Fail in Different Languages
Discover 'Fail' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'fail' is a small but powerful term that holds great significance in our daily lives. It represents a lack of success or an unsuccessful attempt, but it's also a vital part of the learning process. Failure pushes us to grow, innovate, and improve, making it a crucial aspect of personal and professional development. Moreover, the cultural importance of failure varies across the globe, influencing how we perceive and respond to it.
Understanding the translation of 'fail' in different languages can provide fascinating insights into cultural perspectives on failure. For instance, the German word for fail, 'versagen,' also means 'to disappoint,' reflecting a potential cultural emphasis on personal responsibility. Meanwhile, the Italian 'fallire' shares its roots with the English word 'fall,' suggesting a more universal connection to the concept.
Exploring the translations of 'fail' can open doors to a deeper understanding of language and culture. Here are a few translations to get you started:
Fail
Fail in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | misluk | ||
| The Afrikaans word "misluk" also means "to miscarry" in the sense of a pregnancy gone wrong. | |||
| Amharic | መውደቅ | ||
| "መውደቅ" also means "to miss intentionally" and "to fail to show up". | |||
| Hausa | kasa | ||
| Hausa "kasa" is also used to mean "to give out, become exhausted, or finish." | |||
| Igbo | ida | ||
| The morpheme 'ida' also has the connotation of 'to be unable' and is related to the word 'ada' (inability, helplessness). | |||
| Malagasy | tsy | ||
| The Malagasy word "tsy" can also mean "not" or "without". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | lephera | ||
| The word 'lephera' is also used to mean 'lose' or 'miss' in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | kukundikana | ||
| The word "kukundikana" in Shona can also mean "to be delayed" or "to be prevented from doing something". | |||
| Somali | guuldareysato | ||
| Sesotho | hloleha | ||
| "Hlola" is Sesotho for "fail" and comes from the word for "examine". | |||
| Swahili | kushindwa | ||
| "Kushindwa" is derived from the verb "shinda" (to die) and it connotes the idea of "losing out" or "falling short of one's goals". | |||
| Xhosa | ukusilela | ||
| "Ukusila" in Xhosa additionally means to forget or be unable to remember something. | |||
| Yoruba | kuna | ||
| Kuna in Yoruba means 'to miss the mark,' which aligns with its meaning of 'fail' in English. | |||
| Zulu | yehluleka | ||
| According to Nguni etymology, 'yehluleka' also means 'to come loose,' as is the case with a knot, the grip on something, or a bond. | |||
| Bambara | ka dɛsɛ | ||
| Ewe | dze anyi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gutsindwa | ||
| Lingala | kopola | ||
| Luganda | okugwa | ||
| Sepedi | palelwa | ||
| Twi (Akan) | di nkoguo | ||
Fail in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | فشل | ||
| The Arabic term 'فشل' (fail) stems from the root word 'فصل' (to separate), implying a detachment or disconnection from an intended objective. | |||
| Hebrew | לְהִכָּשֵׁל | ||
| "לְהִכָּשֵׁל" can also mean "to stumble" or "to be ensnared". | |||
| Pashto | ناکامي | ||
| In Pashto, "ناکامي" not only means "fail" but also refers to a "loss" or a "defeat." | |||
| Arabic | فشل | ||
| The Arabic term 'فشل' (fail) stems from the root word 'فصل' (to separate), implying a detachment or disconnection from an intended objective. | |||
Fail in Western European Languages
| Albanian | dështoj | ||
| The word "dështoj" is derived from the Proto-Albanian root *dēš-, meaning "to fall" or "to be defeated". | |||
| Basque | huts egin | ||
| A form of the verb "huts egin" is used in "huts egintza" (action of failing) which means "failure". | |||
| Catalan | fracassar | ||
| The word "fracassar" comes from the Latin "fracassare", meaning "to break in pieces". | |||
| Croatian | iznevjeriti | ||
| "Iznevjere" can also mean "to betray" and derives ultimately from the Latin word for faith. | |||
