Lucky in Different Languages
Discover 'Lucky' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'lucky' holds a special place in our hearts and minds as it represents good fortune, happiness, and success. Its significance extends beyond mere chance, as it often symbolizes the positive outcomes that come from hard work and perseverance. The concept of luck is deeply ingrained in various cultures and traditions, often playing a crucial role in religious beliefs, superstitions, and folklore.
For instance, in Chinese culture, the color red and the number 8 are considered auspicious, symbolizing prosperity and luck. Meanwhile, in Western cultures, finding a four-leaf clover or a horseshoe is believed to bring good luck. Understanding the translation of 'lucky' in different languages can provide fascinating insights into how different cultures perceive and approach the idea of fortune.
Here are some translations of 'lucky' in various languages: Spanish - suerte, French - chance, German - glück, Italian - fortuna, Japanese - 幸運{kouun}, Chinese - 幸运{xing yun}, and Korean - 행운{haeng un}.
Lucky
Lucky in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | gelukkig | ||
| The Afrikaans word "gelukkig" originates from the Old Dutch word "ghelucke", which means "fortune" or "wealth". | |||
| Amharic | ዕድለኛ | ||
| In Amharic, the term "ዕድለኛ" ("lucky") can also refer to a person who has the right to do or receive something. | |||
| Hausa | sa'a | ||
| In Hausa, "sa'a" also refers to a period of time, typically associated with good fortune or opportunity. | |||
| Igbo | kechioma | ||
| Igbo-speaking people also use the word to mean "the most favoured". | |||
| Malagasy | lucky | ||
| In Malagasy, "lucky" also means "to be rich" or "to have a lot of money". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | mwayi | ||
| In addition to "lucky," the word "mwayi" can also refer to "blessing," "favor," or "opportunity" in Nyanja (Chichewa). | |||
| Shona | rombo rakanaka | ||
| The Shona word "rombo rakanaka" can also mean "a lucky person" or "a person who is favored by luck." | |||
| Somali | nasiib badan | ||
| The Somali word "nasiib badan" comes from the Arabic "nasīb", meaning "lot" or "portion", and is often used to describe someone who has had a fortunate outcome. | |||
| Sesotho | lehlohonolo | ||
| The word "lehlohonolo" is also used to describe someone who is favored or blessed by God. | |||
| Swahili | bahati | ||
| The word 'bahati' is also used in Swahili to describe a good fortune, destiny, or luck.} | |||
| Xhosa | nethamsanqa | ||
| The word "nethamsanqa" in Xhosa also refers to a state of contentment or fortune. | |||
| Yoruba | orire | ||
| The Yoruba word "orire" can also refer to a person's destiny, fortune, or luck. | |||
| Zulu | unenhlanhla | ||
| It also refers to the concept of 'luckiness' in Nguni and Sotho, associated with wealth and favour. | |||
| Bambara | kunnaja | ||
| Ewe | kpɔ aklama | ||
| Kinyarwanda | amahirwe | ||
| Lingala | chance | ||
| Luganda | -mukisa | ||
| Sepedi | mahlatse | ||
| Twi (Akan) | tiri nkwa | ||
Lucky in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | سعيد الحظ | ||
| In Arabic, "سعيد الحظ" can also refer to "fate" or "destiny" | |||
| Hebrew | בַּר מַזָל | ||
| בַּר מַזָל may also refer to a "Son of luck," meaning "one born under an auspicious hour," and thus one that is lucky or fortunate. | |||
| Pashto | بختور | ||
| The word "بختور" in Pashto also refers to a type of hawk. | |||
| Arabic | سعيد الحظ | ||
| In Arabic, "سعيد الحظ" can also refer to "fate" or "destiny" | |||
Lucky in Western European Languages
| Albanian | me fat | ||
| The Albanian word "me fat" derives from the Proto-Albanian word *met'a, meaning "fate | |||
| Basque | zortea | ||
| The word “zortea” is a derivative of the Latin word “sors”, meaning “fate”. | |||
| Catalan | sort | ||
| In Catalan, "sort" can also refer to the act of drawing lots or casting a spell. | |||
| Croatian | sretan | ||
| In Serbo-Croatian, the word 'sretan' means not only 'lucky' but also 'happy'. | |||
| Danish | heldig | ||
