Driver in Different Languages
Discover 'Driver' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Driver
Afrikaans bestuurder | ||
Albanian shofer | ||
Amharic ሹፌር | ||
Arabic سائق | ||
Armenian վարորդ | ||
Assamese ড্ৰাইভাৰ | ||
Aymara conductora | ||
Azerbaijani sürücü | ||
Bambara bolifɛntigi | ||
Basque gidaria | ||
Belarusian кіроўца | ||
Bengali চালক | ||
Bhojpuri ड्राइवर के बा | ||
Bosnian vozač | ||
Bulgarian шофьор | ||
Catalan conductor | ||
Cebuano drayber | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 司机 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 司機 | ||
Corsican cunduttore | ||
Croatian vozač | ||
Czech řidič | ||
Danish chauffør | ||
Dhivehi ޑްރައިވަރެވެ | ||
Dogri ड्राइवर | ||
Dutch bestuurder | ||
English driver | ||
Esperanto ŝoforo | ||
Estonian autojuht | ||
Ewe ʋukula | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) driver | ||
Finnish kuljettaja | ||
French chauffeur | ||
Frisian sjauffeur | ||
Galician condutor | ||
Georgian მძღოლი | ||
German treiber | ||
Greek οδηγός | ||
Guarani chofer | ||
Gujarati ડ્રાઈવર | ||
Haitian Creole chofè | ||
Hausa direba | ||
Hawaiian kalaiwa | ||
Hebrew נהג | ||
Hindi चालक | ||
Hmong tsav tsheb | ||
Hungarian sofőr | ||
Icelandic bílstjóri | ||
Igbo ọkwọ ụgbọ ala | ||
Ilocano drayber | ||
Indonesian sopir | ||
Irish tiománaí | ||
Italian conducente | ||
Japanese 運転者 | ||
Javanese sopir | ||
Kannada ಚಾಲಕ | ||
Kazakh жүргізуші | ||
Khmer អ្នកបើកបរ | ||
Kinyarwanda umushoferi | ||
Konkani ड्रायव्हर | ||
Korean 운전사 | ||
Krio drayva | ||
Kurdish ajotvan | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) شۆفێر | ||
Kyrgyz айдоочу | ||
Lao ຄົນຂັບລົດ | ||
Latin agitator | ||
Latvian šoferis | ||
Lingala mokumbi motuka | ||
Lithuanian vairuotojas | ||
Luganda ddereeva w’emmotoka | ||
Luxembourgish chauffer | ||
Macedonian возачот | ||
Maithili ड्राइवर | ||
Malagasy driver | ||
Malay pemandu | ||
Malayalam ഡ്രൈവർ | ||
Maltese sewwieq | ||
Maori taraiwa | ||
Marathi ड्रायव्हर | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯗ꯭ꯔꯥꯏꯚꯔ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ ꯊꯧ ꯄꯨꯈꯤ꯫ | ||
Mizo driver a ni | ||
Mongolian жолооч | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကားမောင်းသူ | ||
Nepali ड्राइभर | ||
Norwegian sjåfør | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) dalaivala | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଡ୍ରାଇଭର | | ||
Oromo konkolaachisaa | ||
Pashto چلوونکی | ||
Persian راننده | ||
Polish kierowca | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) motorista | ||
Punjabi ਡਰਾਈਵਰ | ||
Quechua chofer | ||
Romanian conducător auto | ||
Russian водитель | ||
Samoan avetaʻavale | ||
Sanskrit चालकः | ||
Scots Gaelic draibhear | ||
Sepedi mootledi | ||
Serbian возач | ||
Sesotho mokhanni | ||
Shona mutyairi | ||
Sindhi ڊرائيور | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) රියදුරු | ||
Slovak vodič | ||
Slovenian voznik | ||
Somali darawal | ||
Spanish conductor | ||
Sundanese supir | ||
Swahili dereva | ||
Swedish förare | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) driver | ||
Tajik ронанда | ||
Tamil இயக்கி | ||
Tatar машина йөртүче | ||
Telugu డ్రైవర్ | ||
Thai คนขับ | ||
Tigrinya መራሒ መኪና | ||
Tsonga muchayeri | ||
Turkish sürücü | ||
Turkmen sürüjisi | ||
Twi (Akan) ofirikafo | ||
Ukrainian водій | ||
Urdu ڈرائیور | ||
Uyghur شوپۇر | ||
Uzbek haydovchi | ||
Vietnamese người lái xe | ||
Welsh gyrrwr | ||
Xhosa umqhubi | ||
Yiddish שאָפער | ||
Yoruba awako | ||
Zulu umshayeli |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Bestuurder (driver) is cognate with Dutch 'bestuurder', which in turn derives from 'besturen' (to govern, to control, to steer), ultimately from Old Frisian 'stiuren' or 'stiura' (to steer). |
| Albanian | The word "shofer" in Albanian is also used to refer to a person who drives a horse-drawn carriage. |
| Amharic | The term "chauffeur" is borrowed, via French, ultimately from "chauffer," meaning "stoke". Although in modern Amharic there is an association with transportation, it can still mean "fireman, stoker, attendant" |