| Danish | svigte | ||
| 'Forsviga' meaning 'to conceal' is an Old Norse word that has the same root as 'svigte'. | |||
| Dutch | mislukken | ||
| In some dialects of Dutch "mislukken" does not only mean "to fail", but also to "fall down". | |||
| English | fail | ||
| Fail derives from Latin ‘fallere’ (to deceive) and was first used figuratively in the late 1500s | |||
| French | échouer | ||
| Échouer, meaning 'to run aground', derives from the Old French word 'eschouer', meaning 'to strike'. | |||
| Frisian | mislearje | ||
| Mislearje, the Frisian word for "fail," derives from the Old Frisian "mislearja," meaning "to hinder" or "to impede." | |||
| Galician | fracasar | ||
| Fracás, palabra de origen portugués que significa 'ruina', llegó a Galiza a través del intercambio comercial entre ambos países. | |||
| German | scheitern | ||
| The word 'Scheitern' derives from the Middle High German word 'schîte', meaning 'log', and originally referred to the act of a ship running aground. | |||
| Icelandic | mistakast | ||
| "Mistakast" can also mean "to get lost" or "to go astray". | |||
| Irish | teip | ||
| In Irish, the verb "teip" has an alternate meaning of "to be fitting or appropriate" | |||
| Italian | fallire | ||
| "Fallire" comes from Latin "fallere" meaning "to deceive", a meaning which survives in Italian idioms like "falla il colpo" "to miss the shot". | |||
| Luxembourgish | ausfalen | ||
| The German word "ausfallen" has a secondary meaning in Luxembourgish, which is "to take a break from work or school for a short period of time". | |||
| Maltese | ifalli | ||
| "Ifalli" in Maltese derives from the Arabic word "fa'ala" meaning "he did" or "he made." | |||
| Norwegian | mislykkes | ||
| Mislykkes is a compound word formed from the words "miss" (to not hit or achieve something) and "lykkes" (to succeed). | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | falhou | ||
| The word "falhou" in Portuguese comes from the Latin word "fallere", meaning "to deceive" or "to be mistaken". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | fàilligeadh | ||
| The Gaelic word "fàilligeadh" is derived from the Proto-Celtic root *φel-, meaning "to fall short, to betray". It is also cognate with the Welsh word "ffalli" and the Irish word "fáil". | |||
| Spanish | fallar | ||
| The Spanish word "fallar" also means "to decree" or "to judge". | |||
| Swedish | misslyckas | ||
| Misslyckas, from Middle Dutch 'miss-lucken' (to not succeed) is also the origin for the German 'misslingen', the English 'misluck', and the French 'mal réussir'. | |||
| Welsh | methu | ||
| The word "methu" can also mean "to cease" or "to finish" in Welsh. | |||
Fail in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | праваліцца | ||
| The word "праваліцца" is derived from the Old Belarusian word "праўда" (truth), meaning to fall away from the truth. | |||
| Bosnian | propasti | ||
| Bosnian 'propasti' is cognate with Latin 'praeposterus', meaning 'inverted' or 'contrary to nature'. It can also mean 'to pass away' or 'to disappear'. | |||
| Bulgarian | провалят се | ||
| The word "провалят се" also means "to collapse" or "to cave in." | |||
| Czech | selhat | ||
| The verb "selhat" is derived from the word "selh", meaning "debt", and initially referred to a breach of agreement or contract. | |||
| Estonian | ebaõnnestuma | ||
| The word "ebaõnnestuma" in Estonian is derived from the words "õnn" (luck) and "estuma" (to become), meaning "to become unlucky" or "to fail." | |||
| Finnish | epäonnistua | ||
| "Epäonnistua" shares its origins with "onnistua" (succeed), possibly referring to the concept of not reaching the desired outcome. | |||
| Hungarian | nem sikerül | ||
| "Nem sikerül" (fail) is derived from the Proto-Uralic root *nek-, meaning 'to die' or 'to be lost'. | |||
| Latvian | neizdoties | ||
| "Neizdoties" comes from the verb "darīt" ("to do") and the negative particle "ne-", suggesting an absence of doing. | |||
| Lithuanian | žlugti | ||
| (Žlugti) is also a Lithuanian verb meaning "to drown". Both "žlugti" forms are related to the sound of water.} | |||
