Enemy in Different Languages
Discover 'Enemy' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Enemy
Afrikaans vyand | ||
Albanian armik | ||
Amharic ጠላት | ||
Arabic العدو | ||
Armenian թշնամի | ||
Assamese শত্ৰু | ||
Aymara jan wali amtani | ||
Azerbaijani düşmən | ||
Bambara jugu | ||
Basque etsaia | ||
Belarusian вораг | ||
Bengali শত্রু | ||
Bhojpuri दुश्मन | ||
Bosnian neprijatelja | ||
Bulgarian враг | ||
Catalan enemic | ||
Cebuano kaaway | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 敌人 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 敵人 | ||
Corsican nemicu | ||
Croatian neprijatelj | ||
Czech nepřítel | ||
Danish fjende | ||
Dhivehi ދުޝްމަނު | ||
Dogri दुश्मन | ||
Dutch vijand | ||
English enemy | ||
Esperanto malamiko | ||
Estonian vaenlane | ||
Ewe futɔ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kaaway | ||
Finnish vihollinen | ||
French ennemi | ||
Frisian fijân | ||
Galician inimigo | ||
Georgian მტერი | ||
German feind | ||
Greek εχθρός | ||
Guarani ija'e'ỹva | ||
Gujarati દુશ્મન | ||
Haitian Creole lènmi | ||
Hausa makiyi | ||
Hawaiian ʻenemi | ||
Hebrew אוֹיֵב | ||
Hindi दुश्मन | ||
Hmong yeeb ncuab | ||
Hungarian ellenség | ||
Icelandic óvinur | ||
Igbo onye iro | ||
Ilocano kalaban | ||
Indonesian musuh | ||
Irish namhaid | ||
Italian nemico | ||
Japanese 敵 | ||
Javanese mungsuh | ||
Kannada ಶತ್ರು | ||
Kazakh жау | ||
Khmer សត្រូវ | ||
Kinyarwanda umwanzi | ||
Konkani शत्रू | ||
Korean 적 | ||
Krio ɛnimi | ||
Kurdish dijmin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دووژمن | ||
Kyrgyz душман | ||
Lao ສັດຕູ | ||
Latin inimicus | ||
Latvian ienaidnieks | ||
Lingala monguna | ||
Lithuanian priešas | ||
Luganda omulabe | ||
Luxembourgish feind | ||
Macedonian непријател | ||
Maithili दुशमन | ||
Malagasy fahavalo | ||
Malay musuh | ||
Malayalam ശത്രു | ||
Maltese ghadu | ||
Maori hoariri | ||
Marathi शत्रू | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯌꯦꯛꯅꯕ | ||
Mizo hmelma | ||
Mongolian дайсан | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရန်သူ | ||
Nepali शत्रु | ||
Norwegian fiende | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mdani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଶତ୍ରୁ | ||
Oromo diina | ||
Pashto دښمن | ||
Persian دشمن | ||
Polish wróg | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) inimigo | ||
Punjabi ਦੁਸ਼ਮਣ | ||
Quechua awqa | ||
Romanian dusman | ||
Russian враг | ||
Samoan fili | ||
Sanskrit शत्रु | ||
Scots Gaelic nàmhaid | ||
Sepedi lenaba | ||
Serbian непријатељ | ||
Sesotho sera | ||
Shona muvengi | ||
Sindhi دشمن | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සතුරා | ||
Slovak nepriateľ | ||
Slovenian sovražnik | ||
Somali cadow | ||
Spanish enemigo | ||
Sundanese musuh | ||
Swahili adui | ||
Swedish fiende | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kalaban | ||
Tajik душман | ||
Tamil எதிரி | ||
Tatar дошман | ||
Telugu శత్రువు | ||
Thai ศัตรู | ||
Tigrinya ጸላኢ | ||
Tsonga nala | ||
Turkish düşman | ||
Turkmen duşman | ||
Twi (Akan) tamfo | ||
Ukrainian ворог | ||
Urdu دشمن | ||
Uyghur دۈشمەن | ||
Uzbek dushman | ||
Vietnamese kẻ thù | ||
Welsh gelyn | ||
Xhosa utshaba | ||
Yiddish פייַנט | ||
Yoruba ọtá | ||
Zulu isitha |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Vyand means "hostile force" in Afrikaans and comes from the medieval Dutch word "viant" meaning "an assault"} |
| Albanian | The term "armik" in Albanian may derive from the Proto-Indo-European root "arm-," meaning "to attack." |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "ጠላት" derives from the Ge'ez "ጠለተ" meaning "to separate, divide, or scatter". |
| Arabic | عدو (adow) in Arabic can refer to the enemy or an opponent in a game |
| Armenian | The Armenian word թշնամի was borrowed from the Greek term πολεμιος (polemios) which means “hostile,” “warrior,” and “enemy”. |
| Azerbaijani | Düşmən can also refer to an antagonist or rival. |
| Basque | "Etsaia" derives from the Proto-Basque root *-ets- "to hate" and can also mean "adversary" in some contexts. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word “вораг” (“enemy”) originates from the early Slavic word “vorgъ” that translates to “he who encroaches”. |
