Enormous in different languages

Enormous in Different Languages

Discover 'Enormous' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

Enormous. It's a word that instantly brings to mind something massive, colossal, and larger-than-life. Its significance lies in its ability to encapsulate something that is not just big, but truly epic in scale. From the natural world to human-made structures, the term 'enormous' is often used to describe things that leave us in awe.

Culturally, the concept of enormity has played a significant role in shaping our understanding of the world. From ancient myths and legends to modern-day architecture and engineering feats, enormous structures and phenomena have long been a source of fascination and inspiration. The Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, and the Grand Canyon are all examples of enormous wonders that have captured the imagination of people across the globe.

But what about the word 'enormous' itself? For those interested in language and culture, understanding how this term translates in different languages can offer unique insights into the ways that different cultures view and describe the world around them.

For instance, in Spanish, 'enormous' translates to 'enorme,' while in French, it's 'énorme.' In German, the term is 'enorm,' and in Italian, it's 'enorme' as well. Meanwhile, in Japanese, the word for enormous is 'おおきい' (oo-kii), and in Chinese, it's ' enorme' (dà).

Enormous


Enormous in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansenorm
The Afrikaans word "enorm" is derived from the Dutch word "enorm" meaning "immense" or "vast".
Amharicእጅግ በጣም ትልቅ
Hausababba
"Babba" is derived from the Arabic "ba'ba'", which means "giant" or "monster".
Igboburu ibu
The Igbo term ‘buru ibu’ (‘enormous’), also translates to ‘very large’ or ‘massive’ in size or quantity."
Malagasygoavana
The Malagasy word "goavana" is also used to describe something as "excessive" or "overabundant".
Nyanja (Chichewa)chachikulu
The word "chachikulu" in Nyanja (Chichewa) can also mean "to shake up and down" or "to stir up and down".
Shonazvikuru
The word 'zvikuru' also denotes a person's stature, especially their height.
Somaliaad u weyn
The word "aad u weyn" in Somali, meaning "enormous", has semantic roots in the word "weyn" (big), indicating an amplified or exaggerated state of size.
Sesothoe kholo haholo
The word "e kholo haholo" is also used to describe something that is very tall or large in size.
Swahilikubwa sana
The Swahili word "kubwa sana" ("enormous") originates from the root word "kubwa" ("big"), which is related to the Bantu root "-kuba" ("to grow") and the Proto-Niger-Congo root "-kɔɓɔ" ("to be big").
Xhosaenkulu kakhulu
The word "enkulu kakhulu" can be literally translated as "big very" or "very big."
Yorubatobi pupo
The word "tobi pupo" literally means "very big" in Yoruba.
Zuluokukhulu kakhulu
"Okukhulu kakhulu" is literally "big very big," but colloquially it means "enormous." It refers to an elephantine scale of size.
Bambaracamanba
Ewelolo ŋutᴐ
Kinyarwandakinini cyane
Lingalamonene
Lugandaobunene
Sepedintši kudu
Twi (Akan)ɛso

Enormous in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicضخم
ضخم is derived from the Arabic word ضخم, which means heavy or massive, and is used to describe both physical and figurative size or importance.
Hebrewעֲנָקִי
The word עֲנָקִי (enormous) in Hebrew derives from the biblical story of the Anakim, a race of giants inhabiting Canaan before the Israelites' conquest.
Pashtoډېر
The word ډېر is also used in Pashto to describe something that is too much or excessive.
Arabicضخم
ضخم is derived from the Arabic word ضخم, which means heavy or massive, and is used to describe both physical and figurative size or importance.

