Despite in Different Languages
Discover 'Despite' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'despite' is a small but powerful term that signifies the presence of obstacles or challenges. Despite its modest size, 'despite' carries a significant cultural and linguistic impact, symbolizing resilience and determination in the face of adversity. Its translation in different languages offers a fascinating glimpse into how various cultures express the concept of overcoming odds.
Did you know that 'despite' derives from the Old English word 'despite,' which means 'in spite of'? This term has been used in various forms of literature and historical documents, highlighting its long-standing importance in the English language. Moreover, the word's cultural significance extends beyond English, as it resonates with people worldwide who face and overcome challenges daily.
Understanding the translation of 'despite' in different languages can help break down cultural barriers and foster global connections. By appreciating the nuances of this term in various languages, we can develop a deeper understanding and respect for diverse cultures and their unique ways of expressing resilience.
Despite
Despite in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | ten spyte van | ||
| The Afrikaans word "ten spyte van" is derived from a similar Old Dutch phrase meaning "in spite of". | |||
| Amharic | ቢሆንም | ||
| ቢሆንም derives from the word ቢሆን "to be", which is still in frequent use. However, it is always used in the passive form ተሆነ "to become," especially within the phrase ቢሆን ተሆነ "to happen to be" or "to be by chance." | |||
| Hausa | duk da | ||
| The word 'duk da' is derived from the Arabic word 'dakhilah', meaning 'entering' or 'interior'. | |||
| Igbo | n'agbanyeghị | ||
| The Igbo word 'n'agbanyeghị' can also mean 'notwithstanding' or 'in spite of'. | |||
| Malagasy | na dia eo aza | ||
| The Malagasy phrase "na dia eo aza" (despite) is derived from the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian root "*na" (with) and the Proto-Austronesian root "*di" (that). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | ngakhale | ||
| The word "ngakhale" in Nyanja can also mean "rather than" or "instead of". | |||
| Shona | zvisinei | ||
| In Old Shona, "zvisinei" also meant "despite". Today, it is only used to mean "next to". | |||
| Somali | inkastoo | ||
| The Somali word "inkastoo" can also mean "though" or "although". | |||
| Sesotho | leha | ||
| Originally a verb meaning "to go", and so "despite" was originally used to refer to something which continues despite resistance or obstacles | |||
| Swahili | licha ya | ||
| "Licha ya" literally means "the appearance of," implying that something contrary to appearances is occurring. | |||
| Xhosa | nangona | ||
| The word 'nangona' is derived from the Proto-Bantu term '-ngana', meaning 'across' or 'over'. | |||
| Yoruba | pelu | ||
| The word 'pelu' can also mean 'with' or 'for' in Yoruba, depending on the context. | |||
| Zulu | yize | ||
| The word "yize" in Zulu also means "although" or "even though." | |||
| Bambara | hali | ||
| Ewe | togbɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | nubwo | ||
| Lingala | atako | ||
| Luganda | newankubadde | ||
| Sepedi | ntle le | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɛwom | ||
Despite in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | على الرغم من | ||
| The Arabic phrase "على الرغم من" literally means "upon the drowning of (something)", implying that an action is carried out despite the hindering of (something). | |||
| Hebrew | למרות | ||
| למרות is often used with adjectives meaning "regret" or "pity," like חבל or עצוב. | |||
| Pashto | سره سره | ||
| In addition to its common meaning of "despite", "سره سره" is also an archaic form of the word "سار" ("cool"). | |||
| Arabic | على الرغم من | ||