| Bengali | The word 'শত্রু' (enemy) in Bengali shares the same root ('shatru') with Sanskrit and has similar meanings in other languages. |
| Bosnian | "Neprijatelj" is derived from Slavic "*neprijateli-jь" meaning "one who is not accepted/welcomed" and shares root with "prijatelj" (friend). |
| Bulgarian | The word "враг" (vrag) comes from the Old Slavic word "vraгъ" (vragŭ), which originally meant "liar" or "deceiver". |
| Catalan | The word "enemic" in Catalan can mean "anemic" in English, suggesting a connection between weakness and hostility. |
| Cebuano | "Kaaway" also means "rival" or "opponent" in Cebuano, and is often used in the context of sports or games. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word 敌人 (dírén) can also refer to an opposing force or an adversary in a more general sense. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 人 is added to 敵 to suggest that enemies are often human beings that we interact with. |
| Corsican | The word 'nemicu' derives from the Italian 'inimico' ultimately deriving from the Latin verb 'inīmicīre', meaning to make inimical or to do harm. |
| Croatian | The word 'neprijatelj' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'nepriteli', meaning 'unfriend'. |
| Czech | The word "nepřítel" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "neprijateljь", meaning "one who is not a friend". |
| Danish | The word "fjende" is derived from the Old Norse word "fjand", which means "one who persecutes". |
| Dutch | The word 'vijand' is derived from the Middle Dutch word 'vijant', which originally meant 'foe' or 'opponent', but has since come to mean 'enemy'. |
| Esperanto | The word "malamiko" is derived from the Esperanto word "amiko" (friend) with the addition of the prefix "mal-" (bad). |
| Estonian | The word "vaenlane" comes from the Proto-Uralic term "*waːnə-laine+", meaning "stranger, alien". |
| Finnish | The word 'vihollinen' derives from 'viha' ('anger') and the suffix '-llinen', meaning 'full of' or 'characterized by'. |
| French | "Ennemi" is derived from the Latin word "inimicus", which also means "unfriendly" or "harmful". |
| Frisian | The name "fijân" is likely derived from the root word "fjän" meaning "to hate" or a similar concept; it is not etymologically related to the word "folk" (people, as in "folksong"). |
| Galician | The Galician word "inimigo" comes from the Latin "inimicus," meaning "unfriendly" or "hostile," and can also refer to a personal rival or adversary. |
| Georgian | The word "მტერი" can have the additional meanings of "foe" and "adversary" in English. |
| German | The German word "Feind" can also mean "devil" or "fiend", and its etymological root is the Proto-Germanic word */feginan/*, meaning "to hate". |
| Greek | The word 'εχθρός' (ekhthrόs) is derived from the verb 'έχω' (ékho), meaning 'to have' or 'to hold', and originally referred to someone who was in opposition or rivalry with another person. |
| Gujarati | In Gujarati, the word "દુશ્મન" or "dusman" also signifies a "rival" or "competitor". |
| Haitian Creole | The etymology of "lènmi" is unknown but it is sometimes used as a term of endearment in informal speech. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "makiyi" can also refer to a rival, competitor, or someone who is hostile or unfriendly. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word ʻenemi can also be translated as "a person who is not a friend of the gods". |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "אוֹיֵב" (enemy) comes from the word "עוּב" (to pass over), and is related to the Akkadian word "epu" (to go). |
| Hindi | The word 'दुश्मन' derives from the Sanskrit 'dviṣmant' meaning 'hating or injuring' or from Dravidian root 'duṣ-'. |
| Hmong | The word "yeeb ncuab" literally translates to "bitter water" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | "Ellenség" is derived from *al-*, meaning "behind", the *el-* suffix referring to distance, and *ség* indicating a state, so it once meant "those behind", possibly referring to opponents in a battle who try to come from behind. |
| Icelandic | "Óvinur" literally translates from Old Norse as "un-friend" in English. |
| Igbo | "Onye iro" can also refer to a "friend who acts as an enemy" or a "false friend". |
