Describe in Different Languages
Discover 'Describe' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'describe' is a versatile and essential part of our vocabulary, allowing us to convey detailed information about people, places, and things. Its significance is evident in our daily conversations, literature, and media. Describing something in writing or speech helps to create vivid images, invoke emotions, and share knowledge.
Throughout history, the act of describing has played a crucial role in the sharing of cultural narratives, scientific discoveries, and personal experiences. From ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs to modern-day emojis, the human need to describe has been a constant, transcending language and cultural barriers.
Understanding the translation of 'describe' in different languages can open up new avenues of communication and cultural appreciation. For example, the French 'décrire' not only shares the same Latin root as its English counterpart but also embodies the language's romantic and artistic flair. Meanwhile, the Japanese 'BEAI' (説明) highlights the importance of clarity and precision in Japanese culture.
Explore the world of 'describe' in different languages and uncover the unique ways various cultures capture the essence of this fundamental concept.
Describe
Describe in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | beskryf | ||
| The Afrikaans word "beskryf" originates from the Dutch word "beschrijven", meaning "to record in writing". | |||
| Amharic | ይግለጹ | ||
| The word "ይግለጹ" can also mean "to define" or "to explain." | |||
| Hausa | bayyana | ||
| The word "bayyana" can also mean to explain or to make something clear. | |||
| Igbo | kọwaa | ||
| The word "kọwaa" can also mean "to draw" or "to sketch" in Igbo. | |||
| Malagasy | farito | ||
| Farito comes from the Arabic word "farit", meaning "compelled" or "forced, which is used in religious contexts. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | fotokozani | ||
| The word "fotokozani" is derived from the verb "fotokoza" which means "to point out" or "to show". | |||
| Shona | tsanangura | ||
| The word "tsanangura" is derived from the noun "tsananguro" meaning "description" or "definition". | |||
| Somali | sharax | ||
| The word "sharax" in Somali is derived from the Arabic word "sharaha", meaning "to expand" or "to explain". | |||
| Sesotho | hlalosa | ||
| In Zulu, "hlalosa" also means "to criticize" or "to give a speech". | |||
| Swahili | kuelezea | ||
| Swahili 'kuelezea' ('describe') comes from the root '-eleza', meaning 'to make clear or evident' | |||
| Xhosa | chaza | ||
| The word "chaza" in Xhosa can also mean "to make a mark" or "to draw a line". | |||
| Yoruba | ṣàpèjúwe | ||
| Ṣàpèjúwe is also used to mean 'to take the measurement of' or 'to figure someone or something out'. | |||
| Zulu | chaza | ||
| Derived from Xhosa "chāzā", meaning "to describe something" | |||
| Bambara | ka lakali | ||
| Ewe | ɖᴐ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | sobanura | ||
| Lingala | kolimbola | ||
| Luganda | okunnyonyola | ||
| Sepedi | hlaloša | ||
| Twi (Akan) | kyerɛ mu | ||
Describe in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | وصف | ||
| The word "وصف" in Arabic is derived from the root "و-ص-ف" which means "to make clear or distinct". | |||
| Hebrew | לְתַאֵר | ||
| The Hebrew word "לְתַאֵר" can also mean "to draw" or "to delineate". | |||
| Pashto | تشریح | ||
| The word "تشریح" in Pashto can also mean "to cut open" or "to dissect". | |||
| Arabic | وصف | ||
| The word "وصف" in Arabic is derived from the root "و-ص-ف" which means "to make clear or distinct". | |||
Describe in Western European Languages
| Albanian | përshkruaj | ||
| The word "përshkruaj" is derived from the Greek word "parakhreō" meaning "to lend beforehand". | |||
| Basque | deskribatzea | ||
| The word 'deskribatzea' in Basque comes from the Latin word 'describere,' which means 'to write down' or 'to copy.' | |||
| Catalan | descriure | ||
