Destroy in Different Languages
Discover 'Destroy' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'destroy' carries a significant weight, signifying the end of something, whether it's physical objects, relationships, or abstract concepts. Its cultural importance is evident in literature, movies, and music, where destruction often serves as a catalyst for change or a symbol of power. For instance, the Death Star's destruction in 'Star Wars' brings hope to the galaxy, while in literature, Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' shows how destructive obsession can be.
Understanding the translation of 'destroy' in different languages can provide unique insights into how various cultures perceive and express the concept of annihilation. For example, in Spanish, 'destroy' translates to 'destruir', in French to 'détruire', and in German to 'zerstören'. Each language offers a nuanced take on the concept, reflecting cultural attitudes and historical contexts.
Delving into the translations of 'destroy' can be a fascinating journey, shedding light on the richness of language and culture. Below, you'll find a comprehensive list of 'destroy' translations in various languages, from Afrikaans to Zulu.
Destroy
Destroy in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | vernietig | ||
| The Afrikaans word "vernietig" derives from the Dutch word "vernietigen", which means "to destroy" or "to annihilate". | |||
| Amharic | አጥፋ | ||
| The word "አጥፋ" can also mean "to ruin" or "to waste" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | halaka | ||
| The word "halaka" is also related to the concept of "wiping out" or "eradicating" something. | |||
| Igbo | bibie | ||
| The Igbo word "bibie" can also refer to the act of disassembling or dismantling something. | |||
| Malagasy | handringana | ||
| The word "handringana" comes from the Proto-Austronesian word "*daŋaŋ", meaning "to cut or break." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuwononga | ||
| Kuwononga, meaning to destroy, can also mean to eliminate, annihilate, or abolish | |||
| Shona | kuparadza | ||
| The word 'kuparadza' also has a figurative meaning, such as to 'destroy' one's reputation. | |||
| Somali | burburin | ||
| The word "burburin" can also mean "to smash" or "to break" in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | senya | ||
| The Sesotho word "senya" can also mean "to beat" or "to crush" with the hand or a weapon. | |||
| Swahili | haribu | ||
| In Swahili, the word 'haribu' can also describe a state of ruin or devastation. | |||
| Xhosa | ukutshabalalisa | ||
| The word "ukutshabalalisa" also means to spoil or ruin something. | |||
| Yoruba | run | ||
| The Yoruba word "run" comes from the verb "ru," meaning "to break" or "to spoil." | |||
| Zulu | bhubhisa | ||
| Bhubhisa (destroy) is also an idiomatic phrase meaning "to be filled with anger or rage". | |||
| Bambara | ka halaki | ||
| Ewe | gblẽ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kurimbura | ||
| Lingala | koboma | ||
| Luganda | okuyonoona | ||
| Sepedi | senya | ||
| Twi (Akan) | sɛe | ||
Destroy in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | هدم | ||
| In the Quran, "هدم" has the alternate meaning of "to humiliate". | |||
| Hebrew | להרוס | ||
| The Hebrew word להרוס (leharos) originated from the concept of uprooting and can also mean “to demolish” or “to annul”. | |||
| Pashto | ویجاړول | ||
| The word "ویجاړول" can also refer to the act of ruining someone's reputation or causing them pain. | |||
| Arabic | هدم | ||
| In the Quran, "هدم" has the alternate meaning of "to humiliate". | |||
Destroy in Western European Languages
| Albanian | shkatërroj | ||
| The Albanian word "shkatërroj" is derived from the Vulgar Latin word "excaterare", meaning "to dig out", and is related to the Italian word "scavare" and the French word "creuser". | |||