| Arabic | The word "سائق" can mean "waterer" or "pusher" depending on the context. |
| Azerbaijani | The Azerbaijani word "sürücü" comes from the Turkish word "sürmek", meaning "to drive". |
| Basque | The word "gidaria" in Basque also means "chauffeur" and "steersman of a boat". |
| Belarusian | “Кіроўца” is derived from the Greek word “kyrios,” meaning “master” or “lord,” as drivers were once considered the masters of their vehicles. |
| Bengali | In physics, "চালক" also refers to an electrical conductor, a material that allows the flow of electric current. |
| Bosnian | The word 'vozač' is also used to refer to a wagon or a carrier. |
| Bulgarian | "Шофьор" is borrowed from French "chauffeur" (stoker), which in turn originated in Latin "calefacere" (to make warm). |
| Catalan | Catalan word "conductor" refers to an electric current carrier or an orchestra leader, while retaining its main meaning of "driver". |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "drayber" is derived from the Spanish word "traer" meaning "to bring." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 司机, in Chinese, can also refer to 'a machine or device that drives'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 司機 is also a term for any motor vehicle or train operator in Chinese. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, the word "cunduttore" can also refer to a guide or a person who leads or accompanies. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word 'vozač' derives from the Slavic verb 'voziti,' meaning to 'transport' or 'haul.' |
| Czech | Řidič is derived from the verb řídit, meaning 'to steer' or 'to guide', and is also used informally to refer to a leader or supervisor. |
| Danish | In Danish, "chauffør" also means "chauffeur" because this was the original meaning of the word in French. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "bestuurder" is cognate with "besturen", meaning "to govern", and originally referred to a "steersman". |
| Esperanto | Despite the fact that 'ŝoforo' literally means 'chauffeur,' it can also refer to any driver or motorist. |
| Estonian | The word "autojuht" in Estonian also means "chauffeur" or "professional driver". |
| Finnish | In Estonian, the word kuljetaja means 'courier' |
| French | In French, "chauffeur" originally meant "stoker" (of a furnace), then "fireman" (on a train), and then "driver" (of a car). |
| Frisian | The word "sjauffeur" in Frisian comes from the French word "chauffeur" and originally meant "stoker". |
| Galician | "Condutor" also refers to something that conducts, like wires or pipes. |
| Georgian | The word "მძღოლი" in Georgian can also refer to a "leader" or "guide" in addition to meaning "driver". |
| German | In computer science, a "Treiber" is a data structure used for fast thread-safe synchronization. |
| Greek | The word "οδηγός" (driver) is derived from the Greek verb "οδηγώ" (to lead) and also means "guide" or "conductor." |
| Gujarati | "ડ્રાઈવર" (driver) is derived from the English word "driver" meaning "one who drives a vehicle" or "a device that transmits power or signal". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "chofè" comes from the French word "chauffeur", which means "stoker" or "fireman". |
| Hausa | The word "direba" in Hausa is derived from the Arabic word "daraba", which means "to strike" or "to beat". |
| Hawaiian | "Kalaiwa" also means "to cut" or "to carve" in Hawaiian, referring to the skill of guiding a canoe through the water. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word 'נהג' ('driver') can also mean 'custom' or 'habit' and is cognate with the Arabic word 'nahj' ('pathway'). |
| Hindi | "चालक" can also mean 'one who causes to move' or 'one who motivates' in Hindi. |
| Hmong | "Tsav tsheb" has a root, "tsav," meaning "to use, operate, or control," and "tsheb" meaning "automobile, vehicle, or machine." |
