Disaster in Different Languages
Discover 'Disaster' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Disaster
Afrikaans ramp | ||
Albanian fatkeqësi | ||
Amharic አደጋ | ||
Arabic كارثة | ||
Armenian աղետ | ||
Assamese দুৰ্যোগ | ||
Aymara jan wali | ||
Azerbaijani fəlakət | ||
Bambara kojugu | ||
Basque hondamendia | ||
Belarusian катастрофа | ||
Bengali বিপর্যয় | ||
Bhojpuri विपत्ति | ||
Bosnian katastrofa | ||
Bulgarian бедствие | ||
Catalan desastre | ||
Cebuano katalagman | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 灾害 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 災害 | ||
Corsican disastru | ||
Croatian katastrofa | ||
Czech katastrofa | ||
Danish katastrofe | ||
Dhivehi މުޞީބާތް | ||
Dogri कैहर | ||
Dutch ramp | ||
English disaster | ||
Esperanto katastrofo | ||
Estonian katastroof | ||
Ewe dzɔgbevɔ̃e | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) sakuna | ||
Finnish katastrofi | ||
French catastrophe | ||
Frisian ramp | ||
Galician desastre | ||
Georgian კატასტროფა | ||
German katastrophe | ||
Greek καταστροφή | ||
Guarani sarambi | ||
Gujarati આપત્તિ | ||
Haitian Creole dezas | ||
Hausa bala'i | ||
Hawaiian pōʻino | ||
Hebrew אסון | ||
Hindi आपदा | ||
Hmong kev puas tsuaj | ||
Hungarian katasztrófa | ||
Icelandic hörmung | ||
Igbo ọdachi | ||
Ilocano didigra | ||
Indonesian bencana | ||
Irish tubaiste | ||
Italian disastro | ||
Japanese 災害 | ||
Javanese bencana | ||
Kannada ದುರಂತದ | ||
Kazakh апат | ||
Khmer គ្រោះមហន្តរាយ | ||
Kinyarwanda ibiza | ||
Konkani आपत्ती | ||
Korean 재앙 | ||
Krio bad bad tin | ||
Kurdish filaket | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کارەسات | ||
Kyrgyz кырсык | ||
Lao ໄພພິບັດ | ||
Latin clade | ||
Latvian katastrofa | ||
Lingala likama | ||
Lithuanian nelaimė | ||
Luganda ekibwatukiro | ||
Luxembourgish katastroph | ||
Macedonian катастрофа | ||
Maithili आपदा | ||
Malagasy voina | ||
Malay musibah | ||
Malayalam ദുരന്തം | ||
Maltese diżastru | ||
Maori parekura | ||
Marathi आपत्ती | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯃꯥꯡ ꯑꯇꯥ ꯊꯣꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo chhiatrupna | ||
Mongolian гамшиг | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဘေးအန္တရာယ် | ||
Nepali प्रकोप | ||
Norwegian katastrofe | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) tsoka | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିପର୍ଯ୍ୟୟ | | ||
Oromo balaa | ||
Pashto ناورین | ||
Persian فاجعه | ||
Polish katastrofa | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) desastre | ||
Punjabi ਤਬਾਹੀ | ||
Quechua llaki tukuy | ||
Romanian dezastru | ||
Russian катастрофа | ||
Samoan mala | ||
Sanskrit आपदा | ||
Scots Gaelic mòr-thubaist | ||
Sepedi masetlapelo | ||
Serbian катастрофа | ||
Sesotho tlokotsi | ||
Shona njodzi | ||
Sindhi تباهي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ව්යසනය | ||
Slovak katastrofa | ||
Slovenian nesreča | ||
Somali musiibo | ||
Spanish desastre | ||
Sundanese musibah | ||
Swahili janga | ||
Swedish katastrof | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) sakuna | ||
Tajik офат | ||
Tamil பேரழிவு | ||
Tatar афәт | ||
Telugu విపత్తు | ||
Thai ภัยพิบัติ | ||
Tigrinya እዋን ችግር | ||
Tsonga khombo | ||
Turkish felaket | ||
Turkmen betbagtçylyk | ||
Twi (Akan) atowerɛnkyɛm | ||
Ukrainian лиха | ||
Urdu مصیبت | ||
Uyghur ئاپەت | ||
Uzbek falokat | ||
Vietnamese thảm họa | ||
Welsh trychineb | ||
Xhosa intlekele | ||
Yiddish ומגליק | ||
Yoruba ajalu | ||
Zulu inhlekelele |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Ramp is cognate with and derived from the English word "romp", meaning "to frolic or play boisterously" |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "fatkeqësi" has its origins in the word "fat" meaning "luck" and "keq" meaning "bad". |
| Amharic | The word "አደጋ" can also mean "danger" or "risk". |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "كارثة" (disaster) shares a root with the word "كسر" (break), referring to a catastrophic event that shatters normal conditions. |