| Basque | suntsitu | ||
| Suntsitu derives also from the word | |||
| Catalan | destruir | ||
| In Catalan, "destruir" also means "to raze" or "to tear down", and it shares its etymology with the French word "détruire". | |||
| Croatian | uništiti | ||
| The word "uništiti" comes from the Old Slavic word "uštiti", meaning "to diminish" or "to damage". | |||
| Danish | ødelægge | ||
| The word 'ødelægge' can also refer to the act of wasting or squandering something, such as 'ødelægge mad' (to waste food). | |||
| Dutch | vernietigen | ||
| The word "vernietigen" in Dutch stems from the word "nietig" meaning "null, void, of no value". | |||
| English | destroy | ||
| The word 'destroy' is a Middle English borrowing from the Old French destruire, and is derived from the Latin destruere, formed from the base of struere ('put together'). | |||
| French | détruire | ||
| The French word "détruire" originates from the Latin "destruere," meaning "to pull down, break up, or overthrow." | |||
| Frisian | ferneatigje | ||
| The Frisian word "ferneatigje" is thought to be derived from the Old Saxon word "farnothian," which means "to consume." | |||
| Galician | destruír | ||
| In Galician, "destruír" can also mean "demolition" or "ruin". | |||
| German | zerstören | ||
| "Zerstören" also means to "disperse", "dissipatate" or "dissolve" and is related to words like "stören" (disturb) and "störenfried" (troublemaker). | |||
| Icelandic | eyðileggja | ||
| Eyðileggja traces back to the Old Norse verb eyða, meaning "to lay waste, destroy, or empty out". | |||
| Irish | scrios | ||
| The word 'scrios' may also be derived from the Old Irish verb 'scrithim', which means to scratch or scrape. | |||
| Italian | distruggere | ||
| The Italian word "distruggere" derives from the Latin "destruere," meaning "to demolish" or "to pull down." | |||
| Luxembourgish | zerstéieren | ||
| The word "zerstéieren" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*dher-", meaning "to cut off" or "to split in two". | |||
| Maltese | jeqred | ||
| The word jeqred is also used to describe a sudden and violent outburst of anger or frustration. | |||
| Norwegian | ødelegge | ||
| The word "ødelegge" can also mean "to spoil" or "to wreck". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | destruir | ||
| "Destruir" comes from the Latin "destruere", which means "to take apart, to break down". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | sgrios | ||
| Sgrios derives from the Proto-Celtic root *krese-, meaning "to cut" or "to sever". | |||
| Spanish | destruir | ||
| The Spanish verb "destruir" derives from Latin "destruere", meaning "to pull down" or "demolish." | |||
| Swedish | förstöra | ||
| Despite its meaning - to destroy - the word "förstöra" also has the old meaning of "to disturb". | |||
| Welsh | dinistrio | ||
| The Welsh word "dinistrio" is derived from the Latin word "destruere," meaning "to destroy". | |||
Destroy in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | знішчыць | ||
| The word "знішчыць" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *nit-, meaning "to take away" or "to remove". | |||
| Bosnian | uništiti | ||
| The Bosnian term "uništiti" is thought to derive from the Proto-Slavic word "*nuštiti", meaning "to perish". | |||
| Bulgarian | унищожи | ||
| The word "унищожи" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *orb-/*orz- meaning "to crush". | |||
| Czech | zničit | ||
| Zničit is cognate with the German word zerstören "to destroy", which ultimately derives from Latin struere "to build". | |||
| Estonian | hävitama | ||
| "Hävitama" shares its Estonian root word with the word "häving" which means "demise". | |||
| Finnish | tuhota | ||
| The word "tuhota" is also cognate with the Estonian word "tuhka" (ash), and the Finnish word "tuhka" is derived from the verb "tuhtoa" meaning "to burn". | |||
| Hungarian | elpusztítani | ||