| The word "heldig" is derived from the Old Norse word "heill", which means "health" or "well-being". | |||
| Dutch | lucky | ||
| "Gelukkig", the Dutch for lucky, also means happy. | |||
| English | lucky | ||
| The word "lucky" shares an etymology with the Latin "lux," meaning "light," and was initially used as a verb meaning "to give light" or "to prosper." | |||
| French | chanceux | ||
| The word "chanceux" is derived from the Latin word "cadere" (to fall), referring to the unpredictable nature of luck. | |||
| Frisian | lokkich | ||
| The word "lokkich" in Frisian can also refer to a "door latch" or "clasp". | |||
| Galician | sorte | ||
| In Galician, "sorte" can also mean "fate" or "destiny", and its root is the Latin word "sors", meaning "lot" or "fate." | |||
| German | glücklich | ||
| The word 'Glücklich' derives from the Middle High German 'gelücke' meaning 'fortune', but also encompasses a sense of fulfilment and contentment. | |||
| Icelandic | heppinn | ||
| The Icelandic word 'heppinn' is thought to derive from the Proto-Germanic word 'haifstijaz', meaning 'skillful'. | |||
| Irish | ádh | ||
| The word "ádh" in Irish, meaning "luck," is derived from the Proto-Celtic "*ā-dʰeh₁-," meaning "to prosper." | |||
| Italian | fortunato | ||
| The term 'fortunato' is also the past participle of the Italian verb 'fortificare,' meaning 'to fortify' or 'to strengthen'. | |||
| Luxembourgish | glécklech | ||
| Glécklech derives from the Middle German word "gelükke" which originally meant "good fortune", "luck" or "happiness". | |||
| Maltese | fortunat | ||
| The Maltese word "fortunat" derives from the Latin "fortunatus" and can also mean "favoured by fortune" or "blessed." | |||
| Norwegian | heldig | ||
| The Old Norse word "heill" meaning "health" gave rise to the Norwegian word "heldig", as a healthy person was considered lucky. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | por sorte | ||
| The Portuguese phrase "por sorte" originally meant "by chance" or "by lot" but has evolved to mean "lucky". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | fortanach | ||
| The word `fortanach` can also refer to something that is prosperous or advantageous. | |||
| Spanish | suerte | ||
| The word "suerte" in Spanish comes from the Latin word "sors," which means "lot" or "destiny." | |||
| Swedish | tur- | ||
| The word 'tur' comes from the Old Swedish word 'thör', which meant 'to do' or 'to happen'. | |||
| Welsh | lwcus | ||
| In Welsh, "lwcus" can also refer to a "place of gathering" or a "congregation". | |||
Lucky in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | пашанцавала | ||
| Bosnian | sretan | ||
| Sretan also means 'met' or 'encountered' in Croatian and Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | късметлия | ||
| The word 'късметлия' is derived from the Turkish word 'kısmet,' which means fate or destiny. | |||
| Czech | šťastný | ||
| The Czech word "šťastný" stems from "sčasťe," which means "happiness" in Old Church Slavonic, or from the Proto-Slavic word "*sъtъ," which means "full" or "existent." | |||
| Estonian | vedas | ||
| The word "vedas" in Estonian derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wed-", meaning "to find out" or "to know". | |||
| Finnish | onnekas | ||
| "Onnekas" shares a linguistic root with "onnistua," meaning "to succeed," which is itself related to the word for "honey," reflecting the sweetness of success and good luck. | |||
| Hungarian | szerencsés | ||
| The Hungarian word "szerencsés" originally referred to the inhabitants of the city of Szerencs, but its meaning evolved over time to mean "fortunate" or "lucky". | |||
| Latvian | paveicies | ||
| The Latvian word "paveicies" can also mean "to make lucky" or "to be successful". | |||
| Lithuanian | pasisekė | ||
| The word "pasisekė" comes from the Lithuanian phrase "pasisekė laimė," meaning "happened upon happiness." | |||
| Macedonian | среќен | ||
| The word "среќен" in Macedonian also has the alternate meaning of "happy" or "fortunate." | |||
| Polish | szczęściarz | ||
