Democracy in Different Languages
Discover 'Democracy' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Democracy
Afrikaans demokrasie | ||
Albanian demokraci | ||
Amharic ዲሞክራሲ | ||
Arabic ديمقراطية | ||
Armenian ժողովրդավարություն | ||
Assamese গণতন্ত্ৰ | ||
Aymara democracia | ||
Azerbaijani demokratiya | ||
Bambara bɛɛjɛfanga | ||
Basque demokrazia | ||
Belarusian дэмакратыя | ||
Bengali গণতন্ত্র | ||
Bhojpuri लोकतंत्र | ||
Bosnian demokratija | ||
Bulgarian демокрация | ||
Catalan democràcia | ||
Cebuano demokrasya | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 民主 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 民主 | ||
Corsican demucrazia | ||
Croatian demokracija | ||
Czech demokracie | ||
Danish demokrati | ||
Dhivehi ޑިމޮކްރަަސީ | ||
Dogri जम्हूरीयत | ||
Dutch democratie | ||
English democracy | ||
Esperanto demokratio | ||
Estonian demokraatia | ||
Ewe ablɔɖegbadza | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) demokrasya | ||
Finnish demokratia | ||
French la démocratie | ||
Frisian demokrasy | ||
Galician democracia | ||
Georgian დემოკრატია | ||
German demokratie | ||
Greek δημοκρατία | ||
Guarani jekupyty | ||
Gujarati લોકશાહી | ||
Haitian Creole demokrasi | ||
Hausa dimokiradiyya | ||
Hawaiian aupuni kemokalaka | ||
Hebrew דֵמוֹקרָטִיָה | ||
Hindi जनतंत्र | ||
Hmong kev ywj pheej | ||
Hungarian demokrácia | ||
Icelandic lýðræði | ||
Igbo ochichi onye kwuo uche ya | ||
Ilocano demokrasia | ||
Indonesian demokrasi | ||
Irish daonlathas | ||
Italian democrazia | ||
Japanese 民主主義 | ||
Javanese demokrasi | ||
Kannada ಪ್ರಜಾಪ್ರಭುತ್ವ | ||
Kazakh демократия | ||
Khmer ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ | ||
Kinyarwanda demokarasi | ||
Konkani लोकशाय | ||
Korean 민주주의 | ||
Krio gɔvmɛnt fɔ di pipul | ||
Kurdish dimûqratî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دیموکراتیەت | ||
Kyrgyz демократия | ||
Lao ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ | ||
Latin democratiam | ||
Latvian demokrātija | ||
Lingala demokrasi | ||
Lithuanian demokratija | ||
Luganda demokulasiya | ||
Luxembourgish demokratie | ||
Macedonian демократија | ||
Maithili लोकतंत्र | ||
Malagasy demokrasia | ||
Malay demokrasi | ||
Malayalam ജനാധിപത്യം | ||
Maltese demokrazija | ||
Maori manapori | ||
Marathi लोकशाही | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯒꯅꯇꯟꯇ꯭ꯔ | ||
Mizo mipui rorelna | ||
Mongolian ардчилал | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဒီမိုကရေစီ | ||
Nepali प्रजातन्त्र | ||
Norwegian demokrati | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) demokalase | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଗଣତନ୍ତ୍ର | ||
Oromo dimookiraasii | ||
Pashto ډیموکراسي | ||
Persian دموکراسی | ||
Polish demokracja | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) democracia | ||
Punjabi ਲੋਕਤੰਤਰ | ||
Quechua democracia | ||
Romanian democraţie | ||
Russian демократия | ||
Samoan temokalasi | ||
Sanskrit लोकतंत्र | ||
Scots Gaelic deamocrasaidh | ||
Sepedi temokrasi | ||
Serbian демократија | ||
Sesotho demokrasi | ||
Shona democracy | ||
Sindhi جمهوريت | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ප්රජාතන්ත්රවාදය | ||
Slovak demokracia | ||
Slovenian demokracija | ||
Somali dimuqraadiyadda | ||
Spanish democracia | ||
Sundanese démokrasi | ||
Swahili demokrasia | ||
Swedish demokrati | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) demokrasya | ||
Tajik демократия | ||
Tamil ஜனநாயகம் | ||
Tatar демократия | ||
Telugu ప్రజాస్వామ్యం | ||
Thai ประชาธิปไตย | ||
Tigrinya ዲሞክራሲ | ||
Tsonga demokrasi | ||
Turkish demokrasi | ||
Turkmen demokratiýa | ||
Twi (Akan) kabimamenkabi | ||
Ukrainian демократія | ||
Urdu جمہوریت | ||
Uyghur دېموكراتىيە | ||
Uzbek demokratiya | ||
Vietnamese dân chủ | ||
Welsh democratiaeth | ||
Xhosa idemokhrasi | ||
Yiddish דעמאקראטיע | ||
Yoruba ijoba tiwantiwa | ||
Zulu intando yeningi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, 'demokrasie' can also mean 'rule by the people' like the Greek word 'demokratia' it originates from. |
| Albanian | Albanian demokraci comes from the French démocratie and Greek demokratia, and can also be used to mean the 'rule of the majority'. |
| Amharic | ዲሞ from Greek "demos = people" + -κρασι from Greek "-kratia = power." |
