Equal in different languages

Equal in Different Languages

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

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'equal' holds great significance in our lives, representing fairness, justice, and impartiality. Its cultural importance is evident in various philosophical, political, and social contexts, where the principle of equality is upheld to ensure that everyone is treated without discrimination. Understanding the translation of 'equal' in different languages can open up new avenues of communication and foster a deeper appreciation for the diverse cultures around the world.

For instance, in Spanish, 'equal' translates to 'igual', while in French, it is 'égal'. In German, the word for 'equal' is 'gleich', and in Mandarin Chinese, it is '平等 (píngděng)'. These translations not only help break language barriers but also allow us to grasp the unique perspectives and values associated with the concept of equality in various cultures.

Delving into the translations of 'equal' can be an exciting journey, offering insights into the history, traditions, and social structures of different societies. So, let's explore the fascinating world of language and culture through the lens of this simple yet powerful word.

Equal


Equal in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansgelyk is
In Afrikaans "gelyk is" literally means "the same". It can be used in the sense of equality, but also when something is parallel, aligned, smooth or similar.
Amharicእኩል
The word "እኩል" (equal) in Amharic derives from the Proto-Semitic root *kwl, meaning "to measure, to balance."
Hausadaidai
"Daidai" also means to "meet" in the sense of encountering or joining
Igbo
Igbo 'hà' can also mean 'the same', 'so much', 'similar', and 'in the same way'.
Malagasymitovy
The Malagasy word "mitovy" derives from the Malay word "mitu," which means "to match". It also has alternate meanings of "resembling" and "similar."
Nyanja (Chichewa)ofanana
The Nyanja word "ofanana" is thought to be derived from the verb "fana", which means "to resemble" or "to be similar".
Shonazvakaenzana
"Zvakaenzana" comes from the root word "-enzana" which also means "to weigh". Thus "zvakaenzana" literally means "that which weighs equally".
Somalisiman
The word "siman" in Somali also means "twin".
Sesotholekanang
The word "lekanang" in Sesotho can also refer to a state of balance or harmony.
Swahilisawa
"Sawa" also means "okay" or "all right" in Kiswahili, and it can be used to express agreement or understanding.
Xhosakulingana
The word 'kulingana' is often used in Xhosa to express equality, balance, or correspondence.
Yorubadogba
The word "dogba" in Yoruba can also refer to the "right hand" or "dominance".
Zulukulingana
The word 'kulingana' can also refer to conformity, symmetry, or a state of equilibrium.
Bambarakan
Ewe
Kinyarwandabingana
Lingalandenge moko
Lugandaokwenkana
Sepedilekana
Twi (Akan)

Equal in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicمساو
The word "مساو" can also mean "equal in value" or "equivalent" in Arabic.
Hebrewשווה
The root ש.ו.ה also denotes worthiness or value, giving שווה the additional meaning of 'worthwhile'.
Pashtoمساوي
In Pashto, "مساوي" can also mean "parallel" or "similar".
Arabicمساو
The word "مساو" can also mean "equal in value" or "equivalent" in Arabic.