| The word "Szczęściarz" is derived from the Old Polish word "szczęście," meaning "happiness" or "good fortune" | |||
| Romanian | norocos | ||
| The word "norocos" is derived from the Romanian word "noroc" which means "luck" or "fortune". | |||
| Russian | счастливый | ||
| The word "счастливый" derives from the Old Russian word "счастье", meaning "good fortune" or "well-being." | |||
| Serbian | срећан | ||
| The word 'срећан' has its roots in the Old Serbian verb 'sresti' which means to meet. | |||
| Slovak | šťastie | ||
| The word "šťastie" is cognate with the Latin word "status," and has a similar alternate meaning of "estate" or "condition." | |||
| Slovenian | srečo | ||
| The Slovenian word “srečo” derives from “srečati”, meaning to encounter. | |||
| Ukrainian | пощастило | ||
| The term "пощастило" originated as an expression in Ukrainian that wished someone success in avoiding harm. | |||
Lucky in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ভাগ্যবান | ||
| The word "ভাগ্যবান" can also mean "wealthy" or "fortunate". | |||
| Gujarati | નસીબદાર | ||
| The Gujarati word "નસીબદાર" is also used metaphorically to refer to a virtuous or fortunate person. | |||
| Hindi | सौभाग्यशाली | ||
| The term 'सौभाग्यशाली', or 'fortunate' in Hindi, traces back to the Sanskrit term 'सु भाग्य', which literally translates as someone with 'beautiful luck'. | |||
| Kannada | ಅದೃಷ್ಟ | ||
| The Kannada word "ಅದೃಷ್ಟ" (adrushta) is derived from the Sanskrit word "दृष्ट" (drishta), meaning "seen" or "observed", and the negative prefix "अ" (a), indicating "not". Thus, it literally means "not seen" or "unseen", and by extension, "fate" or "destiny". | |||
| Malayalam | ഭാഗ്യം | ||
| The Sanskrit root "bhaj" means "to distribute" or "to divide", hinting at the idea of a fortunate portion or allotment. | |||
| Marathi | नशीबवान | ||
| The term 'नशीबवान' is derived from Persian origin, consisting of 'nasib' (fate) and 'wan' (having), referring to someone who enjoys a favourable destiny. | |||
| Nepali | भाग्यमानी | ||
| भाग्यमानी is derived from two Nepali words, भाग्य (luck) and मान (respect), referring to someone highly blessed and esteemed due to their fortune. | |||
| Punjabi | ਖੁਸ਼ਕਿਸਮਤ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වාසනාවන්තයි | ||
| Tamil | அதிர்ஷ்டசாலி | ||
| Tamil அதிர்ஷ்டசாலி (athirshtasali) comes from the Sanskrit | |||
| Telugu | అదృష్ట | ||
| The Telugu word "అదృష్ట" originates from the Sanskrit word "दृष्ट" meaning "seen", referring to the idea that luck, as a positive force, is something perceived or witnessed. | |||
| Urdu | خوش قسمت | ||
| The word "خوش قسمت" comes from the Persian word "khush-qismat" which literally means "good fortune". | |||
Lucky in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 幸运 | ||
| "幸运" is a loanword from Japanese, where the word "saiwai" originally meant "happiness" or "well-being". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 幸運 | ||
| The character 幸運 (xìngyùn) literally means 'meet happiness' and is often used in the context of winning a lottery or other chance-based game. | |||
| Japanese | 幸運な | ||
| The term 幸運(こううん) literally translates to "fortune luck." | |||
| Korean | 행운의 | ||
| "행운의" means lucky, fortunate, and prosperous in Korean. | |||
| Mongolian | азтай | ||
| The word "азтай" comes from the Mongolian root word "аз", meaning "horse" and implies a sense of blessing, freedom and good fortune. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကံကောင်းတယ် | ||
Lucky in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | beruntung | ||
| The word "beruntung" can also mean "well-prepared" or "fortunate". | |||
| Javanese | begja | ||
| The word "begja" in Javanese also means "to have a good share of fortune" and "to have a good destiny". | |||
| Khmer | សំណាង | ||
| សំណាង, in addition to its usual meaning of "lucky," also has the connotation of "auspicious" or "propitious." | |||
| Lao | ໂຊກດີ | ||
| According to the Lao-English dictionary, the word ໂຊກດີ was first borrowed from Thai in the early 20th century and was later expanded to mean "luck". | |||