| Armenian | The word աղետ literally translates to "without luck" in Armenian. |
| Azerbaijani | The word |
| Basque | The word "hondamendia" comes from "hondo" (meaning deep) and "amendi" (meaning abyss) in Basque. |
| Belarusian | The word "катастрофа" is derived from the Greek word "καταστροφή", which means "overturn" or "ruin". |
| Bengali | বিপর্যয় originally meant 'change', but gained its current meaning through use in astrological and tantric texts. |
| Bosnian | Katastrofa (disaster) comes from the Greek katastrophe "overturn," used of an army routed in battle. |
| Bulgarian | The word "бедствие" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "бъдѣти" (bъděti), meaning "to watch" or "to be awake", originally referring to the vigilant waiting for a divine retribution or calamity. |
| Catalan | The word "desastre" in Catalan is derived from the Italian word "disastro," which in turn is derived from the late Latin "disastrum," meaning "an evil star" or "ill fortune." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The first character, “災” (zāi), refers to a calamity or misfortune, and the second character, “害” (hài), means to harm or injure. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The first character in 災害 means 'difficulty' but also can mean 'great,' and the second is a character meaning 'year.' |
| Corsican | In Corsican, the word "disastru" can also mean "difficulty" or "problem". |
| Croatian | "Katastrofa" comes from Ancient Greek "katastrophe," meaning "sudden downfall" and, by extension, "outcome, solution," or even "success." |
| Czech | The word "katastrofa" in Czech originally meant "overturning" or "fall". |
| Danish | The word 'katastrofe' stems from the late Greek word 'katástrophos', meaning 'downfall' or 'overthrow' |
| Dutch | In Dutch, "ramp" also means "catastrophe". |
| Esperanto | The word comes from the Greek verb katastrefein, “to turn upside down,” and shares a root with “catastrophe.” |
| Estonian | The word "katastroof" in Estonian originates from the Greek word "katastrophē," meaning "overturning, overthrow, or sudden downfall." |
| Finnish | The word "katastrofi" in Finnish derives from the Greek "καταστροφή" (katastrophē), meaning "overturn" or "ruin" |
| French | In French, the word "catastrophe" can also refer to the final event of a play, or the denouement. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "ramp" is derived from the Old Frisian word "rampe", meaning "calamity" or "misfortune". |
| Galician | The Galician word "desastre" comes from the Latin "dis aster", meaning "bad star", and refers to a misfortune or adversity. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "კატასტროფა" is a loanword from Greek, derived from "καταστροφή", which means "a sudden and violent overthrow" and is unrelated to "catastrophe" in English, referring to "an unexpected and calamitous event". |
| German | The German word "Katastrophe" has its roots in Ancient Greek, where it referred to a sudden and complete reversal of fortune. |
| Greek | "Κatastrophe" (καταστροφή) comes from the Greek "kata" (down) and "strophe" (turn), thus describing a sudden downfall or reversal. |
| Gujarati | "આપત્તિ" is derived from Sanskrit and literally means "to fall upon" or "to befall". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "dezas" in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word "désastre" and also means "misfortune" or "calamity". |
| Hausa | "Bala'i" comes from the Arabic word "balā", meaning "trial" or "adversity." |
| Hawaiian | ʻIno means "wicked" and po means "darkness" or "night". |
| Hebrew | In ancient Hebrew, אסון also meant happiness. |
| Hindi | "आपदा" is a Hindi word meaning "disaster". It is derived from the Sanskrit word "आपद्" (āpad), meaning "misfortune" or "calamity." |
| Hmong | The word "kev puas tsuaj" in Hmong can also refer to a calamity or a catastrophe. |
| Hungarian | The word "katasztrófa" derives from the Greek "katastrephein", meaning "to overturn" or "to throw down." |