| Macedonian | пропадне | ||
| The verb "пропадне" also has a meaning of "to disappear" or "to get lost." | |||
| Polish | zawieść | ||
| The word "zawieść" originates from the Proto-Slavic word *vьsti, meaning "to hang" or "to be suspended". This suggests that the original meaning of the word may have been "to leave someone hanging" or "to let someone down". This meaning still persists in some contexts, particularly in the phrase "zawieść kogoś na lodzie" (literally, "to leave someone on the ice"), meaning to abandon someone in a difficult situation. | |||
| Romanian | eșua | ||
| The Romanian word "eșua" comes from the French word "échouer", meaning "to run aground" or "to fail". The original Latin word, "exagere", meant "to lead out" or "to carry away". | |||
| Russian | потерпеть поражение | ||
| The word "потерпеть поражение" literally means "to suffer defeat" in Russian. | |||
| Serbian | пропасти | ||
| "Пропасти" comes from "past" which also means "step" and "pro" which denotes direction, thus, "propasti" initially denoted the action of "stepping forward" | |||
| Slovak | zlyhať | ||
| 'Zlyhať' comes from 'zly', meaning 'bad,' and 'hať,' meaning 'obstacle.' | |||
| Slovenian | ne uspe | ||
| The expression 'ne uspe' derives from the verb 'uspeti' and the negating particle 'ne' and it can also mean 'to manage' or 'to achieve'. | |||
| Ukrainian | зазнати невдачі | ||
| The word "зазнати невдачі" in Ukrainian literally translates to "to undergo a failure," implying a more passive experience than the active "fail" in English. | |||
Fail in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ব্যর্থ | ||
| "ব্যর্থ" also means "useless" or "unsuccessful" in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | નિષ્ફળ | ||
| In Gujarati, the word "નિષ્ફળ" can also refer to a type of vegetable, the bitter gourd. | |||
| Hindi | विफल | ||
| "विफल" is derived from Sanskrit "vi (वि)", meaning "apart" or "dis", and "phal (फल)", meaning "result" or "fruit", implying a lack of desired outcome. | |||
| Kannada | ಅನುತ್ತೀರ್ಣ | ||
| The word "ಅನುತ್ತೀರ್ಣ" comes from the Sanskrit word "anuttirna" and means literally "not crossed over" or "unresolved". | |||
| Malayalam | പരാജയപ്പെടുക | ||
| Marathi | अपयशी | ||
| The word "अपयशी" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अपयश," which means "disgrace" or "dishonor." | |||
| Nepali | असफल | ||
| The Nepali word 'असफल', while typically meaning 'to fail', can also refer to 'to get tired' or 'to be exhausted'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਫੇਲ | ||
| The word "ਫੇਲ" in Punjabi also means "to be separated" or "to be apart", implying a deviation from an expected path or unity. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අසමත් | ||
| The word "අසමත්" (asamat) is derived from the Sanskrit word "asaṃhata" meaning "unconnected, disintegrated". | |||
| Tamil | தோல்வி | ||
| 'தோல்வி' ('thOlvi') also means 'skin' in Tamil, which is interesting because the word for 'fail' in many other languages is also related to the idea of 'losing skin' or 'falling down' | |||
| Telugu | విఫలం | ||
| In Telugu, "విఫలం" also means "cessation," "destruction," and "annihilation." | |||
| Urdu | ناکام | ||
| The word 'ناکام' has additional meanings in Urdu including 'unsuccessful' and 'incomplete'. | |||
Fail in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 失败 | ||
| "失败" literally means "loss of power" or "lost strength" in Chinese. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 失敗 | ||
| The four characters comprising the word (失, 敗, 成, 功) can be combined in different ways to form the antonym "succeed" (成功). | |||
| Japanese | 不合格 | ||
| "不合格" (fail) literally means "not (不) qualified (合格)". | |||
| Korean | 불합격 | ||
| "불합격" can also mean "unqualified" or "disqualified". | |||
| Mongolian | бүтэлгүйтэх | ||
| The Mongolian word "бүтэлгүйтэх" is derived from the word "бүтэл" meaning "work" or "completion" and the suffix "-гүй" meaning "without" or "lacking". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကျရှုံး | ||