| Arabic | ديمقراطية (dīmuqrāṭīyah) is related to the word "قمر" (qamar), which means "moon" in Arabic, suggesting a cosmic order and balance in its concept. |
| Azerbaijani | "Demokratiya" comes from the Greek "dēmos" (people) and "kratos" (power). |
| Basque | The word 'demokrazia' is a Basque loanword from Spanish, but also has a secondary meaning of "mob" or "rabble". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "дэмакратыя" means "democracy" and comes from the Greek word "δημοκρατία," which means "rule by the people." |
| Bengali | The word "গণতন্ত্র" (democracy) in Bengali literally means "power of the people". |
| Bosnian | The word 'demokratija' is derived from the Greek words 'demos' (people) and 'kratos' (power). |
| Bulgarian | Българската дума “демокрация” идва от старогръцки и първоначално обозначава форма на държавно управление. |
| Catalan | The term originated from Greek roots meaning “popular government.” |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, the word "demokrasya" can also mean "people's rule" or "government by the people." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 民主, which comes from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (rule), literally means "rule of the people". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 民主 originated in ancient Greek as 'demos,' meaning people, and 'kratos,' meaning power, and was first translated as 'min zhu' in China in the 1890s, which literally translates to 'the people are masters'. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word 'demokracija' comes from the Ancient Greek word 'δημοκρατία' (dēmokratiā), which was first used by Aristotle to describe the political system of ancient Greece. |
| Czech | The Czech word "demokracie" is derived from the Greek "demokratia", meaning "rule by the people". |
| Danish | The word 'demokrati' in Danish comes from the Greek word 'dēmokratía', which means 'rule by the people'. |
| Dutch | In Dutch, "democratie" also means "democracy", but it comes from the Greek word "dēmos" (people) and "kratos" (rule). |
| Esperanto | "Demokratio" is derived from the same root as "demos" (people) and "kratein" (to rule), but in Esperanto it also refers to the system in which the people are the ones who decide. |
| Estonian | In 1865, "demokraatia" also referred to "popular power". |
| Finnish | The word 'demokratia' comes from the Greek words 'demos', meaning 'people', and 'kratos', meaning 'power'. |
| French | The word "la démocratie" also relates to ancient Sparta\u2019s demokratia, a term associated with the division of land among soldiers. |
| Frisian | Frisian "demokrasy" comes from the Greek "dēmokratia" but has other meanings like "the people as a whole" or "the people's rights". |
| Galician | No Galician, "democracia" is also a synonym for "party political activity." |
| Georgian | The word |
| German | In the German language the term 'Demokratie' can also refer to the 'people' or the 'nation' |
| Greek | "Δημοκρατία" is a compound Greek word meaning "rule of the people". |
| Gujarati | Derived from Greek "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power), it reflects people's power in decision-making. |
| Haitian Creole | Haitian Creole 'demokrasi' is derived from the French word 'démocratie' and originally meant 'the people's power' |
| Hausa | Derived from the Greek "demos" (people), "kratos" (power), meaning "power of the people". |
| Hawaiian | The word "aupuni kemokalaka" literally means "government of the common people" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | משמעות המילה "דמוקרטיה" בעברית נגזרת משתי המילים "דמוס" (עם) ו"קרטוס" (כוח). |
| Hindi | जनतंत्र' शब्द संस्कृत के 'जन' (लोग) और 'तंत्र' (शासन) शब्दों से मिलकर बना है, जिसका अर्थ है 'लोगों का शासन'। |
| Hmong | The word "kev ywj pheej" can also refer to a traditional Hmong assembly where decisions are made through consensus. |
| Hungarian | A "demokrácia" szó eredeti görög jelentése "népuralom", amely a görög "demosz" (nép) és "kratosz" (uralom) szavak összetételéből származik. |
| Icelandic | The word "lýðræði" is derived from the Old Norse word "lýðr", meaning "people", and "ræði", meaning "rule". It can also refer to a popular assembly or a form of government where power is vested in the people. |
