past, "deute" also meant "due" or "tax", and also "duty" in the sense of "obligation" |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, the term "utang" holds additional metaphorical meanings, such as obligations, promises, or moral debts. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word "债务" is derived from the Chinese characters "借" (borrow) and "务" (duty), signifying an obligation to repay a borrowed amount. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The word "債務" can also mean "obligation" or "responsibility" in Chinese. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "debitu" can also refer to a "credit" or a "loan". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, "dug" has meanings related to "debt", "length", and "sound". |
| Czech | In Slavic languages, "dluh" shares a common origin with the word for "long" and can imply a sense of burden or delay. |
| Danish | The Old Norse word gælda meant "to pay" or "to perform an obligation" and could refer to any form of payment or compensation, not only to monetary debt. |
| Dutch | In Old Dutch 'schuld' signified 'what one has on his shoulders', as from the Latin 'culpa'. |
| Esperanto | Derived from Latin "culpa" (fault), "ŝuldo" also retains its original meaning, meaning "transgression or offense." |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "võlg" is related to the Finnish word "velka" and the Hungarian word "adósság". |
| Finnish | Velka comes from the Proto-Germanic "welhaną" with the original meaning being "something to be paid for" |
| French | Derived from Latin, 'debita,' meaning 'what is owed,' 'dette' can also denote a legal obligation to provide money or service. |
| Frisian | Skuld, in the Frisian dialect spoken on the North Frisian island of Föhr, also means "guilt". |
| Galician | The word "débeda" in Galician is a derivative of the Latin word "debitus", which also means debt. |
| Georgian | The word “ვალი” (debt) in Georgian derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as the English word “wealth”. |
| German | "Schuld" originally meant "guilt" or "fault" in Old High German, which still holds true in modern German for the phrases "Schuld haben" (to be guilty) or "Schuld tragen" (to bear the guilt). |
| Greek | In ancient Greek, 'χρέος' also meant "need" or "obligation," and was related to words like 'χρεία' (need) and 'χράω' (to use). |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word for "debt" is an example of a false friend, as it derives from the Indo-Aryan root *dʰey-*, meaning "to place" or "to put." |
| Haitian Creole | Dèt (debt) in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word "dette" and can also mean a "burden" or "obligation" in a broader sense. |
| Hausa | "Bashi" can mean "debt, liability, obligation, mortgage" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | ʻAiʻē also refers to the act of being in debt or a debtor, and is thought to have originated from a combination of the words ʻai (to eat) and ʻē (to borrow). |
| Hebrew | While the Hebrew word "חוֹב" is typically translated as "debt," it can also mean "sin" or "guilt". |
| Hindi | The word "कर्ज" (karza) derives from the Sanskrit "krj" meaning "to borrow" or "to owe." |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "nuj nqis" can also mean "responsibility" or "obligation." |
| Hungarian | In loanwords, the word “adósság” also refers to the sum of the duties to be paid for a given year, or the duty itself. |
| Icelandic | The word "skuld" also means "fate" or "destiny" in Icelandic. |
| Igbo | "Ụgwọ" derives from the verb "ụgụ," meaning "to owe" or "to be indebted," and also refers to the object or amount owed. |
| Indonesian | Hutang in Indonesian comes from Arabic 'huttan' which originally means 'to hide' and it is related to 'hajat', meaning 'something needed' or a 'necessity'. |
| Irish | The word "fiach" in Irish also means "raven" and is related to the Latin word "corvus". |
| Italian | The word "debito" can also mean "duty" or "obligation" in Italian. |
| Japanese | The word 債務, meaning "debt," is written with a character that was originally used to represent a bond or obligation. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "utang" (debt) also refers to a ritual obligation to repay a kindness or favor. |
| Kannada | The term "ಸಾಲ" in Kannada carries an alternate connotation of "a series", often found in the context of a sequence or a line. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "қарыз" can also refer to a loan or a favor that is expected to be repaid. |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "បំណុល" (debt) shares the same etymological root as the Thai word "หนี้" (debt), both deriving from the Proto-Austroasiatic word *ɲuŋ |
| Korean | "빚" is a Sino-Korean word derived from the Middle Chinese word "piet" and also means "to owe". |
| Kurdish | The word "suc" in Kurdish is derived from the Persian word "sog" and also means "benefit" or "income". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "карыз" can also refer to a loan or a mortgage. |
| Lao | The term 'หนี้สิน' in Lao is an umbrella term that encompasses both 'loan' and 'debt'. |
| Latin | The Latin word "debitum" also means "duty" or "obligation." |
| Latvian | The term parāds derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁perǵʰ- 'to owe, be subject to' |
| Lithuanian | The word "skolos" in Lithuanian also has the alternate meaning of "loss" or "damage". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Schold" is derived from the German word "Schuld" and shares the same meaning in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | "Долг" (debt) shares the same etymology with the word "дług" in Polish and the word "dług" in Slovak, all meaning "debt." |
| Malagasy | Malagasy "trosa" is thought to share an etymological relation to English "trust". |