Enormous in Western European Languages

Albaniane madhe
E madhe can also mean 'the great' as in "the great ruler".
Basqueizugarria
The Basque word "izugarria" is derived from the Basque verb "izugarri" which means "to terrify" or "to make one tremble".
Catalanenorme
In Catalan, "enorme" also refers to a severe illness or physical ailment.
Croatianogroman
In Croatian,"ogroman" is derived from "ogr", meaning "ogre", with the suffix "-an" indicating size, hence "ogre-like" or "enormous".
Danishenorm
In Danish, "enorm" originally meant "enormously rich", but its meaning has expanded to include "enormous" in general.
Dutchenorm
In Dutch "enorm" means "very" or "terrible", while its cognate in English means "huge".
Englishenormous
The word "enormous" originates from the Latin word "enormis," meaning "out of the ordinary," "irregular," or "monstrous."
Frenchénorme
In addition to the obvious "large", "énorme" can also mean something "amazing" (positive or not).
Frisianenoarm
The Frisian word "enoarm" is cognate with the English "enormous" but also retains an obsolete English sense of "very wicked".
Galicianenorme
In Galician, "enorme" also means "very abundant or profuse, in reference to something positive".
Germanenorm
Enorm, meaning "enormous," comes from the Latin word enormis, meaning "deviating from the norm".
Icelandicgífurlegur
"Gífurlegur" is derived from the Old Norse "gifr", meaning "poison" or "venom", and originally referred to something that was deadly or monstrous.
Irishollmhór
"Ollmhór" is derived from "oll" (big) and "mór" (great), and can also mean "very much" or "very many".
Italianenorme
The Italian "enorme" derives from the Latin "enormis," meaning "out of the norm," and in Italian can also mean "immense" or "very large."
Luxembourgishenorm
In Luxembourgish, "enorm" means "boring", not "enormous".
Malteseenormi
The Maltese word "enormi" is derived from the Latin word "enormis", meaning "deviating from the norm".
Norwegianenorm
The Norwegian word "enorm" is based on the Latin "enormitas" which means "monstrousness" and can be used to refer to both the physical and metaphorical size of an object.
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)enorme
"Enorme" in Portuguese is derived from the Latin "enormis," meaning "out of rule, irregular, enormous."
Scots Gaelicfìor mhòr
In addition to meaning "enormous," the Scots Gaelic word "fìor mhòr" can also mean "true size" or "very big."
Spanishenorme
The Spanish word "enorme" derives from the Latin word "enormis," meaning "monstrous" or "out of the ordinary."
Swedishenorm
The Swedish word "enorm" derives from the Latin word "enormis", meaning "out of the norm" or "irregular."
Welshenfawr
"Enfawr" is derived from the Welsh words "an" (great) and "mawr" (big), and was once spelled "anfawr".

Enormous in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianвелізарны
In Belarusian, "велізарны" originally referred to something of gigantic size but has come to mean "enormous" in modern usage.
Bosnianenormno
The word "enormno" is derived from the Latin word "enormis", meaning "deviating from the norm" or "monstrous".
Bulgarianогромен
The word "огромен" in Bulgarian is thought to derive from the Old Slavic term *ogromъ, which likely came from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₃eǵʰ-, meaning "to grow" or "to be heavy."
Czechobrovský
The word "obrovský" comes from the Proto-Slavic "*oborъ", which referred to a giant or supernatural being resembling a dragon or ogre.
Estoniantohutu
The word "tohutu" in Estonian derives from the Proto-Finnic word *tohtu, meaning "great" or "large"
Finnishvaltava
"Valtava" is cognate with "valta" ("power"), "valtataistelu" ("struggle for power"), and "valtikka" ("scepter").
Hungarianhatalmas
The word originates from the Turkish word 'hatalı' meaning 'mistaken' and was originally used to describe something that was so big it was beyond comprehension.
Latvianmilzīgs
"Milzīgs" likely comes from the word "milzis," which in some Baltic languages means "giant."
Lithuanianmilžiniškas
The Lithuanian word "milžiniškas" is derived from the word "milžinas," meaning "giant."
Macedonianогромна
The word "огромна" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *ogromъ, meaning "thunder, loud noise", and is related to the word "грозный" ("formidable, terrible").
Polishogromny
The word 'ogromny' originates from the Old East Slavic 'ogrom' meaning 'terror' or 'fear'.
Romanianenorm
Enorm is a homograph in Romanian with two different meanings, one of which derives from the Ottoman Turkish "enorm".
Russianогромный
The word "огромный" comes from the Old Russian word "громада", meaning "a large crowd" or "a huge building".
Serbianогроман
The word "огроман" in Serbian comes from the Proto-Slavic word *ogromъ, which means "huge" or "colossal".
Slovakenormný
The word "enormný" is derived from the Latin word "enormis", meaning "out of the ordinary" or "monstrous".
Slovenianogromno
The word 'ogromno' originates from the Slavic root 'groz-', meaning 'fearsome, terrible', thus connoting the awe-inspiring size of something enormous.
Ukrainianвеличезний
The word "величезний" may also refer to an object that is of great importance or significance.

Enormous in South Asian Languages

Bengaliপ্রচুর
প্রচুর is derived from Sanskrit 'pracurya' meaning abundance and also has meanings like 'much, many, ample' etc.
Gujaratiપ્રચંડ
Hindiविशाल
The Sanskrit root "viś" means to enter or pervade
Kannadaಅಗಾಧ
The word "ಅಗಾಧ" can also mean "unfathomable" or "inscrutable".
Malayalamവളരെയധികം
Marathiप्रचंड
The word "प्रचंड" derives from the Sanskrit word "prachanda," which means "violent" or "intense."
Nepaliधेरै
The word "धेरै" derives from the Sanskrit word "धारा" meaning "stream" or "flow".
Punjabiਬਹੁਤ
The word "बहु" in Sanskrit means "many" or "much", and the word "बहु-त" in Punjabi literally translates to "very much".
Sinhala (Sinhalese)දැවැන්ත
The word "දැවැන්ත" means "elephant" and is also used to refer to large or powerful things.
Tamilமகத்தான
The word "மகத்தான" in Tamil also means "great" or "important".
Teluguఅపారమైనది
The word "అపారమైనది" (enormous) in Telugu is derived from the Sanskrit word "aparam"," meaning "unlimited or immense".
Urduبہت زیادہ

