Dust in Different Languages
Discover 'Dust' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Dust
Afrikaans stof | ||
Albanian pluhur | ||
Amharic አቧራ | ||
Arabic غبار | ||
Armenian փոշի | ||
Assamese ধুলি | ||
Aymara wulwu | ||
Azerbaijani toz | ||
Bambara buguri | ||
Basque hautsa | ||
Belarusian пыл | ||
Bengali ধূলা | ||
Bhojpuri धूल | ||
Bosnian prašina | ||
Bulgarian прах | ||
Catalan pols | ||
Cebuano abog | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 灰尘 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 灰塵 | ||
Corsican polvera | ||
Croatian prah | ||
Czech prach | ||
Danish støv | ||
Dhivehi ހިރަފުސް | ||
Dogri खुक्खल | ||
Dutch stof | ||
English dust | ||
Esperanto polvo | ||
Estonian tolm | ||
Ewe ʋuʋudedi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) alikabok | ||
Finnish pöly | ||
French poussière | ||
Frisian stof | ||
Galician po | ||
Georgian მტვერი | ||
German staub | ||
Greek σκόνη | ||
Guarani yvytimbo | ||
Gujarati ધૂળ | ||
Haitian Creole pousyè | ||
Hausa kura | ||
Hawaiian lepo | ||
Hebrew אָבָק | ||
Hindi धूल | ||
Hmong hmoov av | ||
Hungarian por | ||
Icelandic ryk | ||
Igbo ájá | ||
Ilocano tapok | ||
Indonesian debu | ||
Irish deannach | ||
Italian polvere | ||
Japanese ほこり | ||
Javanese bledug | ||
Kannada ಧೂಳು | ||
Kazakh шаң | ||
Khmer ធូលី | ||
Kinyarwanda umukungugu | ||
Konkani धुल्ल | ||
Korean 먼지 | ||
Krio dɔst | ||
Kurdish toz | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) تۆز | ||
Kyrgyz чаң | ||
Lao ຂີ້ຝຸ່ນ | ||
Latin pulvis | ||
Latvian putekļi | ||
Lingala putulu | ||
Lithuanian dulkės | ||
Luganda enfuufu | ||
Luxembourgish stëbs | ||
Macedonian прашина | ||
Maithili गर्दा | ||
Malagasy vovoka | ||
Malay habuk | ||
Malayalam പൊടി | ||
Maltese trab | ||
Maori puehu | ||
Marathi धूळ | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯎꯐꯨꯜ | ||
Mizo vaivut | ||
Mongolian тоос | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဖုန်မှုန့် | ||
Nepali धुलो | ||
Norwegian støv | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) fumbi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଧୂଳି | ||
Oromo awwaara | ||
Pashto دوړې | ||
Persian گرد و خاک | ||
Polish kurz | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) poeira | ||
Punjabi ਧੂੜ | ||
Quechua ñutu allpa | ||
Romanian praf | ||
Russian пыль | ||
Samoan efuefu | ||
Sanskrit धूलि | ||
Scots Gaelic duslach | ||
Sepedi lerole | ||
Serbian прашина | ||
Sesotho lerōle | ||
Shona guruva | ||
Sindhi مٽي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) දුවිලි | ||
Slovak prach | ||
Slovenian prah | ||
Somali boodh | ||
Spanish polvo | ||
Sundanese lebu | ||
Swahili vumbi | ||
Swedish damm | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) alikabok | ||
Tajik чанг | ||
Tamil தூசி | ||
Tatar тузан | ||
Telugu దుమ్ము | ||
Thai ฝุ่น | ||
Tigrinya ኣቦራ | ||
Tsonga ritshuri | ||
Turkish toz | ||
Turkmen tozan | ||
Twi (Akan) mfuturo | ||
Ukrainian пил | ||
Urdu دھول | ||
Uyghur چاڭ-توزان | ||
Uzbek chang | ||
Vietnamese bụi bặm | ||
Welsh llwch | ||
Xhosa uthuli | ||
Yiddish שטויב | ||
Yoruba eruku | ||
Zulu uthuli |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "stof" is cognate with the Dutch "stof", meaning "material", "substance", or "matter". |
| Albanian | "Pluhur" is a Proto-Indo-European word cognate with the Latin “pulvis” ('dust') and the Armenian “piln” ('chaff'). |
| Amharic | "አቧራ" can also mean "a small particle of something." |
| Arabic | غبار also means 'dust raised by the winds' or 'dust accumulating on surfaces, such as furniture or plants'. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "փոշի" can also be used to refer to "flour" or "powder", as it is derived from the Indo-European root *peu̯s-, meaning "to crush" or "to pound". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "toz" also refers to the "fine powder" produced by grinding or crushing something. |
| Basque | The Basque word 'hautsa' can also refer to sand, powder or fine particles, and has an alternate meaning of 'dust' or 'dirt'. |
| Belarusian | The word "пыл" can also refer to pollen in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | The word "ধূলা" (dhula) originally denoted a particular type of sacred ash used in religious rituals. |
| Bosnian | "Prašina" is also used metaphorically to refer to someone who is insignificant or unimportant. |
| Bulgarian | The word "прах" has Proto-Slavic origins, and shares a root with words for "ash" in other Slavic languages. |
| Catalan | In the Pyrenees mountains, the term "pols" can be used to refer to snow that accumulates on windy ridges. |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "abog" can also refer to "ashes" or "powder", and is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word "*abuq". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 灰尘 (huīchén) is an alternate word for 尘土 (chéntǔ), both referring to "dust". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 灰塵 derives from an ancient Chinese concept of dust as something that 'darkens the skies' or 'blinds one's eyes'. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, polvera also means gunpowder or make-up powder. |