| Icelandic | The word "hörmung" has the alternate meaning of "an unpleasant sensation" in Icelandic. |
| Igbo | "Ọdachi" is a versatile Igbo word that can also mean "great surprise" or "extraordinary event." |
| Indonesian | Bencana originally meant "to be ruined", but in Malay and Indonesian it shifted to mean "catastrophe" or "calamity". |
| Irish | "Tubaiste" derives from the Old Irish "tobaist", meaning "a calamity" or "evil". |
| Italian | In Italian, the word "disastro" can also mean a "great disturbance" or a "spectacle of destruction." |
| Japanese | 災害's meaning of "heaven-sent hindrance" comes from a traditional belief that disasters are punishments from heaven. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "bencana" originates from the Sanskrit word "vinasana", meaning "to destroy" |
| Kannada | The word ದುರಂತದ also carries connotations of a tragic event or accident, suggesting a sense of sudden and unexpected loss or distress. |
| Kazakh | The word "апат" originally referred to a natural calamity in Kazakh, but has since expanded to include man-made disasters as well. |
| Korean | 재앙 refers to both natural disasters, such as earthquakes or floods, and to man-made disasters, like fires or explosions. |
| Kurdish | The word "filaket" in Kurdish is derived from the Persian word "falākat" which can also mean "calamity", "distress", and "suffering". |
| Latin | "Clade" in Latin can also refer to a severed branch of a tree. |
| Latvian | The word “katastrofa” derives from Greek and originally meant “catastrophe”, which was the final act of a Greek tragedy. |
| Lithuanian | "Nelaimė" can also mean "accident" or "misfortune" in Lithuanian. |
| Luxembourgish | In the 17th century, “Katastroph” originally referred to a turn or change, especially a change for the worse. |
| Macedonian | In Macedonian, "катастрофа" is derived from the Greek "καταστροφή" and also carries the meaning of "downfall". |
| Malagasy | Voina is also used in Malagasy with a negative sense to refer to a person or thing that causes trouble or misfortune. |
| Malay | The Malay word 'musibah' originally referred to trials, suffering, or misfortune sent as a test by God, and still carries this connotation in religious contexts. |
| Malayalam | The word "ദുരന്തം" can also mean "an evil omen" or "an act of wickedness". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "diżastru" derives from the Italian "disastro", ultimately from the Greek "astēr" meaning "star". |
| Maori | In Maori, "parekura" also means "a great noise", referencing the tumult and chaos associated with a disaster. |
| Marathi | The word "आपत्ती" (aapattī) is a cognate of the Sanskrit word "आपद्" (āpad), meaning "calamity, misfortune, or adversity". It is also related to the word "अप" (apa), meaning "away" or "off", and can thus be interpreted as something that has "gone wrong". |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word гамшиг derives from the Mongolian verb гамших, meaning 'to be shattered, broken, or destroyed'. |
| Nepali | The word "प्रकोप" derives from the Sanskrit word "प्र" (pra), meaning "forth," and "कोप" (kopa), meaning "anger," suggesting a force of nature that arises from divine wrath. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "katastrofe" originally meant a turnaround or reversal of fate. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "tsoka" in Nyanja also means "a period of scarcity" or "a calamity." |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "ناورین" originates from the Persian word "ناوَرد" meaning "misfortune" or "unforeseen event." |
| Persian | The Persian word "فاجعه" initially meant "a sudden or unexpected accident" but now is used widely to refer to tragedies and catastrophes. |
| Polish | The Polish word "katastrofa" is derived from the Greek word "katastrophe," meaning "overturning," and also refers to the final act of a Greek drama. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word 'desastre' comes from the Late Latin 'dis-astru' meaning 'bad star', as disasters were once thought to be caused by unfavourable astronomical events |