| Hungarian | The word "sofőr" is derived from the French "chauffeur", meaning "stoker", as early automobiles were steam-powered. |
| Icelandic | In Norwegian, "bilkjører" means "driver", but is literally translated to "car (bil) runner (kjører)" (as opposed to the Icelandic "runner (hlaupandi)", which refers to someone who runs as an exercise). |
| Igbo | The Igbo term "ọkwọ ụgbọ ala" is often translated as "driver", but it literally means "navigator of the iron horse." |
| Indonesian | In old Javanese, 'sopir' referred to a horseman or knight. |
| Irish | "Tiománaí" is often used by Irish learners to mean "boyfriend" or "girlfriend" from confusion with French "mon ami.e." (f./m.) |
| Italian | Conducente in Italian can also mean 'proper' or 'suitable', deriving from the Latin 'conducens' meaning 'bringing together' or 'leading to'. |
| Japanese | "運転者" literally means "person who operates" and can refer to drivers of various vehicles, such as trains or ships, not just cars. |
| Javanese | The term 'sopir' is also a derivative word from the Dutch 'chaufeur', which is a loanword from the French term for 'stoker'. |
| Kannada | In Kannada, "ಚಾಲಕ" can also refer to a person who uses an agricultural tool called "ಚಾಲ" to create furrows in soil. |
| Kazakh | In Kazakh, |
| Khmer | The alternative meaning of "អ្នកបើកបរ" means "someone who is in charge of something," such as a leader, manager, or commander. |
| Korean | The word "운전사" can also refer to a locomotive engineer or a pilot. |
| Kurdish | The word 'ajotvan' is derived from the Persian word 'ajidan', meaning 'to drive' |
| Kyrgyz | Another meaning of the word is "an animal or person that guides or leads the way." |
| Lao | The Lao word for "driver" can also refer to someone in charge of anything, like a team or an organization. |
| Latin | In Latin, 'agitator' refers to a person in charge of driving horses, chariots, or ships. |
| Latvian | Šoferis derives from French "chauffeur", which is related to "chaud" (hot) and referred to a person who stoked a fire, then a steam engine, and later a car engine. |
| Lithuanian | Vairuotojas is derived from the Lithuanian word "vairuoti," meaning "to drive" or "to steer." |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Chauffer" also means "fireman" and derives from the old French word "chaufeur" meaning "stoker". |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word "возачот" (driver) also refers to a person who drives a locomotive or a tram. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "driver" can also refer to a type of small fish. |
| Malay | "Pemandu" in Malay also refers to a person who directs (a group, etc.), as in "pemimpin," an "officer," an "expert," or "one who teaches". |
| Malayalam | The word "ഡ്രൈവർ" ("driver") in Malayalam can also mean a "machinist" or "engineer". |
| Maltese | The word "sewwieq" also means "conductor" in the musical context. |
| Maori | Taraiwa is also an uncommon term for a 'pilot' that guides waka (canoes) through dangerous waterways. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "ड्रायव्हर" (driver) is derived from the English word "driver," but can also refer to a "chaplain" or "charioteer" in certain contexts. |
| Mongolian | The word |
| Nepali | The word "ड्राइभर" can also refer to a screw or nail used to fasten metal sheets together. |
| Norwegian | In Norway, a "sjåfør" (driver) can also refer to a coachman or a private chauffeur, a sense now obsolete in English. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Dalaivala" can also refer to someone who travels long distances, or who walks as their daily form of transport. |
| Pashto | The word “چلوونکی” can also refer to a person who operates a bullock cart. |
| Persian | The word "راننده" (rânede) means driver, and comes from the verb "راندن" (rândan) to drive, propel or guide. |