| The Arabic phrase "على الرغم من" literally means "upon the drowning of (something)", implying that an action is carried out despite the hindering of (something). | |||
Despite in Western European Languages
| Albanian | pavarësisht | ||
| "Pavarësisht" comes from Albanian "pa" ("without") + "varesi" ("dependence") + "-sisht" (nominal suffix denoting "nature or character"), thus meaning "being without dependence on". | |||
| Basque | arren | ||
| The word "arren" can also mean "although". | |||
| Catalan | malgrat | ||
| "Malgrat" derives from the Latin "malum gratum", meaning "unwelcome evil". | |||
| Croatian | bez obzira na | ||
| The Croatian "bez obzira na" has a literal translation of "without regard for". | |||
| Danish | på trods af | ||
| The Danish word "på trods af" literally translates to "on defiance of," hinting at its usage to indicate resistance or opposition. | |||
| Dutch | ondanks | ||
| Dutch "ondanks" means "despite," but is literally "not thanks to" (compare with "dankzij" which means "thanks to"). | |||
| English | despite | ||
| The word "despite" derives from the Middle English "despit," meaning "contempt" or "disregard." | |||
| French | malgré | ||
| The word 'malgré' in French can also mean 'in spite of'. | |||
| Frisian | nettsjinsteande | ||
| The word "nettsjinsteande" is derived from the words "net" (not) and "sjinsteande" (instead), meaning "notwithstanding" or "in spite of". | |||
| Galician | malia | ||
| In Galician, "malia" can mean either "despite" or "in spite of." | |||
| German | trotz | ||
| In spite of its modern meaning, the word "Trotz" also has an archaic meaning of "comfort" or "help." | |||
| Icelandic | þrátt fyrir | ||
| Þrátt fyrir also means "in spite of" and is often used in a legal context. | |||
| Irish | ainneoin | ||
| The word "ainneoin" can also mean "reluctance" or "unwillingness" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | nonostante | ||
| Although it shares a similar root to the English word 'non', 'nonostante' ultimately derives from the Latin word 'non obstante', meaning 'not standing' or 'notwithstanding'. | |||
| Luxembourgish | trotz | ||
| The word "trotz" originates from the Middle High German "trutz" and Old High German "trūz", both meaning "defiance" | |||
| Maltese | minkejja | ||
| There is a homophone 'minkejja' which means 'meadow'. | |||
| Norwegian | til tross for | ||
| "Til tross for" is also synonymous with "imidlertid" (however) in the Norwegian language | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | apesar | ||
| The word "apesar" originally meant "in spite of", but over time it has come to mean "despite". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | a dh ’aindeoin | ||
| The Scottish Gaelic word "a dh’aindeoin" can also mean "in spite of" or "in the absence of". | |||
| Spanish | a pesar de | ||
| "A pesar de" derives from the Latin phrase "ad pesar de," meaning "in the face of" or "in view of". | |||
| Swedish | trots | ||
| The word "trots" means "despite" in Swedish, but it also has the alternative meaning of "trot". | |||
| Welsh | er gwaethaf | ||
| "Er gwaethaf" is also used to mean "except" when followed by the preposition "i" (to). | |||
Despite in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | нягледзячы | ||
| Bosnian | uprkos tome | ||
| The word "uprkos tome" in Bosnian is derived from the Slavic root "proti", meaning "against", and the preposition "na", meaning "on" or "to", together meaning "in opposition to" or "despite". | |||
| Bulgarian | въпреки | ||
| It is also used in the expressions "не въпреки" and "не въпреки че" meaning "because of". | |||
| Czech | navzdory | ||
| Navzdory is a Czech word that can also mean 'in spite of', or 'contrary to'. | |||
| Estonian | vaatamata | ||
| Derived from Estonian "vaadata," meaning "to look," it literally means "without looking at," implying negligence or disregard. | |||