| Croatian | Originally, "prah" referred to powdered medicine or dye, while "pepelo" meant dust, but in modern usage, "prah" has taken on "pepelo"'s original usage. |
| Czech | The word "prach" in Czech comes from the Proto-Slavic term "perchъ" which also means "ashes." |
| Danish | "Støv" is derived from the Old Norse "stófr" which also meant both "powder" or "grain". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "stof" is thought to derive from an old Teutonic root meaning "powder" that also survives in the English word "staff". |
| Esperanto | Esperanto's "polvo" has two meanings: "dust" and "male poultry". |
| Estonian | The word "tolm" is thought to be derived from the Proto-Baltic word |
| Finnish | The word "pöly" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*pülē", which also means "powder" or "flour". |
| French | The word 'poussière' can also refer to a fine powder or a light dusting of something. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "stof" can also refer to pollen, or to the small particles of a substance (e.g. wood, flour, sugar). |
| Galician | In Galician, "po" can also refer to pollen or fine powder. |
| Georgian | The word "მტვერი" (dust) in Georgian is derived from the Proto-Georgian root *mtʰweri, which also means "powder" or "flour" |
| German | The word "Staub" in German can also refer to "bribe" or "commission". |
| Greek | The word "σκόνη" is also used to refer to the dust that is produced when something is ground or crushed. |
| Gujarati | "ધૂળ" can also mean "to cheat" or "to deceive" in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "pousyè" also means "ashes" or "powder." |
| Hausa | Hausa "kura" also denotes an "empty, vacant space; emptiness, waste"; and in figurative, philosophical sense "nothingness." |
| Hawaiian | Lepo in Hawaiian can also mean "scab" or "crusted over sore". |
| Hebrew | "אָבָק" also means "flower pollen" in Hebrew, due to its fine, powdery nature. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'धूल' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'dhūl', which means 'smoke' or 'powder'. |
| Hmong | The word "hmoov av" can also refer to the dust particles that have settled on an object or surface. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "por" can also mean "ash" or "powder". |
| Icelandic | The word "ryk" is also used to refer to a thin layer of ice that forms on surfaces during cold weather in Iceland. |
| Igbo | Igbo word 'ájá' also means 'sand', 'dirt', 'ashes' or 'decayed substance'. |
| Indonesian | The word 'debu' also refers to 'pollen' and 'fine, dry particles in the air' in Indonesian. |
| Irish | "Deannach" is also an archaic Irish term for "a small fire" or "a spark". |
| Italian | The Italian word "polvere" derives from the Latin word "pulvis" (powder), and also means "gunpowder" in Italian. |
| Japanese | "ほこり" can also mean `pride` or `dignity` in Japanese |
| Javanese | Bledug, meaning dust, is also an interjection of surprise or fear in Javanese. |
| Kannada | The word 'ಧೂಳು' in Kannada can also mean 'ashes' or 'powder'. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "шаң" (dust) is also used to refer to "dry powder" or "powdered soil". |
| Khmer | In addition to its literal meaning, the Khmer word "ធូលី" can also be used figuratively to refer to "dirtiness" or "impurity." |
| Korean | "먼지" also means 돈(don) (money) or a very small amount in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The word "toz" also means "powder" in Kurdish. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "чаң" in Kyrgyz is also used to refer to a type of dust devil or sandstorm. |
| Latin | Pulvis, the Latin word for "dust," also refers to dry, powdered substances used in medicinal and cosmetic preparations. |
| Latvian | The word "putekļi" can also mean "dirt" or "debris". |
| Lithuanian | The word "dulkės" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*dʰul-," meaning "to shake, sift, or winnow."} |
| Luxembourgish | "Stëbs" can also be used to describe someone who is not very bright |
| Macedonian | The word "прашина" also refers to the residue left on a surface after polishing, or to a fine powder used in cosmetics or medicine. |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, "vovoka" can also refer to "pollen" or "ash". |
| Malay | The word "habuk" in Malay means "dust" and is cognate with the Tagalog word "alikabok". |
| Malayalam | Malayalam 'പൊടി' can refer to 'ashes', 'powder', or 'pollen', and shares the same Dravidian root as words for 'dust' in Tamil and Kannada. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "trab" is cognate with the Arabic word "turab" meaning "dust" or "soil", and also with the Hebrew word "afar" meaning "dust". |
| Maori | Puehu is also used figuratively to refer to the remains of something destroyed or lost. |