| Indonesian | Musuh can also mean 'rival' or 'opponent' in certain contexts |
| Irish | The word "namhaid" in Irish has the alternate meaning of "stranger" or "foreigner". |
| Italian | The word "nemico" comes from the Latin word "inimicus", which means "one who is not friendly". |
| Japanese | The word "敵" can also mean "rival" or "opponent" in a game or competition. |
| Javanese | The word mungsuh in Javanese also refers to the concept of a rival or opponent, not just an enemy. |
| Kannada | The word "ಶತ್ರು" can also mean "opponent" or "adversary" in non-conflict contexts. |
| Kazakh | According to Turkic Etymological Dictionary, the word "жау" may originate from the word "жауыз" ("bad") or "жауы"" ("bad") in the Uyghur language. |
| Khmer | In Khmer, the word "សត្រូវ" can also refer to a competitor or rival. |
| Korean | "적" can also mean "target" or "subject" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | The word "dijmin" in Kurdish is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰǵʰém-, meaning "to fight". |
| Kyrgyz | "Душман" also refers to "mountain spirits" in Kyrgyz mythology, highlighting a connection between earthly conflicts and the supernatural realm. |
| Latin | The word 'inimicus' comes from the Latin 'in', meaning 'not', and 'amicus', meaning 'friend'. |
| Latvian | The word "ienaidnieks" in Latvian has an Indo-European origin, and is related to the words "enemy" and "invade" in English. |
| Lithuanian | The word "priešas" also means "adversary" or "opponent" in a non-hostile context. |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Feind" shares its roots with the German and Dutch "Freund" ("Friend"), suggesting a historical shift in meaning. |
| Macedonian | The word 'непријател' in Macedonian comes from the Proto-Slavic word 'neprijatelj', meaning 'unfriendly' or 'hostile', and is related to the word 'приятел' (friend). |
| Malagasy | The word "fahavalo" can also refer to a "malicious spirit" or a "demon" in Malagasy folklore. |
| Malay | "Musuh" in Malay can also mean "rival" or "opponent" in the context of games or sports. |
| Malayalam | The term "ശത്രു" in Malayalam has connections to the concepts of "obstruction" and "opponent". |
| Maltese | The term 'ghadu', meaning 'enemy', is thought to derive from the Arabic word 'ghayd', signifying 'anger' or 'wrath'. |
| Maori | The word 'hoariri' also means 'stranger' or 'outsider' in Maori, reflecting the traditional view of enemies as those who come from outside the community. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word शत्रू (enemy) also means 'opponent' in chess. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "дайсан" can be used to refer to a person, a group of people, or even a nation that is perceived as a threat to the speaker or their people, or to the interests of the speaker or their group. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | In the Burmese language, the term "ရန်သူ" (ran-thu) does not solely denote an enemy but carries additional meanings such as "opponent" or "adversary". |
| Nepali | The word "शत्रु" is derived from the Sanskrit root "शत्रु" meaning "to hurt or injure". |
| Norwegian | The word "fiende" is derived from the Old Norse word "fjand", meaning "one who hates" or "adversary". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "mdani" in Nyanja can also refer to a foreigner, a non-native speaker, or a stranger. |
| Pashto | The word "دښمن" (enemy) in Pashto is derived from the Persian word "دشمن" which shares the same meaning and can also refer to a rival or competitor. |
| Persian | "دشمن" (dushman) derives from Middle Persian "dušman" meaning "ill-wisher", originating from Proto-Indo-European "dus" signifying "bad". |
| Polish | The word "wróg" can also refer to a demon or a fiend, and is related to the Proto-Slavic word *vragъ, meaning "foe, enemy, demon". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "inimigo" in Portuguese also means "unfriendly" or "adverse". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਦੁਸ਼ਮਣ" (enemy) in Punjabi is derived from the Sanskrit word "दुश्मन" (dusman), which originally meant "bad friend" or "one who does harm". |