Enormous in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)巨大
The first character 巨 means giant and the second 大 means big; the character is often used for emphasis, rather than to indicate a precise measurement.
Chinese (Traditional)巨大
The Chinese character "巨大" can also describe an exaggerated or remarkable person or thing, like a "giant talent".
Japanese巨大な
The word "巨大な" (kyodaina) can also mean "colossal" or "gigantic".
Korean거대한
The word 거대한 is also used in Korea to describe someone or something that is powerful or impressive.
Mongolianасар их
The Mongolian word "асар их" can also mean "very" or "extremely".
Myanmar (Burmese)ကြီးမားသည်

Enormous in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianbesar sekali
The word 'besar sekali' is often used when describing things in Indonesian.
Javanesegedhe tenan
The Javanese word "gedhe tenan" derives from the word "gedhe" meaning "big" and "tenan" meaning "indeed", so it literally means "big indeed".
Khmerសម្បើមណាស់
Laoມະຫາສານ
The word "ມະຫາສານ" is also used to describe something that is extremely large or impressive.
Malaysangat besar
"Sangat besar" derives from "sanget" (very) and "besar" (big) and is also a way to express gratitude
Thaiมหาศาล
"มหาศาล" is also a colloquial word for "very expensive".
Vietnameseto lớn
The word "to lớn" in Vietnamese can also mean "to grow" or "to become larger".
Filipino (Tagalog)napakalaki

Enormous in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniböyük
The word "böyük" in Azerbaijani also means "elder" or "senior".
Kazakhөте үлкен
The Kazakh word "өте үлкен" also means "very great" or "excessive".
Kyrgyzэбегейсиз
"Эбегейсиз" is related to the word "эбек", with the suffix "-сиз" making the phrase mean the lack of something - in this case, a boundary.
Tajikазим
The word "азим" in Tajik can also mean "huge" or "vast".
Turkmenullakan
Uzbekjuda katta
"Juda katta" can also mean "exceedingly" or "immensely" in Uzbek.
Uyghurغايەت زور

Enormous in Pacific Languages

Hawaiiannui loa
"Nui loa" can also mean "very long" or "for a long time".
Maorinui rawa
In the Maori language, "nui rawa" can mean "very large" or "very many."
Samoanmatuā tele
"Matuā tele" in Samoan can also mean "strong" or "powerful".
Tagalog (Filipino)napakalaking
The word "napakalaking" is derived from the root word "laki" meaning "big" and the prefix "napa-" which intensifies the meaning.

Enormous in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarajach'a
Guaranituicha

Enormous in International Languages

Esperantograndega
The word "grandega" is derived from the Latin "grandis" (large), and also means "majestic" or "magnificent".
Latinimmane mittam
The word "immane mittam" is thought to derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *meg-, meaning "great". It is also cognate with the Sanskrit word "maha", meaning "large".

Enormous in Others Languages

Greekτεράστιος
The word ''τεράστιος'' in Greek derives from ''τέρας'', which can mean ''monster'', suggesting fear and awe, thus highlighting the intimidating size.
Hmongloj heev
The word "loj heev" can also refer to a "big man" or "giant" in Hmong folklore.
Kurdishpirr mezin
In Kurdish, "pirr mezin" literally translates to "great old man" or "great father".
Turkishmuazzam
The word "muazzam" comes from the Arabic word "azuma", meaning "to make great".
Xhosaenkulu kakhulu
The word "enkulu kakhulu" can be literally translated as "big very" or "very big."
Yiddishריזיק
The Yiddish word "ריזיק" (rizik; enormous) derives from German "riesig" (gigantic), which in turn comes from the Latin "res" (thing) that also gave rise to the word "real."
Zuluokukhulu kakhulu
"Okukhulu kakhulu" is literally "big very big," but colloquially it means "enormous." It refers to an elephantine scale of size.
Assameseবৃহত্‍
Aymarajach'a
Bhojpuriबिसाल
Dhivehiނުހަނު
Dogriबराट-रूप
Filipino (Tagalog)napakalaki
Guaranituicha
Ilocanodakkel unay
Kriobig big
Kurdish (Sorani)مەزن
Maithiliबड्ड पैघ
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯄꯥꯛ ꯆꯥꯎꯕ
Mizolian
Oromohedduu
Odia (Oriya)ବହୁତ ବଡ
Quechuahatun hatun
Sanskritअत्यंत
Tatarбик зур
Tigrinyaብዙሕ
Tsongalexikulu

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