Difference in Different Languages
Discover 'Difference' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'difference' holds a significant place in our vocabulary, as it allows us to express the distinctions and variations that exist between things, people, and ideas. Understanding the concept of difference is essential to navigating the world around us, as it fosters curiosity, empathy, and appreciation for the rich tapestry of cultures and viewpoints that make up our global community.
Throughout history, the recognition of difference has sparked both conflict and collaboration, as societies grapple with the challenges and opportunities that diversity presents. From the civil rights movement to the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ equality, the acknowledgement and celebration of difference has been a driving force behind some of the most significant social and cultural shifts of our time.
For those interested in language and culture, exploring the translations of 'difference' in different languages can offer fascinating insights into how various societies conceptualize and articulate the idea of distinction. Here are just a few examples:
- French: différence
- Spanish: diferencia
- German: Unterschied
- Mandarin: 差异 (chāyì)
- Japanese: 違い (chigai)
Difference
Difference in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | verskil | ||
| The word "verskil" also refers to a mathematical quotient. | |||
| Amharic | ልዩነት | ||
| Hausa | bambanci | ||
| The word "bambanci" can also mean "discrimination" or "inequality" in Hausa. | |||
| Igbo | ihe dị iche | ||
| The Igbo word "ihe dị iche" can also mean "what is different" or "the difference between two things." | |||
| Malagasy | fahasamihafana | ||
| The Malagasy word "fahasamihafana" is derived from the root word "samy," meaning "one," and the prefix "faha," which denotes quality or state, and the suffix "-ana" which indicates plurality, together forming the concept of "difference" or "diversity." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kusiyana | ||
| The Nyanja word “kusiyana” can also refer to disagreement or variation. | |||
| Shona | mutsauko | ||
| Mutsauko is also used in Shona to refer to a distinction between two people or things. | |||
| Somali | farqiga | ||
| Farqiga also refers to a type of traditional Somali dance, as well as a form of martial arts used in combat. | |||
| Sesotho | phapang | ||
| The Sesotho word "phapang" is also a homophone of the word "papang", meaning "to meet". | |||
| Swahili | tofauti | ||
| The word "tofauti" is derived from the Arabic word "tafwid", meaning "entrustment" or "delegation". | |||
| Xhosa | umahluko | ||
| "Umahluko" also has the alternative meaning of "the act of dividing; separating". | |||
| Yoruba | iyato | ||
| Iyato also means 'change', a noun formed from the verb 'yi' which means 'to move' or 'to change'. | |||
| Zulu | umehluko | ||
| The word "umehluko" in Zulu stems from the verb "hlukanisa" meaning "to separate" or "to divide". | |||
| Bambara | danfara | ||
| Ewe | vovototo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | itandukaniro | ||
| Lingala | bokeseni | ||
| Luganda | enjawulo | ||
| Sepedi | phapano | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nsonsonoeɛ | ||
Difference in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | فرق | ||
| The Arabic word "فرق" can also mean "disunity" or "separation". | |||
| Hebrew | הֶבדֵל | ||
| "הֶבדֵל" is the root of the word "מַהְבֶּדֶל" (difference), meaning "separation", and can refer to the difference in appearance or nature between two or more things of the same type. | |||
| Pashto | توپیر | ||
| In addition to "difference," تاپير also means "to make different" or "to distinguish." | |||
| Arabic | فرق | ||
| The Arabic word "فرق" can also mean "disunity" or "separation". | |||
Difference in Western European Languages
| Albanian | ndryshim | ||
| Ndryshim derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *tr̥ 'to cross', hence 'difference'. | |||
| Basque | aldea | ||
| "Aldea" can also refer to a "village" or "neighborhood" in Spanish. | |||
| Catalan | diferència | ||
| The word "diferència" in Catalan can also refer to a legal dispute or a controversy. | |||
| Croatian | razlika | ||
| The word "razlika" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *razl-, meaning "to separate". | |||
| Danish | forskel | ||
| The word "forskel" in Danish derives from the Old Norse word "forskell", meaning "distinction or disagreement". | |||
| Dutch | verschil | ||
| The Dutch word "verschil" is derived from the Old French word "dissemblance", meaning "dissimilarity". | |||
| English | difference | ||
| In archaic English, 'difference' also meant disagreement or dispute. | |||
| French | différence | ||
| The French word "différence" shares an etymology with "differ" in English, both referring to "doing apart." | |||
| Frisian | ferskil | ||
| "Ferskil" in Frisian is derived from Proto-Germanic words meaning "dividing" or "separation". | |||
| Galician | diferenza | ||
| It also means "dispute" or "quarrel" in Galician. | |||
| German | unterschied | ||
| The word "Unterschied" can also refer to a distinctive feature or attribute. | |||