| Malay | The word "hutang" in Malay shares its roots with the Sanskrit words "kudra" (horse) and "tungga" (saddle), suggesting the ancient practice of pledging horses as collateral. |
| Malayalam | The word "കടം" (kadam) in Malayalam also refers to a measurement of length equal to approximately 20 inches. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "dejn" is derived from the Latin word "debitum", meaning "that which is owed". |
| Maori | Though today 'nama' only represents 'debt' in Maori, it has also been used to refer to 'gifts' or 'things received', hinting at the reciprocal nature of pre-colonial economics. |
| Marathi | The word "कर्ज" comes from the Sanskrit word "ऋण" (pronounced as "runa"), which also means "debt" or "obligation." |
| Mongolian | The word "өр" can also refer to a "burden", like a moral obligation. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "အကြွေး" originates from the Pali word "karaṇa" which means "act, deed, task, cause"} |
| Nepali | The word "ण" is also used to mean "mortgage" or "bond" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | "Gjeld" is cognate with English "yield" and "geld" (payment), as well as German "gelt" (money). |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word ngongole also means 'a burden or an obligation' in Chichewa. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "پور" also means "to carry on one's back". |
| Persian | The word "بدهی" also means "obligation" or "responsibility" in Persian. |
| Polish | "Dług" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dъlъgъ, meaning "long". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "dívida" in Portuguese can also refer to a "promise" or an "obligation". |
| Punjabi | In Sanskrit, the word "करज़ा" also means "borrowing; asking" and not only "debt," with which it is mostly associated in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | «Creanţă» comes from the Latin word «credens» which means «trusting» or «believer», but also «debtor» and «creditor». |
| Russian | The Russian word "долг" can also mean "duty" or "obligation". |
| Samoan | In Samoan, the word "aitalafu" refers specifically to a debt that is owed to a family member or close friend, rather than a financial institution. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Fiacha" is also a plural of "fiu" (debtor). |
| Serbian | The word "дуг" also means "arc" in Serbian, likely deriving from the Proto-Slavic "*dǫgъ" meaning "bend" or "curve". |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word 'mokoloto' is derived from the root '-kolota', which means 'to borrow or lend'. This suggests that debt is viewed as a form of borrowing in Sesotho culture. |
| Shona | The Shona word 'chikwereti' literally means 'something that is hanging' and is also used to refer to an unpaid loan. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word 'قرض' can also mean 'loan' or 'borrowing' |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word ණය (debt) also refers to a monetary system in ancient Sri Lanka. |
| Slovak | The word "dlh" can also mean "mortgage" or "loan". |
| Slovenian | The Slovene word "dolga" also signifies an elongated object, like the German "Dille", an old agricultural tool for cutting. |
| Somali | The term "deyn" derives from the Arabic word "dayn", meaning both "debt" and "liability." |
| Spanish | The word "deuda" in Spanish originates from the Latin "debita," meaning "something owed" or "due." |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "hutang" has additional meanings depending on the context, including "shortcoming" and "failing to fulfill an obligation."} |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "deni" also means "sin" or "wrongdoing". |
| Swedish | "Skuld" in Swedish also refers to one of the three Norns in Norse mythology, who weaves the thread of destiny. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The root word of "utang" is the Sanskrit word "rtna" that means "something received" as an equivalent to something given |
| Tajik | The word "қарз" in Tajik is derived from the Persian word "qarz", which means "loan" or "borrowing", and is also a cognate of the Sanskrit word "kṛṇa" meaning "to borrow" or "to be in debt." |
| Tamil | கடன் may also mean "credit" or the "debit" side of an account book. |
| Telugu | The word "అప్పు" (debt) in Telugu is derived from the Proto-Dravidian word *appa, meaning "to receive". |
| Thai | หนี้ can also mean 'sin', and can be used in contexts unrelated to financial matters, such as 'the sins of the father are visited upon the son'. |
| Turkish | The word "borç" can also refer to a "duty" or a "burden" in Turkish, reflecting its historical origin as a "load" or "weight" carried on one's back. |
| Ukrainian | In addition to its primary meaning of "debt," the Ukrainian word "борг" also carries the connotation of a "burden" or "obligation." |
| Urdu | "قرض" can also mean "a loan", "an amount of money borrowed" in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | The word "qarz" can also mean "borrowed" or "loaned" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | The word "món nợ" can also refer to a "burden" or "obligation". |
| Welsh | In Welsh, "dyled" shares roots with "diwylliant" (culture), reflecting the ancestral importance of reciprocal ties in preserving communal values. |
| Xhosa | The word 'ityala' can also denote a complaint, grievance, or dispute that needs to be addressed in a court setting. |
| Yiddish | The word "כויוו" (khoyuv) in Yiddish is derived from the Hebrew word "חוב" (chov) and also has the alternate meaning of "obligation". |
| Yoruba | "Gbese" can colloquially mean "sin" or "offense" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, "isikweletu" can also mean obligation or an amount due that may not necessarily be monetary. |
| English | The word "debt" originates from the Latin word "debitum," meaning "that which is owed." |