| Marathi | The word "धूळ" (dhūḷ) has a secondary meaning of "noise" or "disturbance" in the Marathi language. |
| Mongolian | The word "тоос" can also mean "pollen" in Mongolian. |
| Nepali | The word "धुलो" also means "powder" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | The word "støv" is cognate with the English word "stow", as items stowed in storage often gather dust. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "fumbi" also means "powder" or "ash" in Nyanja. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word for dust, 'دوړې,' also refers to tiny particles or grains. |
| Persian | The Persian word "گرد و خاک" not only refers to dust but can also mean chaos or confusion, highlighting its wide range of meanings in the Persian language |
| Polish | The Polish word "kurz" is derived from Old Church Slavonic and shares a root with the Latin "pulvis" (dust) and Greek "konis" (powder). |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "poeira" can also refer to fine particles of gunpowder or pollen. |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi noun 'ਧੂੜ' is also used as a verb to describe the act of sweeping or dusting. |
| Romanian | The word "praf" comes from the Turkish "parça", meaning "fragment" or "piece". In Romanian, it can also refer to sand, dirt, or ashes. |
| Russian | Слово "пыль" происходит от древнерусского слова "пыльца", которое означало мельчайшие крупинки земли, песка или снега. |
| Samoan | Efuefu is also a term of endearment or a way to show respect for an elder |
| Scots Gaelic | "Duslach" can also mean "a shower of rain" in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | 'Прашина' ('dust') shares the same root with 'порох' ('gunpowder'), both originating from the Proto-Slavic word 'porxъ' ('small particles'). |
| Sesotho | Due to the similarity in phonetic structure, 'lerōle' also translates to 'storybook' in Sesotho. |
| Shona | In Old Shona, 'guruva' referred to the dust that comes off grinding stones. It later came to mean 'just dust' or 'dirt'. |
| Sindhi | The word "مٽي" comes from Sanskrit "matti" (earth, soil, mud, dust). |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | 'දුවිලි' can be used metaphorically to refer to the worries that torment someone. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "prach" is related to the Russian "porokh" (powder), derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*perk-" (to sprinkle, powder). |
| Slovenian | The word "prah" also means "pollen" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | Boodh is also a name used for the dust raised by wind and animals. |
| Spanish | Polvo, Spanish for "dust," also means "powder" and "octopus" in this language. |
| Sundanese | The word "lebu" in Sundanese is cognate with the Malay word "lebu" (dust) and is also used to refer to powdered substances like flour or medicine. |
| Swahili | The word "vumbi" in Swahili can also refer to fine particles, such as those found in flour or powder. |
| Swedish | In Swedish, the word "damm" can also refer to a small pool of water or a dam. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "alikabok" has another meaning, which is "ashes of the dead." |
| Tajik | The word "чанг" can also refer to a type of musical instrument commonly used in Central Asia. |
| Tamil | தூசி can also refer to the sand or fine particles found in water. |
| Telugu | The word దుమ్ము may derive from the Proto-Dravidian root *turu- "to whirl", implying its association with wind-driven particles. |
| Thai | The word "ฝุ่น" can also mean "dirt" or "pollution" in Thai. |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "toz" shares its root with the Persian word "toz" and the Arabic word "ghabar", all meaning "dust". |
| Ukrainian | The word "пил" also means "saw" in Ukrainian, coming from the Proto-Slavic word "*pilъ" with the same meaning. |
| Urdu | دھول (dust) is also a drum with two sides covered by hide, beaten at weddings in the Indian subcontinent and commonly known as a dhol in English. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "chang" is also used to refer to the process of filtering or sifting out impurities from substances. |
| Vietnamese | "Bụi" in Vietnamese can refer to dust from the air, dirt or grime, or figuratively to obstacles or disturbances. |
| Welsh | The alternate meaning of "llwch" in Welsh is "ashes", with the latter meaning being more common in Southern Welsh. |
| Xhosa | Uthuli can also refer to the ash or residue from something burnt. |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "שטויב" (shtoyb) not only means "dust" but also "powder" or "fine particles". |
| Yoruba | Eruku ('dust') in Yoruba also means 'mist', and in the plural, 'sparks' |
| Zulu | The word "uthuli" in Zulu can also refer to a type of plant that grows in sandy soil. |
| English | The word “dust” comes from the Old English word “dūst,” meaning “powder” or “small particles.” |