| "Elpusztítani" is related to the word "puszta" (meaning "wasteland"), so destroying something is literally "turning it into a wasteland." | |||
| Latvian | iznīcināt | ||
| The Latvian word "iznīcināt" is derived from the Proto-Balto-Slavic word *iz-ni-k-, meaning "to perish, pass away, or be destroyed." | |||
| Lithuanian | sunaikinti | ||
| The word "sunaikinti" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *swe-ik- "to pierce, to cut" and is related to the Sanskrit word "sunaiti" ("to cut, to destroy"). | |||
| Macedonian | уништи | ||
| "Уништи" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*ǫtinъ" meaning "father" or "fatherhood". | |||
| Polish | zniszczyć | ||
| The Polish word "zniszczyć" can also mean "to annihilate" or "to ruin". | |||
| Romanian | distruge | ||
| The Romanian word "distruge" originated from the Latin word "destruere," meaning "to break down or demolish." | |||
| Russian | уничтожить | ||
| "Уничтожить" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "ničiti" meaning "to bring to nothing". | |||
| Serbian | уништити | ||
| The verb 'уништити' can also be used to mean 'to annihilate' or 'to wipe out'. | |||
| Slovak | zničiť | ||
| The word "zničiť" derives from the Proto-Slavic form "sъnititi", meaning "to bring down". | |||
| Slovenian | uničiti | ||
| The word 'uničiti' is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *ničiti, meaning 'to bring to nothing', and is related to the Russian word 'ničtoženie' (annihilation). | |||
| Ukrainian | знищити | ||
| The Ukrainian word "знищити" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*nizъ", meaning "down" or "low". | |||
Destroy in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ধ্বংস | ||
| The word "ধ্বংস" is derived from the Sanskrit word "ध्वंस (dhvansa)", which also means "collapse" or "ruin". | |||
| Gujarati | નાશ | ||
| The Gujarati word 'નાશ' (destroy) comes from Sanskrit 'naash', meaning to die, perish or be annihilated. | |||
| Hindi | नष्ट | ||
| The word "नष्ट" also means "to go away" or "to cease to exist" in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ನಾಶ | ||
| ನಾಶ (nāśa) comes from the Sanskrit root नाश (nāś), meaning 'perish', 'decay'. | |||
| Malayalam | നശിപ്പിക്കുക | ||
| Marathi | नष्ट | ||
| The Marathi word नष्ट (destroy) is cognate with the Sanskrit word नष्ट (lost, destroyed), which in turn is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *nes- (to be lost). | |||
| Nepali | नष्ट | ||
| Some alternate forms of the word नष्ट are नाश, नष्ट, and नाशवान. | |||
| Punjabi | ਨਸ਼ਟ ਕਰੋ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | විනාශ කරන්න | ||
| Tamil | அழிக்க | ||
| The word 'அழிக்க' ('azhikka') in Tamil can also mean 'to remove' or 'to erase'. | |||
| Telugu | నాశనం | ||
| "నాశనం" is a derivative of the Sanskrit word "nashta" meaning "lost" or "perished"} | |||
| Urdu | تباہ | ||
| The word "تباہ" can also mean "ruin" or "devastate". | |||
Destroy in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 破坏 | ||
| Besides meaning "destroy," "破坏" can also mean "damage," "spoil," or "corrupt." | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 破壞 | ||
| 破壞 is also used in the sense of "break" and "damage". | |||
| Japanese | 破壊 | ||
| The verb "破壊" can mean "to break" or "to destroy" and shares the same root as the noun "破れ" (yabure), meaning "tear" or "defeat". | |||
| Korean | 멸하다 | ||
| "멸하다" can also mean "to be extinguished" or "to be annihilated". | |||
| Mongolian | устгах | ||
| The word "устгах" can also mean "to extinguish" or "to put out" in Mongolian. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဖျက်ဆီးပစ် | ||
Destroy in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | menghancurkan | ||
| "Menghancurkan" can also mean "to humiliate" or "to defeat". | |||
| Javanese | nyirnakake | ||
| The Javanese word "nyirnakake" can also mean "to break apart into pieces" or "to disassemble." | |||