| Punjabi | "ਤਬਾਹੀ (tabāhi)", a word of Persian origin, primarily means "destruction" but can also refer to "devastation", "ruin" or "calamity" in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "dezastru" derives from the Greek word "diastros," meaning "evil star" or "bad influence." |
| Russian | Russian "катастрофа" comes from Greek "katastrophe", "overturn", also used in medicine to describe a sudden relapse. |
| Samoan | The word "mala" can also mean "punishment" or "suffering" in Samoan, signifying the negative consequences associated with calamities. |
| Scots Gaelic | The name refers to an event so awful that it's impossible to describe it. |
| Serbian | The word "катастрофа" in Serbian also means "final judgment" or "end of the world" |
| Sesotho | Though "tlokotsi" is usually translated as "disaster" in English, it literally means "a sudden calamity that knocks one over from standing erect", suggesting a broader meaning than disaster. |
| Shona | "Njodzi" also refers to a period when the moon is not visible, a time considered unlucky and associated with evil spirits and witchcraft in Shona culture. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "ව්යසනය" (vyasanaya) shares a common root with the Sanskrit word "विपत्ति" (vipatti), which also means "disaster". |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "katastrofa" originally meant "catastrophe" or "ruin", but can now also refer to any major mishap or failure. |
| Slovenian | The word "nesreča" in Slovenian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "nesъrěti", meaning "unhappiness" or "misfortune". |
| Somali | The Somali word musiibo also means "punishment from God". |
| Spanish | The word "desastre" comes from the Latin "dis" (bad) and "astrum" (star), denoting an event caused by an unlucky alignment of the stars. |
| Sundanese | "Musibah" also means "misfortune" or "troubles" in Sundanese, similar to its meaning in Indonesian. |
| Swahili | The word "janga" in Swahili also means "battlefield" or "war". |
| Swedish | The word "katastrof" originates from Greek "katastrefein", meaning "to overturn"} |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "sakuna" in Tagalog is derived from the Sanskrit word "śakuna", which means "omen" or "portent", and is often associated with negative events. |
| Tajik | The word "офат" is derived from the Persian word "āfat", which means "calamity" or "misfortune". |
| Tamil | "பேரழிவு" can also mean "destruction," "ruin," or "devastation" |
| Telugu | The word "విపత్తు" can also refer to a “moment of great danger” or a “sudden misfortune”. |
| Thai | "ภัยพิบัติ" is a compound word made up of "ภัย" (meaning danger) and "พิบัติ" (meaning destruction). |
| Turkish | It derives from an Arabic term meaning "to turn upside down, disrupt" |
| Ukrainian | "Лиха" in Ukrainian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*lixъ", meaning "evil" or "bad luck". |
| Uzbek | Falokat originated in Arabic as the plural of 'falak,' which denotes 'the upper sphere, heaven' and came to mean 'unlucky fate, mishap' in Persian. |
| Vietnamese | "Thảm họa" is Sino-Vietnamese for "tragedy" and literally means "a mat that covers (or buries) a life". It's also used to refer to a natural disaster. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "trychineb" also refers to a state of great confusion or chaos. |
| Xhosa | 'Intlekele' comes from the verb 'ukutlekelela', which means 'to cause to stumble', 'to make to fall'. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "ומגליק" is derived from the Middle High German word "ungelücke", meaning "misfortune". |
| Yoruba | The word "ajalu" in Yoruba can also mean "enemy" or "one who brings misfortune". |
| Zulu | "Inhlekelele" in Zulu can also refer to a sudden or unexpected event, not necessarily negative. |
| English | The word "disaster" comes from the Greek word "astron," which means "star" or "constellation," and was originally used to refer to an unfavorable alignment of the stars. |