Equal in Western European Languages

Albaniantë barabartë
The Albanian word
Basqueberdinak
The word "berdinak" is derived from the proto-Basque word *berdi-, meaning "same" or "equal".
Catalanigual
The Catalan word "igual" can also mean "similar".
Croatianjednak
The word "jednak" can also mean "nevertheless" or "however" in Croatian, showcasing its versatile nature beyond its primary meaning of "equal".
Danishlige
In Danish, 'lige' can also mean 'straight', referring to a line or path.
Dutchgelijk
The word "gelijk" in Dutch can also mean "similar" or "right".
Englishequal
The Latin verb 'aequare' means 'to make level' or 'to smooth'
Frenchégal
In the Middle Ages, the term “égal” (“equal”) also referred to a person's peer or companion, a nuance that survives today in legal language.
Frisianlyk
The Frisian word "lyk" is cognate with the Dutch and German "gelijk" and the Old English "gelīċ", all deriving from Proto-Germanic *ga-līka-z.
Galicianigual
The word "igual" is also used to express indifference or resignation, as in "Me é igual" ("It's all the same to me").
Germangleich
The word 'gleich' can also mean 'immediately' or 'straight' in German
Icelandicjafnir
Jafnir in Old Norse refers to "a pair, team of horses," "a horse's harness," or the goddess "Gefjun."
Irishcomhionann
The word "comhionann" in Irish is derived from the Old Irish "comthoinn" or "comthoímh," meaning "to meet" or "to come together," implying a sense of mutual agreement or correspondence.
Italianpari
The word "pari" can also mean "pair" or "even" in Italian.
Luxembourgishgläichberechtegt
Malteseugwali
The Maltese word "ugwali" is derived from the Arabic "mukāffah", meaning "equal" or "equivalent".
Norwegianlik
Lik, a Norwegian word, also means 'corpse' and is cognate with the English word 'lich'.
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)igual
The word "igual" originates from the Latin word "æqualis" which means "of equal measure" and shares the same root as the English word "equal"
Scots Gaelicco-ionann
The Gaelic word co-ionann is also used to express the concept of 'at the same time' or 'simultaneously'.
Spanishigual
In 1220, 'igual' meant 'just, right'. In 1251, 'fair, equitable'. Now it usually means 'equal'.
Swedishlikvärdig
Likvärdig is a compound formed from the words 'lik' ('like') and 'värdig' ('worthy') and literally means 'worthy of the same'.
Welshcyfartal
The word "cyfartal" can alternately be used as a noun in Welsh to mean "a comparison".

Equal in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianроўны
In Ukrainian, "рівень" means "flat" or "level".
Bosnianjednako
The archaic usage of "jednako" also denotes "as though", "as if" and "like" in Bosnian.
Bulgarianравен
"Равен" ultimately derives from the Proto-Slavic "*rovьnъ", meaning "even, flat".
Czechrovnat se
In Czech, "rovnat se" not only means "equal," but also "make orderly," coming from the verb "rovnat" (to straighten).
Estonianvõrdsed
The word "võrdsed" in Estonian has Proto-Uralic etymology and can also mean "flat".
Finnishyhtä suuri
"Yhtä suuri" is also used to mean "uniform" or "consistent" in Finnish.
Hungarianegyenlő
"Egyenlő" is derived from the Proto-Uralic word *egene-, meaning "the same".
Latvianvienāds
The word "vienāds" is cognate with the Lithuanian word "vienas" (meaning "one")
Lithuanianlygus
Lithuanian "lygus" means not only equal but also flat or even.
Macedonianеднакви
The word "еднакви" can also mean identical, similar, or comparable.
Polishrówny
The word "równy" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *orvьnъ, which also means "straight" or "level"
Romanianegal
The word "egal" in Romanian can also mean "similar" or "identical".
Russianравный
The word "равный" derives from Old Church Slavonic "раве" which means "similar".
Serbianједнак
"Једнак" means both "the same" and "identical" in Serbian, making it an interesting word to discuss with Serbian language learners!
Slovakrovný
In Czech, the word "rovný" denotes not only "equal", but also "straight" and "flat"
Slovenianenako
The word "enako" in Slovenian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *jednakъ, meaning "alike" or "similar"
Ukrainianрівний
The word "рівний" in Ukrainian also means "straight", "smooth", or "even".

Equal in South Asian Languages

Bengaliসমান
The word "সমান" also has an alternate meaning of "level" or "smooth".
Gujaratiબરાબર
Derived from 'bar', meaning equal, and 'abar', which means again.
Hindiबराबरी का
In Hindi, “बराबरी का” suggests not only equality, but also sameness and parallelism.
Kannadaಸಮಾನ
The Kannada word "ಸಮಾನ" not only means "equal", but also "similar" in a more general sense.
Malayalamതുല്യമാണ്
Marathiसमान
In Marathi, "समान" means not only "equal," but also "similar" or "the same."
Nepaliबराबर
The word "बराबर" is derived from the Sanskrit word "सम" (sama), meaning "equal" or "level."
Punjabiਬਰਾਬਰ
'ਬਰਾਬਰ' is derived from Sanskrit 'barabar' meaning 'equal, same, alike, level, parallel, balanced, or similar.'
Sinhala (Sinhalese)සමාන
The Sinhala word "සමාන" can also mean "equivalent", "adequate", or "uniform".
Tamilசமம்
The word "சமம்" can also mean "calm" or "peaceful" in Tamil.
Teluguసమానం
The word "సమానం" also means "similar" or "equivalent" and is derived from the Sanskrit word "sama" meaning "same".
Urduبرابر
In addition to its common meaning of "equal" in Urdu, "برابر" can also mean "in front of" or "on behalf of" someone.