| Finnish | huolimatta | ||
| The word "huolimatta" is a compound word consisting of "huoli" (worry) and "matta" (mat), meaning a mat that protects from worries or troubles. | |||
| Hungarian | annak ellenére | ||
| The word “annak ellenére” in Hungarian originally meant “to the opposite”, while its modern meaning “despite” was first used in the 1820s. | |||
| Latvian | neskatoties | ||
| In some contexts, "neskatoties" can also mean "except" or "notwithstanding" | |||
| Lithuanian | nepaisant | ||
| The word "nepaisant" derives from the verb "paisan", meaning "to care about" and the prefix "ne-", meaning "not" indicating a lack of care or disregard. | |||
| Macedonian | и покрај | ||
| The Macedonian word "и покрај" has alternative meanings of "and alongside" and "and nearby" | |||
| Polish | pomimo | ||
| The word "pomimo" originally meant "apart from" or "beyond". | |||
| Romanian | în ciuda | ||
| Între sensurile lui “în ciuda” intră și “cu toate acestea” și “totuși”. | |||
| Russian | несмотря на | ||
| The word "несмотря на" can also mean "in spite of" or "notwithstanding" in Russian. | |||
| Serbian | упркос | ||
| The word "uprkos" derives from the Old Church Slavonic preposition "oprьčь" meaning "against" or "contrary to". | |||
| Slovak | napriek | ||
| Napriek, meaning "despite," is the Slovak form of the Russian word naperekore, which itself originates from the Old Church Slavonic language. | |||
| Slovenian | kljub | ||
| The word 'kljub' is derived from the Old Slavic word 'ključ', which means 'key' or 'lock'. | |||
| Ukrainian | попри | ||
| The Ukrainian word "попри" can also mean "across" or "over". | |||
Despite in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সত্ত্বেও | ||
| সত্ত্বেও is derived from the Sanskrit word sattva, meaning 'essence' or 'true nature'. | |||
| Gujarati | છતાં | ||
| છતાં is also used to emphasize a contrast, in which case it means something like "however" or "nonetheless". | |||
| Hindi | के बावजूद | ||
| It also means 'on account of', 'because of' and 'due to'. | |||
| Kannada | ಹೊರತಾಗಿಯೂ | ||
| ಹೊರತಾಗಿಯೂ originates from two words – ಹೊರ (out) and ತಾಗು (touch) and literally means 'not coming in contact with something' | |||
| Malayalam | ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നിട്ടും | ||
| Marathi | असूनही | ||
| The word "असूनही" is derived from the word "असणे" meaning "to be" and the suffix "ही" meaning "even though", indicating an occurrence despite something else. | |||
| Nepali | बावजुद | ||
| बावजुद can mean "notwithstanding" or "in spite of" in Urdu, and is derived from the Persian word "باجود" which means "existence" or "despite". | |||
| Punjabi | ਬਾਵਜੂਦ | ||
| The word "ਬਾਵਜੂਦ" is derived from the Persian word "بأجود", meaning "with good" or "on account of". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | නොතකා | ||
| The Sinhala word "නොතකා" ("nothakaa") is derived from the prefix "නො-" ("no-"), which negates, and "තකා" ("thakaa"), meaning "consideration". It is also sometimes used to mean "nevertheless". | |||
| Tamil | இருந்தாலும் | ||
| Telugu | ఉన్నప్పటికీ | ||
| उन्नाप्पटिकी means 'however' too. | |||
| Urdu | کے باوجود | ||
| کے باوجود is also used to express the meaning of 'in addition to' or 'along with'. | |||
Despite in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 尽管 | ||
| 尽管(jinguǎn)的本意为“完全相信”,后来才演变为表示转折的连词“尽管” | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 儘管 | ||
| 儘管 is also used to describe one's ability or the effort one has made. | |||
| Japanese | にもかかわらず | ||
| The word 「にもかかわらず」(despite) is commonly used to express concession or contrast, but it originally meant "even if" | |||
| Korean | 무례 | ||
| "무례" is also used as a noun meaning "disrespect" | |||
| Mongolian | гэсэн хэдий ч | ||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | နေ | ||
| နေ may also mean "to lie down". | |||