| Igbo | The phrase 'ochichi onye kwuo uche ya' literally means 'a gathering where everyone speaks their mind' and implies that everyone has the freedom to participate in government. |
| Indonesian | Indonesian "demokrasi" also means "public opinion" or "people's right to speak their mind". |
| Irish | Daonlathas was a legal concept in ancient Irish law similar to the modern concept of 'due process'. |
| Italian | In Italian, the word 'democrazia' is a derivative of the Greek word 'demokratia', meaning 'rule by the people'. |
| Japanese | The word "民主主義" (democracy) was coined in the Meiji era, and its original meaning was "government by the people". |
| Javanese | "Demokrasi" berasal dari bahasa Sansekerta, "demos" yang artinya rakyat, dan "kratos" yang artinya kekuasaan. |
| Kazakh | Слово “демократия” в казахском языке имеет более широкое значение, обозначая не только форму правления, но и справедливость, равенство и социальную гармонию. |
| Korean | The word "민주주의" is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power), meaning "power to the people" |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "dimûqratî" is derived from the Greek word "demokratia", meaning "rule by the people." |
| Kyrgyz | Слово «демократия» произошло от греческих слов «demos» («народ») и «kratos» («власть»). |
| Latin | The word "democratiam" comes from the Greek word "dēmokratía," which means "rule by the people." |
| Latvian | The Latvian word for democracy, “demokrātija”, originally meant "the power of the people". |
| Lithuanian | The word "demokratija" is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power). |
| Luxembourgish | Demokratie is also used specifically for the democratic structure of the state or the state itself. |
| Macedonian | The word "демократија" (democracy) in Macedonian shares its etymology with the Greek word "δημοκρατία", which literally means "rule of the people". |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, "demokrasia" also refers to a type of dance accompanied by traditional chanting. |
| Malay | The Malay word "demokrasi" is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (rule) and refers to a system of government in which all or many citizens can participate. |
| Maltese | "Demokrazija" derives from the classical Greek "dēmokratia" via French "démocratie" and ultimately means "rule of people". |
| Maori | The word "manapori" is also related to the concepts of power, influence, and authority. |
| Marathi | The word "लोकशाही" (democracy) in Marathi is derived from the Sanskrit word "लोक" (people) and "शासन" (rule), and can also refer to a type of government where the people have a say in how they are governed. |
| Mongolian | ардчилал has historical meaning of 'democratic republic', although this specific meaning only recently found use |
| Nepali | The word 'प्रजातन्त्र' (democracy) also refers to a political system in which the sovereign power is vested in the people who exercise it through representatives elected by them. |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, demokrati can also refer to the majority vote in a group or committee. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Chichewa, ‘demokalase’, from English, is closely associated with words like ‘freedom’ that have come to be closely associated with western colonial practices |
| Pashto | In Pashto, the word "ډیموکراسي" can also refer to a type of traditional tribal council. |
| Persian | The Persian word "دموکراسی" ultimately derives from the Ancient Greek "δημοκρατία" meaning "rule by the people". |
| Polish | The Polish word «demokracja» can refer to both direct and indirect forms of democracy. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | No português do Brasil, "democracia" também pode indicar uma espécie de doce regional. |
| Punjabi | लोकतंत्र शब्द की उत्पत्ति ग्रीक भाषा के 'लोकस' (लोग) और 'क्रटॉस' (शासन) शब्दों से हुई है। |
| Romanian | The word "democraţie" is derived from the Greek word "demokratia" which means "rule by the people." |
| Russian | The word "демократия" in Russian, like the English word "democracy", is derived from the Ancient Greek word "δημοκρατία" (dēmokratía), meaning "rule of the people". |