| The Catalan verb "descriure" originates from the Latin word "describere" and means "to write down," "to delineate," or "to draw a figure or picture." | |||
| Croatian | opisati | ||
| The Croatian verb "opisati" is a derivative of the Proto-Slavic word *ob-pisati, meaning "to write around," and is cognate with the Russian "описать" and Polish "opisać". | |||
| Danish | beskrive | ||
| The word "beskrive" is also used in Danish to mean "prescribe" or "characterize", although it is not used as frequently in these senses. | |||
| Dutch | beschrijven | ||
| Beschrijven can also mean "to charge someone with a crime" | |||
| English | describe | ||
| "Describe" is derived from the Latin word "describere" meaning "to write down". | |||
| French | décris | ||
| The verb "décris" in French comes from the Latin "describere," composed of the prefixes "de-," meaning "down," and "scribere," meaning "to write." | |||
| Frisian | beskriuwe | ||
| The word "beskriuwe" in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word "skriuwa", meaning "to write" or "to draw". | |||
| Galician | describir | ||
| O verbo "describir" provén do latín "describere", que significa "trazar", "delinear" ou "escribir sobre". | |||
| German | beschreiben | ||
| The verb "beschreiben" can also mean "to write something" or "to create a literary work." | |||
| Icelandic | lýsa | ||
| The word "lýsa" is also derived from the Old Norse word "lýsa" which means "to shine," and is cognate with the English word "illuminate." | |||
| Irish | déan cur síos | ||
| Italian | descrivere | ||
| "Descrivere" derives from the Latin "describere", meaning "to write down", but can also mean "to delineate" or "to depict". | |||
| Luxembourgish | beschreiwen | ||
| "Beschreiwen" comes from the Old High German word "biscrīban" which means "to write out". | |||
| Maltese | iddeskrivi | ||
| The verb "iddeskrivi" in Maltese derives from the Italian word "descrivere". | |||
| Norwegian | beskrive | ||
| The word "beskrive" is derived from the Old Norse word "skrifa", meaning "to write". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | descrever | ||
| The verb "descrever" comes from the Latin "describere", meaning "to write off" or "to copy." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | thoir cunntas | ||
| "Thoir cuntas is composed of 'toirt' ('to give') + 'cunntas' (account, count). Originally, the phrase meant 'give an account', but its meaning evolved to 'describe' (the action of giving an account). | |||
| Spanish | describir | ||
| In Spanish, "describir" (to describe) derives from the Latin "describere" (to write off), implying a detailed account. | |||
| Swedish | beskriva | ||
| Beskriva derives from the Middle Low German “beschriven”, meaning "to write something down" and is also related to the word "scribe". | |||
| Welsh | disgrifio | ||
| The word "disgrifio" is formed from "dis" (de) and "grifio" (shape, design), so it denotes the process of reshaping or redesigning something. | |||
Describe in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | апісаць | ||
| In archaic Belarusian, | |||
| Bosnian | opisati | ||
| The verb 'opisati' can also mean 'to surround' or 'to besiege' in Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | описвам | ||
| The Bulgarian word "описвам" can also refer to the action of writing or drawing something in detail. | |||
| Czech | popsat | ||
| The word "popsat" in Czech also means "to write on" or "to draw on". | |||
| Estonian | kirjeldada | ||
| The verb "kirjeldada" shares its root with the noun "kiri" (letter, writing), thus referring to the creation of a written description. | |||
| Finnish | kuvaile | ||
| Kuvailun verbimuoto kuvailla on saanut nimensä siitä, että jo keskiajalla 'kuva' tarkoitti kirjallisen tekstin tai teoksen ulkoasua, tyyliä, tapaa tai asetta. | |||
| Hungarian | írja le | ||
| Írja le comes from the verb ír ('write'). | |||
| Latvian | aprakstīt | ||
