Deny in different languages

Deny in Different Languages

Discover 'Deny' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'deny' carries a significant weight in our daily conversations and written communications. To deny something is to refuse to accept its truth or existence, a powerful act that can lead to conflict, resolution, or deeper understanding. This simple word has played a crucial role in shaping our cultural narratives, from literature and film to politics and law.

Throughout history, deny has been used in various contexts, from Shakespeare's famous line

Deny


Deny in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansontken
The Afrikaans word "ontken" originates from the Dutch "ontkennen" and shares its meaning of "deny", but also has a broader sense of "refuse" or "reject".
Amharicመካድ
The word መካድ in Amharic can also refer to 'avoiding obstacles'.
Hausaƙaryatãwa
The word "ƙaryatãwa" can also mean "to withhold" or "to refuse" in Hausa.
Igbogọnahụ
The word "gọnahụ" can also mean "to refuse" or "to reject" in Igbo.
Malagasyhandà
The Malagasy word "handà" also means "hinder", "prevent", or "obstruct".
Nyanja (Chichewa)kukana
The word "kukana" in Nyanja (Chichewa) can also mean "to refuse" or "to decline".
Shonakuramba
The Shona word "kuramba" can also mean "hide" or "conceal".
Somalidiidi
`Diidi` is the negation particle in Somali, used for the present or future tense.
Sesothohana
In some dialects, "hana" can also refer to "to refrain" or "to forbid."
Swahilikanusha
The word "kanusha" also means "refuse" and may be related to the root "kan" (to withstand).
Xhosakhanyela
The word 'khanyela' is also used in the phrase 'ukukhanyela umoya', which means 'to mock the spirit'.
Yorubasẹ
The Yoruba verb "sẹ" can also mean "refuse", "disagree", or "contradict."
Zuluukuphika
The word 'ukuphika' in Zulu can also refer to 'covering' or 'concealing' something from view.
Bambaraka dalacɛ
Ewexe mᴐ
Kinyarwandaguhakana
Lingalakopekisa
Lugandaokweegaana
Sepedigana
Twi (Akan)si kwan

Deny in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicأنكر
The word "أنكر" in Arabic originally meant "to be hard" and "to reject".
Hebrewלְהַכּחִישׁ
The Hebrew word "לְהַכּחִישׁ" can also mean "to be disappointed" or "to be ashamed."
Pashtoرد کول
The word "رد کول" can also mean "to dismiss" or "to reject" in Pashto.
Arabicأنكر
The word "أنكر" in Arabic originally meant "to be hard" and "to reject".

Deny in Western European Languages

Albanianmohoj
The word "mohoj" in Albanian, meaning "deny," has roots in the Proto-Indo-European root *meh₂-, indicating "measure" or "calculate."
Basqueukatu
This verb can also mean 'forbid, prohibit, prevent'.
Catalannegar
The Catalan word "negar" also means "to submerge" and derives from the Vulgar Latin "negare" (to deny) and the Latin "nigrāre" (to blacken).
Croatianporicati
The verb 'poricati' also means 'to give birth' in Croatian, sharing a root with the noun 'porod' (birth).
Danishnægte
The word "nægte" is derived from the Old Norse word "neikta" meaning "to refuse" or "to say no".
Dutchontkennen
In Middle Dutch the verb "ontkennen" meant to not know something and only later on adopted the meaning "to deny something".
Englishdeny
Etymology: From Old French denier, from Latin denegare "to refuse" related to negare "to say no".
Frenchnier
The word "Nier" in French can also mean "to blacken" or "to tarnish".
Frisianûntkenne
The word ûntkenne can also mean 'to ignore' or 'to refuse'.
Galiciannegar
The Galician word "negar" has the same Indo-European root as the English word "neighbor".
Germanverweigern
The word "verweigern" can also mean to refrain from something, especially an action or request.
Icelandicneita
Neita, meaning "deny" in Icelandic, is derived from the Old Norse word "neita," meaning "to refuse" or "to deny,
Irishshéanadh
Sheanadh translates to "deny" and also means "to shun, refuse, or reject".
Italiannegare
The word 'negare' also means 'to not want' or 'to refuse' in Italian.
Luxembourgishofstreiden
Its Middle High German cognates `verstriden` and `verstricken` convey the semantic nuances of
Maltesetiċħad
The Maltese word "tiċħad" is derived from the Arabic word "jaḥad" which means "to deny" or "to renounce".
Norwegianbenekte
The Norwegian word "benekte" also means "contradict" or "disprove".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)negar
The word negar derives from the Latin "negare", whose other meanings include "say no," "refuse," and "forbid."
Scots Gaelicàicheadh
Àicheadh is derived from the Old Irish word "aithchedd," meaning "to refuse, deny, or reject."
Spanishnegar
Negar also means "to refuse" or "to contradict".
Swedishförneka
The word "förneka" in Swedish stems from the Old Norse word "fornækta," meaning "to refuse, disown, or deny."
Welshgwadu
The Welsh word "gwadu" can also mean "renounce" or "refuse".