| Romanian | In Romanian, the word "dusman" not only refers to an enemy, but has also been used in the past to describe a rival or hostile element within a given context. |
| Russian | "Враг" is a common noun that can refer to an opponent, rival, or adversary. It is derived from the Old Russian word "връгъ", which meant "hostile force". |
| Samoan | The word "fili" can also mean "adversary" in a legal context. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Nàmhaid" (enemy) in Scots Gaelic also refers to a spirit or demon. |
| Serbian | The term непријатељ in Serbian originates from the verb пријати meaning “to accept,” “to welcome,” “to like,” suggesting an enemy is the opposite of a friend |
| Sesotho | Sesotho word 'sera' has its origin in the verb meaning 'to be bitter' or 'to be angry'. |
| Shona | The word 'muvengi' (enemy) is derived from the same root as 'mukoma' (brother), suggesting that enemies are often those with whom we have a close bond that has been broken. |
| Sindhi | 'دشمن' in Sindhi comes from Persian and originally referred to 'adversary, opponent', before evolving to mean 'enemy'. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word 'සතුරා' ('enemy') in Sinhala ultimately derives from the Sanskrit word 'शत्रु' ('adversary') and can also refer to a 'rival' or 'competitor'. |
| Slovak | The word 'nepriateľ', meaning 'enemy', is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'neprijat', meaning 'unacceptable' or 'hostile'. |
| Slovenian | "Sovražnik", a word for "enemy" is derived from the word for "hate", "sovraštvo" |
| Somali | The word "cadow" is also used figuratively to refer to a rival, opponent, or adversary. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "enemigo" derives from the Latin word "inimīcus" meaning "hostile, unfriendly". |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, the word "musuh" can also mean "rival" or "enemy" in a sporting context. |
| Swahili | In Swahili, "adui" has cognates in other Bantu languages used to describe a 'guest' or 'stranger', a reflection of the nomadic origins of the Bantu-speaking peoples. |
| Swedish | The word "fiende" in Swedish can also refer to an "adversary" or "rival" in a sporting or competitive context. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Kalaban is also used in Filipino to refer to an opponent, in any competition. |
| Tajik | The Tajik word "душман" is also used to refer to Afghan rebels, particularly during the Soviet-Afghan War. |
| Tamil | எதிரி is also used to refer to a rival or opponent in a game or competition. |
| Telugu | The word శత్రువు ('enemy') derives from the Sanskrit word shatru, which originally meant 'one who obstructs' or 'adversary'. |
| Thai | The word "ศัตรู" originally meant "obstacle" or "adversary" in Pali, and only later came to mean "enemy". |
| Turkish | The word 'düşman' in Turkish originates from the Persian word 'düşmen', meaning 'enemy' or 'adversary'. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "ворог" is cognate with the Sanskrit word "vṛkas" and Proto-Slavic word "vragǔ", both meaning "wolf". |
| Urdu | The word "دشمن" (enemy) holds multiple meanings in Urdu, including "rival," "competitor," and "opponent." |
| Uzbek | The word "dushman" in Uzbek also refers to a "villain" or "foe". |
| Vietnamese | The word "kẻ thù" literally translates to "person of enmity," and can refer to both enemies in war and enemies in personal life. |
| Welsh | Gelyn derives from the Proto-Celtic word *gʰel-yós, also meaning "stranger" or "rival". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "utshaba" is etymologically related to the word "shaba", meaning "to be lost" or "to be in the wilderness". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פייַנט" ("enemy") is related to English "fiend", German "Feind", and Old Norse "fiandi", all meaning "enemy" or "devil." |
| Yoruba | 'Òtá' also refers to a kind of traditional soup prepared with okra, pumpkin leaves, and other vegetables. |
| Zulu | The word 'isitha' originates from the Nguni word 'isi', meaning 'the one', and 'tha', meaning 'to be an enemy'. |
| English | Historically, the word "enemy" has been used not just to describe an opponent in battle, but also an adversary in law, politics, or any other field where conflict may arise. |