Equal in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)等于
The character '等' in '等于' also means 'wait' or 'expect' in Chinese.
Chinese (Traditional)等於
In addition to "equal," "等於" also means "equivalent to" and "as good as."
Japanese等しい
The word "等しい" (equal) is derived from the Chinese word "等", which means "the same" or "uniform".
Korean같은
"같은" originally meant "that which is one" and later acquired the meaning of "equal".
Mongolianтэнцүү
The word тэнцүү also means 'fair' and 'balanced' in Mongolian.
Myanmar (Burmese)တန်းတူ

Equal in South East Asian Languages

Indonesiansama
The word "sama" can also mean "the same" or "together" in Indonesian.
Javanesewitjaksono
Witjaksono is also the name of a Javanese noble, who was later made prime minister by the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno.
Khmerស្មើ
ស្មើ also means "to finish eating."
Laoເທົ່າທຽມກັນ
Malaysama
The Malay word "sama" is also used to mean "together" or "similar".
Thaiเท่ากัน
เท่ากัน (เท่า + กัน) has a root word
Vietnamesecông bằng
The word "công bằng" in Vietnamese also implies "justice," "fairness," and "impartiality."
Filipino (Tagalog)pantay

Equal in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanibərabərdir
The word "bərabərdir" can also mean "parallel" or "equivalent" in Azerbaijani.
Kazakhтең
The word "тең" in Kazakh also means "flat" or "level".
Kyrgyzбарабар
The Kyrgyz word "барабар" is also used to refer to a level or flat surface.
Tajikбаробар
The word "баробар" in Tajik can also refer to a "set" as in a matching set of clothing or dishes.
Turkmendeňdir
Uzbekteng
Teng is also used to indicate the number of times a repeated consonant occurs in a word.
Uyghurباراۋەر

Equal in Pacific Languages

Hawaiiankaulike
Kaulike originated from the Proto-Polynesian word "taulike" meaning "same" or "identical".
Maoriōritenga
The Māori word "ōritenga" can also refer to a state of harmony, balance, or symmetry.
Samoantutusa
The word 'tutusa' is often used to describe twins, as they share a similar size, appearance, and characteristics.
Tagalog (Filipino)pantay
The term "pantay" in Tagalog derives from "patag," meaning "flat" or "level," alluding to the balanced state of equality.

Equal in American Indigenous Languages

Aymarakikipa
Guaraniojoja

Equal in International Languages

Esperantoegala
The word "egala" in Esperanto comes from the Latin word "aequalis", meaning "equal".
Latinaequalis
The Latin word "aequalis" is associated with the concept of "levelness" or "equality of surface".

Equal in Others Languages

Greekίσος
It derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eǵʰ- 'to reach out' and is also related to 'ἔτος' 'year' and 'αἰών' 'eternity', as it originally meant 'reaching the same point in time'
Hmongsib npaug
The word "sib npaug" can also mean "the same" or "equal" in Hmong.
Kurdishwekhev
The Kurdish word "wekhev" can also refer to a flat surface or an equal distribution.
Turkisheşit
The word "eşit" derives from the Old Turkish verb "esitmek" meaning "to make equal, to level".
Xhosakulingana
The word 'kulingana' is often used in Xhosa to express equality, balance, or correspondence.
Yiddishגלייך
Stemming from the Slavic word “glih,” this word can also express being smooth or sleek, as in skin or texture.
Zulukulingana
The word 'kulingana' can also refer to conformity, symmetry, or a state of equilibrium.
Assameseসমান
Aymarakikipa
Bhojpuriबराबर
Dhivehiއެއްވަރު
Dogriबरोबर
Filipino (Tagalog)pantay
Guaraniojoja
Ilocanokapada
Krioikwal
Kurdish (Sorani)یەکسان
Maithiliबराबर
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯃꯥꯟꯅꯕ
Mizointluktlang
Oromowalqixxee
Odia (Oriya)ସମାନ
Quechuachay kaqlla
Sanskritसमान
Tatarтигез
Tigrinyaማዕረ
Tsongandzingano

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