Deny in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianадмаўляць
The word "адмаўляць" can also mean "to refuse" or "to decline" in Belarusian.
Bosnianporicati
"Poricati" is of Slavic origin and its root "por" also appears in the word "poreklo" (origin).
Bulgarianотричам
The word "отричам" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "отрещи", meaning to renounce or reject.
Czechodmítnout
The word "odmítnout" can also mean "to refuse" or "to reject" in Czech.
Estonianeitada
Eitata is a verb that means "to deny" in Estonian. It comes from the Proto-Finnic word "*eitada", which also meant "to deny". The word is related to the Finnish word "eittää", which has the same meaning.
Finnishkieltää
"Kieltää" also means "to forbid". The word "kielto" is related and it means "prohibition" or "ban".
Hungariantagadni
"Tagadni" also means "to refuse, to decline, to reject, to contradict"
Latviannoliegt
Latvian "noliegt" derives from "liegen" (German: to lie), and means "to deny," "to refuse," or "to oppose."
Lithuanianneigti
"Neigti" is also used to refer to the act of refusing to accept something as true or valid.
Macedonianнегира
The Macedonian word "негира" is ultimately derived from the Greek prefix "neg-" (negating, opposing, refusing), meaning "негација" (negation)
Polishzaprzeczać
The verb "zaprzeczać" comes from the Proto-Slavic verb "*prěti/*pirti", meaning "to fight", "to oppose".
Romaniannega
The Romanian word "nega" derives from Slavic, where its original meaning was "to scold" or "to speak out against".
Russianотказываться от
The verb "отказываться от" can also mean "to give up" or "to decline".
Serbianнегирати
"Негирати" comes from Latin negare and originally meant "to decline to accept," though in modern Serbian it usually just means "to deny."
Slovakpoprieť
Pôvod slova pochádza zo slovesa „prať‟, čo znamenalo popierať v starom českom práve.
Slovenianzanikati
"Zanikati" also means "disappear" in Slovenian.
Ukrainianзаперечувати
The Ukrainian word "заперечувати" is derived from the Old Slavic verb "prěti" (to argue, to deny), which is also the origin of the Russian word "спорить" (to argue).

Deny in South Asian Languages

Bengaliঅস্বীকার
In ancient times the term 'অস্বীকার' was often applied for refusing food and drinks during religious rituals and later it began to be more commonly employed in its present connotation.
Gujaratiનામંજૂર
The word "નામંજૂર" comes from the Persian word "nam-anjuman" meaning "disapproved" or "dismissed".
Hindiमना
The Hindi word 'मना' ('mana') may also refer to 'forbidding', 'prohibiting', or 'opposing' something or someone.
Kannadaನಿರಾಕರಿಸು
The word "ನಿರಾಕರಿಸು" can also mean to refuse, reject, or disavow something.
Malayalamനിഷേധിക്കുക
Marathiनाकारणे
The word "नाकारणे" ("deny") is cognate with the Hindi word "नाकरना"}
Nepaliअस्वीकार
The Nepali word "अस्वीकार" is cognate with the Sanskrit "asvi-kr-noti" meaning "to cause (someone) not to be or do (something)". In ancient Sanskrit it could also mean 'not to accept as a guest'.
Punjabiਇਨਕਾਰ
Sinhala (Sinhalese)ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරන්න
Tamilமறுக்க
In Tamil, the word "மறுக்க" can also mean "to reject", "to refuse", or "to disapprove of".
Teluguతిరస్కరించండి
Urduانکار
In addition to its meaning as "to deny," the Urdu word "انکار" (inkār) can also refer to "disavowal," "repudiation," or "disbelief."