| Khmer | បំផ្លាញ | ||
| Lao | ທຳ ລາຍ | ||
| Malay | memusnahkan | ||
| From the Javanese root word "musnah", meaning "nothingness". "Memusnahkan" in Malay conveys a sense of total annihilation or erasure. | |||
| Thai | ทำลาย | ||
| "ทำลาย" can also mean "remove", "take away" or "dismantle". | |||
| Vietnamese | hủy hoại | ||
| The word "hủy hoại" is derived from the Chinese word "毀壞", meaning "to demolish" or "to ruin". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sirain | ||
Destroy in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | məhv etmək | ||
| The verb "məhv etmək" is derived from the Persian word "مَحو کردن" (mahv kardan), which means "to erase, to wipe out". | |||
| Kazakh | жою | ||
| "Жою" can mean both "to destroy" and "to defeat" in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | жок кылуу | ||
| The word "жок кылуу" is derived from the Kyrgyz word "жок", meaning "nothing" or "non-existence", and the verb "кылуу", meaning "to make" or "to cause to be." | |||
| Tajik | нобуд кардан | ||
| The word "нобуд кардан" in Tajik can also have the alternate meaning "terminate, finish". | |||
| Turkmen | ýok etmek | ||
| Uzbek | yo'q qilish | ||
| The word "yo'q qilish" in Uzbek also means "to eliminate" or "to abolish". | |||
| Uyghur | بۇزۇش | ||
Destroy in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | luku | ||
| In Hawaiian, "luku" can also refer to "counting" or "reading," as in the chant or prayer form "mele luku". | |||
| Maori | whakangaro | ||
| In pre-European Māori culture, whakangaro carried a broader meaning of 'making something different', including destroying in battle or reshaping an existing object. | |||
| Samoan | faʻaleaga | ||
| The word “faʻaleaga” can also mean “to damage” or “to spoil”. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | sirain | ||
| The Tagalog word "sirain" is also used in other Philippine languages, such as Cebuano and Hiligaynon, and means "to destroy, to break, to spoil, to ruin, to tear down, to demolish." | |||
Destroy in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | t'unjaña | ||
| Guarani | mbyai | ||
Destroy in International Languages
| Esperanto | detrui | ||
| "Detrui" comes from the Latin word "destruere," meaning to break down or demolish. | |||
| Latin | perdere | ||
| The Latin word "perdere" can also mean "to lose" or "to ruin". | |||
Destroy in Others Languages
| Greek | καταστρέφω | ||
| The Greek word "καταστρέφω" means "to utterly defeat", "to ruin completely." | |||
| Hmong | txov | ||
| "Txov" can also mean "to break apart" or "to separate", depending on the context. | |||
| Kurdish | wêrankirin | ||
| The Kurdish word "wêrankirin" can also mean "to ravage" or "to decimate". | |||
| Turkish | yok etmek | ||
| Yok etmek also means "to get rid of" in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | ukutshabalalisa | ||
| The word "ukutshabalalisa" also means to spoil or ruin something. | |||
| Yiddish | צעשטערן | ||
| The Yiddish word "צעשטערן" also means "to disturb" or "to make trouble." | |||
| Zulu | bhubhisa | ||
| Bhubhisa (destroy) is also an idiomatic phrase meaning "to be filled with anger or rage". | |||
| Assamese | ধ্বংস কৰা | ||
| Aymara | t'unjaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | नष्ट कईल | ||
| Dhivehi | ހަލާކުކުރުން | ||
| Dogri | तबाह् करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sirain | ||
| Guarani | mbyai | ||
| Ilocano | dadaelen | ||
| Krio | pwɛl | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | تێکشکاندن | ||
| Maithili | नष्ट | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯊꯨꯒꯥꯏꯕ | ||
| Mizo | tichhia | ||
| Oromo | balleessuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବିନାଶ କର | | ||
| Quechua | chinkachiy | ||
| Sanskrit | विनश् | ||
| Tatar | юк итү | ||
| Tigrinya | ምጥፋእ | ||
| Tsonga | hlasela | ||