| Malay | bertuah | ||
| The word "bertuah" is cognate with the Proto-Austronesian word *betu "to be good", and is related to the Malay word "tuah" which could mean either "fortune" or "misfortune" depending on context and usage. | |||
| Thai | โชคดี | ||
| "โชคดี" can also refer to a form of Buddhist amulets traditionally produced from deer antler."}} | |||
| Vietnamese | may mắn | ||
| The word "may mắn" derives from the Chinese "mùyùn" meaning "abundance of clouds and rain" which represents good fortune and prosperity. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maswerte | ||
Lucky in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | şanslı | ||
| "Şanslı" means "lucky" in Azerbaijani. It also has the alternate meaning of "fortunate", which refers to someone who has had good luck or success. | |||
| Kazakh | бақытты | ||
| The Kazakh word "бақытты" (baqytty) is derived from the Persian word "baxt" (fortune), and also has the alternate meaning of "happy". | |||
| Kyrgyz | бактылуу | ||
| The word "бактылуу" in Kyrgyz can also mean "blessed" or "fortunate". | |||
| Tajik | хушбахт | ||
| "Khushbakht" is a Farsi loanword that also has the meaning of "happy" or "joyful" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | bagtly | ||
| Uzbek | baxtli | ||
| The word "baxtli" means "lucky" in Uzbek and is derived from the Persian word "bakht," which means "fortune" or "luck." | |||
| Uyghur | تەلەيلىك | ||
Lucky in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | laki | ||
| In addition to meaning "lucky" or "fortunate," "laki" can also mean "beautiful" or "handsome" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | waimarie | ||
| In Maori mythology, 'waimarie' also refers to a state of harmonious balance or well-being. | |||
| Samoan | laki | ||
| Laki is also used figuratively to refer to someone who is fortunate or blessed. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | masuwerte | ||
| The Tagalog word "masuwerte" is derived from the Spanish "mas suerte", meaning "more luck". | |||
Lucky in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | surtisita | ||
| Guarani | ipo'áva | ||
Lucky in International Languages
| Esperanto | bonŝanca | ||
| The word 'bonŝanca' is a calque from French 'bonne chance', meaning 'good luck'. | |||
| Latin | felix | ||
| "Felix" also means "happy" and can be used as a name, such as Pope Felix I or the Spanish explorer Felix de Azara. | |||
Lucky in Others Languages
| Greek | τυχερός | ||
| "τυχερός" (lucky) derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *tew- ("to swell, become fat"), hence related to words like "fat", "thick", and "heavy". | |||
| Hmong | muaj hmoo | ||
| The word "muaj hmoo" can also be used to refer to objects or events that bring good fortune or luck. | |||
| Kurdish | şayî | ||
| Şayî (lucky) derives from the Indo-European stem | |||
| Turkish | şanslı | ||
| "Şanslı" kelimesi "şans" kelimesinden türemiştir ve "şans sahibi olan" anlamına gelir. | |||
| Xhosa | nethamsanqa | ||
| The word "nethamsanqa" in Xhosa also refers to a state of contentment or fortune. | |||
| Yiddish | מאַזלדיק | ||
| The Yiddish word "מאַזלדיק" ('lucky') also carries connotations of 'propitious' or 'favorable', with an implied notion of divine providence. | |||
| Zulu | unenhlanhla | ||
| It also refers to the concept of 'luckiness' in Nguni and Sotho, associated with wealth and favour. | |||
| Assamese | সৌভাগ্যশালী | ||
| Aymara | surtisita | ||
| Bhojpuri | भाग्यशाली | ||
| Dhivehi | ނަސީބުގަދަ | ||
| Dogri | खुशकिसमत | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | maswerte | ||
| Guarani | ipo'áva | ||
| Ilocano | nagasat | ||
| Krio | gɛt lɔk | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بە بەخت | ||
| Maithili | भाग्यशाली | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯂꯥꯏꯕꯛ ꯐꯕ | ||
| Mizo | vannei | ||
| Oromo | carra-qabeessa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଭାଗ୍ୟବାନ | ||
| Quechua | samiyuq | ||
| Sanskrit | भाग्यशाली | ||
| Tatar | бәхетле | ||
| Tigrinya | ዕድለኛ | ||
| Tsonga | nkateko | ||