| The Latvian word “aprakstīt” is derived from German “abbeschreiben” and Polish “opisać” and is the equivalent to English “describe”. | |||
| Lithuanian | apibūdinti | ||
| The Lithuanian word "apibūdinti" is a derivative of the word "būdas", which means "character" or "nature". | |||
| Macedonian | опише | ||
| "Опише" originates from the Greek "γράφω" (grapho) meaning "to write," but it can also refer to the act of describing or portraying something in detail. | |||
| Polish | opisać | ||
| The verb 'opisać' also derives from 'ob' ('around') and the Proto-Slavic verb 'pisati', ('write'). | |||
| Romanian | descrie | ||
| In Romanian, "descrie" derives from the Slavic "descr" meaning "to see" and in old texts meant "to perceive" or "to find out". | |||
| Russian | описать | ||
| In Russian, "описать" can also mean "to outline around" or "to surround by a fence". | |||
| Serbian | описати | ||
| The word описвати can also be used to mean 'list', 'inventory' or 'enumerate'. | |||
| Slovak | opísať | ||
| In Slovak, the verb "opísať" can also mean "to copy". | |||
| Slovenian | opiši | ||
| The word "opiši" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *opьsati, meaning "to look around" or "to examine". | |||
| Ukrainian | опишіть | ||
| The word "опишіть" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *opisati, meaning "to write around" or "to draw a line around". | |||
Describe in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বর্ণনা | ||
| Cognate with Hindi वर्णन 'description' from Sanskrit वर्णन 'explanation' | |||
| Gujarati | વર્ણન | ||
| In Hindi, the word "वर्णन" also means "description" or "narration". | |||
| Hindi | वर्णन | ||
| In Hindi, the word 'वर्णन' derives from the Sanskrit root 'वृत्', meaning 'to turn', 'to unfold', or 'to cover'. | |||
| Kannada | ವಿವರಿಸಿ | ||
| The verb "ವಿವರಿಸಿ" (vivarisi) in Kannada is derived from the Sanskrit word "विवृ" (vivr̥), meaning "to unfold, open, or expand" | |||
| Malayalam | വിവരിക്കുക | ||
| It is derived from Sanskrit विवृती (vivrti) and vivarati meaning "to open out, to explain, to describe." | |||
| Marathi | वर्णन करणे | ||
| The Marathi verb 'वर्णन करणे' ('describe') also means 'to narrate' or 'to explain' in English. | |||
| Nepali | वर्णन गर्नुहोस् | ||
| The Nepali word 'वर्णन गर्नुहोस्' ('describe') comes from the Sanskrit word 'वर्णन' ('description'), which is derived from the root 'वर्ण' ('letter, color'). | |||
| Punjabi | ਵਿਆਖਿਆ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | විස්තර කරන්න | ||
| Tamil | விவரிக்கவும் | ||
| The Tamil word for "describe", "விவரிக்கவும்", can also mean "to narrate a story in detail, to explain, to give an account of, to recount, to delineate," and "to portray." | |||
| Telugu | వివరించండి | ||
| వివరించండి is also derived from Sanskrit root, विवृ (vivṛ) which conveys different meanings such as uncovering, disclosure or revealing. | |||
| Urdu | بیان کریں | ||
Describe in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 描述 | ||
| 描述 is borrowed from Japanese and literally means 'to depict a situation'. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 描述 | ||
| 描述 (miâ-su̍t) is cognate with description in English, which has been used to mean both 'depiction' and 'prescription' since the 16th century. | |||
| Japanese | 説明する | ||
| The kanji that make up the word "説明する" also feature in the word "明白" (clear/obvious) and the name of the philosopher and mathematician Plato (プラトン). | |||
| Korean | 설명 | ||
| "설명" originally comes from the Chinese character "說明" (shuòmíng), which literally means "to say clearly". | |||
| Mongolian | тайлбарлах | ||
| Derived from the word "тайлбар" meaning "explanation" and the suffix "-лах" forming verbs from nouns. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဖော်ပြပါ | ||
Describe in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | menggambarkan | ||
| Menggambar is also used to mean "to draw" or "to paint" in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | nggambarake | ||