Deny in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)拒绝
"拒绝" also means "give up" and "reject" in Chinese.
Chinese (Traditional)拒絕
In Ancient Chinese, the word 拒絕 means 'block a guest from entering', and is a combination of the characters 拒 (to resist) and 絕 (to cut off).
Japanese拒否する
It comes from the Old Japanese words "ko" (refuse) and "fu" (not), which are also the root of the word "kofusu". This word originally meant "to reject" but gained its modern meaning during the Edo period.
Korean부정하다
부정하다 can also mean 'unjust' or 'dishonest'
Mongolianүгүйсгэх
The word "үгүйсгэх" can also mean "to refuse" or "to reject".
Myanmar (Burmese)ငြင်း

Deny in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianmenyangkal
The word "menyangkal" also means "to counteract or to nullify" in the context of a substance or effect.
Javanesenolak
'Nolak' is a slang which comes from 'menolak'
Khmerបដិសេធ
The word "បដិសេធ" derives from the Sanskrit word "pratiṣedha" which also means "denial" or "rejection".
Laoປະຕິເສດ
Malaymenafikan
The word "menafikan" in Malay also signifies "contradicting" or "invalidating" something.
Thaiปฏิเสธ
ปฏิเสธ ('deny') shares the same root as the word 'ปฏิ' ('against')
Vietnamesephủ nhận
The word "phủ nhận" in Vietnamese can also mean "negate" or "reject".
Filipino (Tagalog)tanggihan

Deny in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniinkar et
The Azerbaijani word "inkar et" ("deny") is used in legal contexts to refer to "denial of guilt"
Kazakhжоққа шығару
Kyrgyzтануу
The word "тануу" in Kyrgyz also means "recognise" or "admit".
Tajikинкор кардан
The word "инкор кардан" may also refer to the concept of preventing or resisting.
Turkmeninkär et
Uzbekrad etish
The word "rad etish" in Uzbek can also mean "to be untrue" or "to be false"
Uyghurرەت قىلىش

Deny in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianhoole
In the 'Ōlelo No'eau 4515, “hoo” means "to go and tell someone"}
Maoriwhakakahore
The Maori phrase "whakakahore" is also used to describe the act of rejecting or opposing something.
Samoanfaafitia
In addition to its primary meaning of "deny," the Samoan word "faafitia" can also mean "disallow," "forbid," or "refuse permission."
Tagalog (Filipino)tanggihan
The word 'tanggihan' originally meant 'to refuse' and could also refer to a type of defensive sword play.

Deny in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajaniw saña
Guaranimbotove

Deny in International Languages

Esperantonei
"Nei" is also the root of some words like "neanto" ("nothing") and "neiista" ("pessimist").
Latinnegare
Negare also means "to postpone," "to decline," or "to refrain" in Latin.

Deny in Others Languages

Greekαρνούμαι
"αρνούμαι" also means "refuse","decline","disown" and "renounce"
Hmongtsis lees
In Hmong, the word “tsis lees” can also refer to a refusal to accept something as true or to recognize something as legitimate.
Kurdishînkarkirin
The Kurdish word 'înkarkirin' is derived from the Persian word 'انکار کردن' (inkār kardan), which also means 'to deny' or 'to refuse'.
Turkishreddetmek
"Reddetmek" is etymologically related to "ret etmek", which literally translates as "to give something in turn", hence meaning "to deny, refuse".
Xhosakhanyela
The word 'khanyela' is also used in the phrase 'ukukhanyela umoya', which means 'to mock the spirit'.
Yiddishלייקענען
The verb "לייקענען" in Yiddish can also mean "to refuse", "to reject", "to deny", "to disown", "to disclaim", or "to renounce".
Zuluukuphika
The word 'ukuphika' in Zulu can also refer to 'covering' or 'concealing' something from view.
Assameseপ্ৰত্যাখ্যান কৰা
Aymarajaniw saña
Bhojpuriमना
Dhivehiދޮގުކުރުން
Dogriमनाही
Filipino (Tagalog)tanggihan
Guaranimbotove
Ilocanoilibak
Kriodinay
Kurdish (Sorani)نکۆڵی کردن
Maithiliमना करनाइ
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯌꯥꯅꯤꯡꯗꯕ
Mizohnawl
Oromoganuu
Odia (Oriya)ଅସ୍ୱୀକାର କର |
Quechuamana uyakuy
Sanskritअपह्नुते
Tatarинкарь
Tigrinyaምኽሓድ
Tsongaala

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