Despite in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | meskipun | ||
| The word 'meskipun' is derived from the Old Malay word 'masuppun', meaning 'even though', and is cognate with the Javanese word 'mesuwi', meaning 'notwithstanding'. | |||
| Javanese | senadyan | ||
| The word "senadyan" in Javanese is derived from the Sanskrit word "sadyah", which means "immediately" or "at once". | |||
| Khmer | ទោះបីជា | ||
| Lao | ເຖິງວ່າຈະມີ | ||
| Malay | walaupun | ||
| The word "walaupun" is derived from the Javanese word "wal" which means "in spite of" and the Malay word "pun" which adds emphasis. | |||
| Thai | อย่างไรก็ตาม | ||
| The word "อย่างไรก็ตาม" also means "however" or "nevertheless" in Thai. | |||
| Vietnamese | bất chấp | ||
| Bất chấp can also mean 'to dare to' or 'to defy', reflecting its origins in the word 'chấp' (to dare). | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sa kabila | ||
Despite in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | rəğmən | ||
| The word "rəğmən" in Azerbaijani originally meant "facing", and is also used in the sense of "although". | |||
| Kazakh | қарамастан | ||
| Kyrgyz | карабастан | ||
| The word "карабастан" likely derives from the Persian word "karbastan", meaning "fight" or "battlefield". | |||
| Tajik | сарфи назар аз | ||
| The word "сарфи назар аз" (despite) is derived from the Persian phrase "صرف نظر از" (lit. "regard apart from"), which has the same meaning. | |||
| Turkmen | garamazdan | ||
| Uzbek | qaramay | ||
| The word "qaramay" in Uzbek can also mean "ignoring" or "not paying attention to." | |||
| Uyghur | شۇنداق بولسىمۇ | ||
Despite in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻoiai naʻe | ||
| 'Oiai na'e' is derived from 'oiai' (a conditional particle) and 'na'e' (an adversative particle), and can also mean 'however' or 'nonetheless'. | |||
| Maori | ahakoa | ||
| The Maori word "ahakoa" derives from "aha": breath, and "koa": brave, indicating facing something despite fear. | |||
| Samoan | e ui lava | ||
| E ui lava can mean 'in spite of' or 'nevertheless' in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | sa kabila ng | ||
Despite in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | uksipansa | ||
| Guarani | upéicharamo jepe | ||
Despite in International Languages
| Esperanto | malgraŭ | ||
| Latin | non obstante | ||
| "Non obstante" in Latin literally means "not withstanding" and is still used today in legal and diplomatic contexts. | |||
Despite in Others Languages
| Greek | παρά | ||
| Παρά, meaning "beside" or "outside," can also refer to deviations from the norm or the rules. | |||
| Hmong | txawm tias | ||
| "Txawm tias" is also used in greetings to mean "although it is ..." | |||
| Kurdish | herçi | ||
| In Sorani Kurdish, 'herçi' also refers to a type of bird known as a hoopoe. | |||
| Turkish | rağmen | ||
| In Turkish, "rağmen" can also mean "although" or "even though". | |||
| Xhosa | nangona | ||
| The word 'nangona' is derived from the Proto-Bantu term '-ngana', meaning 'across' or 'over'. | |||
| Yiddish | טראָץ | ||
| "טראָץ" is also the Yiddish word for "trouser" or "pants". | |||
| Zulu | yize | ||
| The word "yize" in Zulu also means "although" or "even though." | |||
| Assamese | সত্বেও | ||
| Aymara | uksipansa | ||
| Bhojpuri | एकरा बावजूद | ||
| Dhivehi | އެހެން ކަންތައް އޮތް ކަމުގައި ވިޔަސް | ||
| Dogri | बाबजूद | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sa kabila | ||
| Guarani | upéicharamo jepe | ||
| Ilocano | basta | ||
| Krio | pan ɔl | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | سەرەڕای | ||
| Maithili | बावजूद | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯗꯨ ꯑꯣꯏꯔꯕꯁꯨ | ||
| Mizo | nimahse | ||
| Oromo | osoo ta'ee jiruu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସତ୍ତ୍ .େ | | ||
| Quechua | aunque | ||
| Sanskrit | द्वेषः | ||
| Tatar | карамастан | ||
| Tigrinya | ብዘየገድስ | ||
| Tsonga | hambi | ||