| The Javanese word "nggambarake" derives from the root "gambar" (picture), implying a process of depicting something in words. | |||
| Khmer | ពិពណ៌នា | ||
| The root word ណ៌ refers to color or tone, and is the same in the word for "paint" | |||
| Lao | ອະທິບາຍ | ||
| Malay | memerihalkan | ||
| The word "memerihalkan" comes from the Malay word "hal", which means "matter" or "affair". | |||
| Thai | อธิบาย | ||
| The Thai word "อธิบาย" (describe), derived from Pali, also means "explain" or "teach". | |||
| Vietnamese | diễn tả | ||
| The word "diễn tả" comes from the Chinese word "diễn tả", which means to perform an action. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ilarawan | ||
Describe in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | təsvir etmək | ||
| "Təsvir etmək" sözünün kökü Türk dillərindəki "tas" feli olup, "düzmek" anlamına gelir. Türkçe "tasvir" kelimesi ise Arapçadan geçmiştir ve "suret" anlamına gelir. | |||
| Kazakh | сипаттау | ||
| The Kazakh word "сипаттау" can also mean "to characterize" or "to depict". | |||
| Kyrgyz | сүрөттөө | ||
| Tajik | тасвир кунед | ||
| The word "тасвир кунед" can also mean "to depict" or "to represent" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | suratlandyryň | ||
| Uzbek | tasvirlab bering | ||
| The word "tasvirlab bering" can also mean "to portray" or "to depict" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | تەسۋىرلەڭ | ||
Describe in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ho'ākāka | ||
| The word "ho'ākāka" can also mean "to relate" or "to tell a story." | |||
| Maori | whakaahua | ||
| Whakaahua shares an etymology with ataahu and hua, suggesting it originally described a way of making things visible. | |||
| Samoan | faamatala | ||
| Faamatala is a Samoan word that can also mean to "tell a story" or "to speak". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ilarawan | ||
| The Tagalog word "ilarawan" can also mean "to draw" or "to sketch". | |||
Describe in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | qillqaña | ||
| Guarani | techaukahai | ||
Describe in International Languages
| Esperanto | priskribi | ||
| Derived from the Latin word "describere": "de" (from, away) + "scribere" (to write). | |||
| Latin | describere | ||
| "Describere" also means "to write out", "to transcribe", "to trace out", "to draw", or "to write upon" in Latin. | |||
Describe in Others Languages
| Greek | περιγράφω | ||
| "Περιγράφω" comes from "περί" (around) and "γράφω" (write), and can also mean "surround" or "enclose" | |||
| Hmong | piav qhia | ||
| The term 'piav qhia' derives from the Proto-Hmong-Mien form *k-raw k-raw, also meaning 'to speak'. | |||
| Kurdish | terîfkirin | ||
| The word "terîfkirin" in Kurdish is derived from the Arabic word "وصف" (wasf) meaning "to describe or characterize". | |||
| Turkish | tanımlamak | ||
| "Tanımlamak" sözcüğünün etimolojisi "tanımak" sözcüğüne dayanır ve "bir şeyi tanımlamak" ile "bir şeyi belirlemek" anlamlarına da gelir. | |||
| Xhosa | chaza | ||
| The word "chaza" in Xhosa can also mean "to make a mark" or "to draw a line". | |||
| Yiddish | באַשרייבן | ||
| The Yiddish word "באַשרייבן" ("describe") comes from Middle High German "beschriben," meaning "write upon" or "inscribe." | |||
| Zulu | chaza | ||
| Derived from Xhosa "chāzā", meaning "to describe something" | |||
| Assamese | বৰ্ণনা কৰা | ||
| Aymara | qillqaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | वर्णन कयिल | ||
| Dhivehi | ސިފަކުރުން | ||
| Dogri | वर्णन करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | ilarawan | ||
| Guarani | techaukahai | ||
| Ilocano | iladawan | ||
| Krio | tɔk bɔt | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | وەسفکردن | ||
| Maithili | वर्णन | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯁꯟꯗꯣꯛꯅ ꯇꯥꯛꯄ | ||
| Mizo | hrilhfiah | ||
| Oromo | ibsuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବର୍ଣ୍ଣନା କର | | ||
| Quechua | niy | ||
| Sanskrit | वर्णेतु | ||
| Tatar | тасвирла | ||
| Tigrinya | ግለፅ | ||
| Tsonga | hlamusela | ||