| Polish | The word "kierowca" derives from the verb "kierować", meaning "to direct", and can also refer to a leader or supervisor. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Motorista (Portuguese) ultimately derives from Latin movere and motor, meaning "to move" and "mover," akin to French moteur and English "motor." |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, the word "driver" also has the alternate meaning of "person who instigates or leads something" |
| Romanian | Conducător auto in romanian means driver and also leader or conductor in music. |
| Russian | The word "Водитель" (driver) derives from the verb "водить" (to lead, to guide), thus signifying "one who leads or guides". |
| Samoan | The word "avetaʻavale" is derived from the words "ave" (to carry) and "taʻavale" (vehicle). |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "draibhear" can also refer to a "carter", a person who drives a cart or waggon. |
| Serbian | In Old Church Slavonic, the word "возач" (vozach) originally meant "rider" or "charioteer". |
| Sesotho | Mokhanni can also mean "person who is always asking for things". |
| Shona | The word "mutyairi" also means "a person who is in charge". |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "ڊرائيور" (driver) also means "a person who operates a machine or vehicle". |
| Slovak | In Slovak, the word "vodič" can also be a conductor of electricity or music, as seen in expressions like "elektrický vodič" ("electrical conductor") and "orchestrálny vodič" ("band conductor"). |
| Slovenian | Voznik has Slavic roots and also means 'to emerge', 'to arise', and 'to occur'. |
| Somali | In Somali, 'darawal' can also refer to a guide or a person who leads the way. |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "conductor" can also refer to someone who operates a musical ensemble, similar to "conductor" in English. |
| Sundanese | The word "supir" is also used to refer to a pilot or a captain of a ship. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word 'dereva' originates from the Arabic 'durrāj', meaning 'pilot'. |
| Swedish | The word "förare" originates from the Old Norse word "fori" meaning "one who travels" or "messenger". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "driver" in Tagalog (Filipino) also means "the shaft of a cart or carriage" or "a person who drives a nail or stake." |
| Tajik | "Ронанда" is a word in Tajiki that means "driver" and is derived from the word "рондан" meaning "to drive". |
| Tamil | இயக்கி (iyakki) can also refer to an engine, mechanism, or the act of driving |
| Telugu | The word "డ్రైవర్" can also refer to a tool used to tighten or loosen screws. |
| Thai | The word "คนขับ" can also be used to refer to an operator or a person who makes something move, such as a machine or a vehicle. |
| Turkish | In addition to its common meaning, "sürücü" can also refer to a conductor (of electricity), a chauffeur, or a stimulant. |
| Ukrainian | The word "водій" is derived from the verb "водити" (to lead, to guide), and it can also refer to a conductor, a pilot, or a captain. |
| Urdu | In Urdu, ڈرائیور (driver) also signifies a horse-drawn carriage and a metal screw to drive other screws in. |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word “haydovchi” is rooted in the Persian word “hay” meaning “driving,” and the suffix “chi” denoting a profession. |
| Vietnamese | The word "người lái xe" can also mean "driver" in English, in addition to its literal meaning of "person who drives a vehicle" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | In medieval and renaissance Welsh, |
| Xhosa | The word "umqhubi" can also refer to a person who guides or directs others. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "שאָפער" ("driver") is of German origin, originating in the 18th century when the automobile was invented. |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, the word "awako" has alternate meanings of "head" and "leader". |
| Zulu | The word "umshayeli" was also sometimes used to refer to a guide or a person who leads the way. |
| English | In some parts of England the term 'driver' was used to describe the person who guided horses drawing threshing machinery. |