| Icelandic | munur | ||
| The word also has other meanings like 'distinction' and 'honour'. | |||
| Irish | difríocht | ||
| The Irish word "difríocht" not only means "difference", but also "discrimination" and "prejudice". | |||
| Italian | differenza | ||
| The word "differenza" in Italian can also refer to a lawsuit or a distinction between two things. | |||
| Luxembourgish | ënnerscheed | ||
| "Ënnerscheed" is also a name for a type of soup in Luxembourgish, and may be a descendant of the old High German word "underscheid" (literally "undershoot"), referring to its status as a light meal served before a main dish. | |||
| Maltese | differenza | ||
| "Differenza" comes from the Arabic word "فرق" (faraq), which means "to divide". | |||
| Norwegian | forskjell | ||
| The word 'forskjell' is derived from the Old Norse word 'fors,' meaning 'waterfall' or 'rapids,' and refers to the contrast between two different forces or streams. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | diferença | ||
| The word "diferença" originates from the Latin word "differentia", meaning "distinction" or "separation". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | eadar-dhealachadh | ||
| Spanish | diferencia | ||
| In Spanish, 'diferencia' (difference) also means 'dispute' or 'distinction'. | |||
| Swedish | skillnad | ||
| Skillnad is derived from the Old Norse skilja, meaning 'to separate' or 'to distinguish'. It can also refer to a disagreement or dispute. | |||
| Welsh | gwahaniaeth | ||
| The word "gwahaniaeth" can also refer to a distinction, contrast, or variation. | |||
Difference in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | розніца | ||
| As a derivative of the Proto-Slavic word "*raznъ," "розніца" also means "retail trade" in Belarusian. | |||
| Bosnian | razlika | ||
| The word "razlika" in Bosnian can also refer to a distinction, contrast, or disagreement. | |||
| Bulgarian | разлика | ||
| In Bulgarian, the word "разлика" can also refer to the "amount by which one thing differs from another". | |||
| Czech | rozdíl | ||
| "Rozdíl" comes from the Old Czech word "rozieti", meaning "to disperse". | |||
| Estonian | erinevus | ||
| "Erinevus" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *erine-, meaning "to separate, be different". | |||
| Finnish | ero | ||
| The word "ero" also has the meaning "deviation" or "disparity" | |||
| Hungarian | különbség | ||
| "Különbség" in Hungarian comes from the word "különb": better, different, more distinct, more special, unusual. | |||
| Latvian | atšķirība | ||
| "Atšķirība" also means "distinction," "variation," or "contradiction," depending on the context. | |||
| Lithuanian | skirtumas | ||
| In Lithuanian, the word "skirtumas" also means "discrimination" or "discrepancy". | |||
| Macedonian | разликата | ||
| The term also refers to the divergence in opinion between several individuals, or dispute. | |||
| Polish | różnica | ||
| "Różnica" can also mean "exchange rate" or "change in value" in Polish. | |||
| Romanian | diferență | ||
| The Romanian word "diferență" traces its origins to the Old Church Slavonic root "разнит(и)" which originally meant "to separate," "to set apart". | |||
| Russian | разница | ||
| The word "разница" has an alternate meaning of "profit". | |||
| Serbian | разлика | ||
| The Serbian word "разлика" (difference) is also used to describe a distance or interval, such as a "разлика у годинама" (age difference). | |||
| Slovak | rozdiel | ||
| "Rozdiel" also has a colloquial meaning in Slovak (meaning "nonsense") that stems from a similar meaning of the Czech phrase "s roztížením rozuměti" ("understand with a delay"). | |||
| Slovenian | razlika | ||
| "Razlika" comes from the verb "razlikovati" ("to differentiate"), which in turn comes from the Proto-Slavic word "razlъkъ" ("distinction"). | |||
| Ukrainian | різниця | ||
| The word "різниця" can also refer to "change" or "balance". | |||
Difference in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | পার্থক্য | ||
| পার্থক্য shares the same etymology with "partner" and "participation" as they all stem from "part". | |||
| Gujarati | તફાવત | ||
| In Gujarati, "તફાવત" can also mean "distinction" or "contrast." | |||
| Hindi | अंतर | ||
| The word 'अंतर' shares cognate roots with words like 'internal', 'intermediary', and 'intermediate'. | |||
| Kannada | ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ | ||
| Malayalam | വ്യത്യാസം | ||
| The Malayalam word "വ്യത്യാസം" also means "discrimination", "distinction", and "contrast". | |||
| Marathi | फरक | ||
| The Marathi word "फरक" likely originated from the Persian word "farq" meaning "distinction". | |||
| Nepali | फरक | ||
| The Hindi word 'farak' which derives from the Sanskrit word 'vibhraam' has an alternate meaning of 'separation'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਅੰਤਰ | ||
| The Punjabi word "ਅੰਤਰ" (antar) has many meanings, including "distance", "interval", "partition", and "end". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වෙනස | ||
| "වෙනස" can also refer to "separation", "dissimilarity" or "discrimination". | |||
| Tamil | வித்தியாசம் | ||