| Samoan | "Temokalasi" is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power), hence meaning "power of the people". |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "deamocrasaidh" comes from the Greek word "dēmokratía," meaning "rule by the people." |
| Serbian | The Serbian word „demokratija“ derives from the Greek terms „dēmos“ (people) and „kratēia“ (power), thus signifying “people power”. |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, 'demokrasi' is also used to refer to a 'gathering where issues are decided upon by consensus' |
| Shona | In Shona, 'democracy' translates to 'dhimokurasi,' a term adopted from the English language. |
| Sindhi | جمهوريت is cognate with the English word "republic" |
| Slovak | V slovenčine slovo demokracia vzniklo z gréckeho demokratia, ale znamená aj vládu ľudu. |
| Slovenian | In Slovene, "demokracija" not only means "democracy," but also "administration of property owned by local communities." |
| Somali | The term is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power). |
| Spanish | The word "democracia" comes from the Greek "dēmokratia," meaning "rule by the people." |
| Sundanese | The word "démokrasi" in Sundanese is derived from the Indonesian word, which in turn is derived from the Greek words "dêmos" (people) and "kratos" (power). |
| Swahili | In Swahili, the origin of the word “demokrasia” has an etymological link to an older Bantu-speaking people’s concept of the word which is “to bargain until an agreement is reached”. |
| Swedish | The word 'demokrati' has its roots in the classical Greek terms 'demos', meaning the people, and 'kratos', meaning rule or strength. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Demokrasya in Tagalog is derived from the Greek words 'demos' ('people') and 'kratos' ('power'), implying people having control over government matters, and connotes an egalitarian distribution of political privileges. |
| Tajik | В таджикском языке слово «демократия» заимствовано из греческого через русский и имеет значение «народное правление». |
| Tamil | "Jana" means "people" and "ayagam" means "rule" in Tamil, hence the word "Janaayagam" translates to "people's rule".} |
| Telugu | "ప్రజాస్వామ్యం" (prajAswAmyam) is a Sanskrit compound noun composed of "ప్రజ" (prajA), meaning "people" or "citizens", and "स्वाम्य" (swAmya), meaning "rule" or "sovereignty". It is synonymous with the Greek term "δημοκρατία" (dēmokratia) from which the modern word "democracy" originates. |
| Thai | "ประชาธิปไตย" also means "sovereign power of the people" in Thai. |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "demokrasi" is derived from the Greek word "dēmokratia"} |
| Ukrainian | The word "демократія" (democracy) in Ukrainian is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (power), and can also refer to the power or rule of the majority. |
| Urdu | جمہوریت is an Urdu word primarily meaning "democracy", but can also mean "republic", "body or assembly of people", "community", or "congregation" in different contexts. |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "demokratiya" is derived from the Greek word "dēmokratía", meaning "rule by the people". |
| Vietnamese | Vietnamese "dân chủ" can also mean "the right to autonomy" |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "democratiaeth" is derived from the Greek word "dēmokratia", which means "rule of the people". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "idemokhrasi" (democracy) has an alternate meaning, referring to the "ruling people", as in a chief or king. |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, 'דעמאקראטיע' can also refer to a lottery or raffle drawing. |
| Yoruba | The phrase “ijóbà tíiwàn-ti-wà” comes from “ijó to rule” + “tíiwàn” which was originally the Yoruba translation of “individual” or “free man”, but now means “cîtizen”. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, 'democracy' is translated as 'intando yeningi', which literally means 'the will of the many'. |
| English | The word "democracy" is derived from the Greek words "demos" (people) and "kratos" (rule), and originally referred to a system of government in which all citizens had an equal say in decision-making. |