| In Tamil, the word 'வித்தியாசம்' (viddiyāsam) also means 'knowledge' or 'learning', reflecting the idea that 'difference' is an aspect of the process of gaining knowledge. | |||
| Telugu | తేడా | ||
| "తేడా" is also the name of a musical instrument in Telugu, meaning "difference". | |||
| Urdu | فرق | ||
| In Arabic, "فرق" also means "a division of an army". | |||
Difference in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 区别 | ||
| The Chinese character "区别" originally meant "distinguish", but its meaning has gradually expanded to include "difference". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 區別 | ||
| "區" means area or zone and "別" means distinguish or differentiation, so "區別" implies distinguishing between areas or zones. | |||
| Japanese | 差 | ||
| The word "差" can also mean "error" or "mistake" in Japanese. | |||
| Korean | 차 | ||
| The word 차 (차이) can also mean 'to distinguish' or 'discriminate' | |||
| Mongolian | ялгаа | ||
| The Mongolian word "ялгаа" derives from the Proto-Mongolic root *yalg- (*divide), which is also reflected in the word "ялгарах" (to divide). | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ခြားနားချက် | ||
Difference in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | perbedaan | ||
| The Indonesian word "perbedaan" derives from the root "beda", meaning "other" or "different". In Old Javanese, it referred to "dissimilarity", "contrast", or "distinction". | |||
| Javanese | bedane | ||
| The word "bedane" in Javanese also means "the rest" or "what is left over". | |||
| Khmer | ភាពខុសគ្នា | ||
| Lao | ຄວາມແຕກຕ່າງ | ||
| Malay | beza | ||
| The word "beza" can also refer to the difference between two things, or the amount by which one thing is greater than another. | |||
| Thai | ความแตกต่าง | ||
| The word "difference" can also mean "contrast" or "distinction". | |||
| Vietnamese | sự khác biệt | ||
| "Sự khác biệt" can also refer to "a dispute", "an argument," or "a quarrel." | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkakaiba | ||
Difference in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | fərq | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "fərq" is ultimately derived from the Arabic "farq" ("separation, distance") but can also mean "interest" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | айырмашылық | ||
| Kyrgyz | айырма | ||
| The word "айырма" also refers to the act of distinguishing something from another. | |||
| Tajik | фарқият | ||
| The word "фарқият" is borrowed from Arabic "فرق" (furq) meaning "divide, separate". | |||
| Turkmen | tapawut | ||
| Uzbek | farq | ||
| The Uzbek word "farq" also has the meaning of "perception", in the sense of how one perceives and interprets the world. | |||
| Uyghur | پەرقى | ||
Difference in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻokoʻa | ||
| The word ʻokoʻa is related to other words meaning 'to turn', 'to change', and 'to deviate'. | |||
| Maori | rerekētanga | ||
| This word also implies the different aspects of a subject, or varying conditions of a thing, or different degrees of a quality, or different forms of a body, or the different parts or members of an action, or the different circumstances of any proceeding. | |||
| Samoan | eseʻesega | ||
| The word 'ese'esega' also means 'distinguish', which is derived from the word 'ese'e', meaning 'to separate'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pagkakaiba-iba | ||
Difference in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | mayjt'a | ||
| Guarani | joavy | ||
Difference in International Languages
| Esperanto | diferenco | ||
| Its root word is 'difere,' meaning 'to differ' or 'to be different'. | |||
| Latin | difference | ||
| The Latin word "differentia" means both "difference" and "distinctive quality". | |||
Difference in Others Languages
| Greek | διαφορά | ||
| "Διαφορά" means 'difference' in Greek, but it also implies 'variance', 'discrepancy', 'dispute', 'controversy' or 'quarrel'. | |||
| Hmong | qhov txawv | ||
| The word "qhov txawv" can also mean "the other side" or "the other way". | |||
| Kurdish | ferq | ||
| "Ferq" comes from the same root as the word "farq" in Arabic, meaning "distinction" or "discrimination". | |||
| Turkish | fark | ||
| "Fark" also refers to the distinction between something and its opposite or complement. | |||
| Xhosa | umahluko | ||
| "Umahluko" also has the alternative meaning of "the act of dividing; separating". | |||
| Yiddish | חילוק | ||
| The Yiddish word "חילוק" comes from the Hebrew word "חילוק" meaning "to divide". | |||
| Zulu | umehluko | ||
| The word "umehluko" in Zulu stems from the verb "hlukanisa" meaning "to separate" or "to divide". | |||
| Assamese | পাৰ্থক্য | ||
| Aymara | mayjt'a | ||
| Bhojpuri | अंतर | ||
| Dhivehi | ތަފާތު | ||
| Dogri | फर्क | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkakaiba | ||
| Guarani | joavy | ||
| Ilocano | giddiat | ||
| Krio | difrɛn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | جیاوازی | ||
| Maithili | अंतर | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯦꯟꯅꯕ | ||
| Mizo | danglamna | ||
| Oromo | garaagarummaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପାର୍ଥକ୍ୟ | ||
| Quechua | sapaq kay | ||
| Sanskrit | अंतरण | ||
| Tatar | аерма | ||
| Tigrinya | ኣፈላላይ | ||
| Tsonga | hambana | ||