| The word "ကျရှုံး" (fail) in Myanmar (Burmese) is derived from the Pali word "kira", meaning "to lose" or "to fall". It can also refer to a physical or mental defeat or setback. | |||
Fail in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | gagal | ||
| The word "gagal" in Indonesian has the alternate meaning of "misfire". | |||
| Javanese | gagal | ||
| "Gagel" in Javanese also means "to be unable to reach" or "to be out of reach." | |||
| Khmer | បរាជ័យ | ||
| បរាជ័យ (bɔːraːcɔːy) derives from Sanskrit "parajaya," meaning "defeat, loss, failure," and also connotes "abandonment, relinquishment," or "giving up." | |||
| Lao | ລົ້ມເຫລວ | ||
| Malay | gagal | ||
| The word 'gagal' also means 'stutter' and is related to the word 'gagap' meaning 'stammer'. | |||
| Thai | ล้มเหลว | ||
| The word "ล้มเหลว" can also mean "fall apart" or "be damaged" in Thai. | |||
| Vietnamese | thất bại | ||
| The word "Thất bại" literally translates to "lost battle" in English, highlighting its connection to the struggle and defeat in a battle. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mabibigo | ||
Fail in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | uğursuz | ||
| Uğursuz, meaning "failure" in Azerbaijani, originates from the ancient Turkish word "uğur" meaning "good fortune" with the negative suffix "-suz" added to it. | |||
| Kazakh | сәтсіздік | ||
| The word "сәтсіздік" literally means "the state of being unsuccessful" | |||
| Kyrgyz | ийгиликсиз | ||
| The word "ийгиликсиз" in Kyrgyz also means "unsuccessful" or "ineffective". | |||
| Tajik | ноком шудан | ||
| The word "ноком шудан" in Tajik also means "to get sick" | |||
| Turkmen | şowsuz | ||
| Uzbek | muvaffaqiyatsiz | ||
| The word "muvaffaqiyatsiz" in Uzbek shares its root with the Persian word "muvaffaq" meaning "success", and thus literally means "lack of success". | |||
| Uyghur | مەغلۇب | ||
Fail in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hāʻule | ||
| Hāʻule also means "to drop, fall, or sink" and "to descend, come down, or come from above" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | ngoikore | ||
| Ngoikore can also mean 'to be absent' or 'to be lacking'. | |||
| Samoan | toilalo | ||
| The word "toilalo" in Samoan is derived from the words "to" (to do) and "'ala'ala" (failure), referring to something that was undertaken but resulted in failure. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | mabigo | ||
| The word "mabigo" can also mean "to be unable to achieve something" or "to be disappointed". | |||
Fail in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jani phuqhaña | ||
| Guarani | meg̃ua | ||
Fail in International Languages
| Esperanto | malsukcesi | ||
| The word "malsukcesi" is derived from the Latin words "mal" (bad) and "succi" (to follow), meaning "to follow badly" or "to fail to achieve one's goal." | |||
| Latin | aborior | ||
| ABORIOR, in Latin, also means to "come to light, to appear". | |||
Fail in Others Languages
| Greek | αποτυγχάνω | ||
| The Greek word αποτυγχάνω is derived from the combination of the prefix apo- (away, from) and the verb τυγχάνω (to hit, to obtain), thus literally meaning 'to miss the mark' or 'to not attain' something. | |||
| Hmong | swb | ||
| The word "swb" in Hmong has an alternate meaning of "to be unskillful at a task". | |||
| Kurdish | biserîneçûn | ||
| The word "biserîneçûn" in Kurdish means "to fail" and is derived from the Persian word "ser", meaning "head" and "neck". | |||
| Turkish | başarısız | ||
| "Başarısız" originates from the Arabic word "başar" (success), meaning "failed success." | |||
| Xhosa | ukusilela | ||
| "Ukusila" in Xhosa additionally means to forget or be unable to remember something. | |||
| Yiddish | דורכפאַלן | ||
| In Yiddish, "דורכפאַלן" can also refer to a "disaster" or "fiasco". | |||
| Zulu | yehluleka | ||
| According to Nguni etymology, 'yehluleka' also means 'to come loose,' as is the case with a knot, the grip on something, or a bond. | |||
| Assamese | ব্যৰ্থ হোৱা | ||
| Aymara | jani phuqhaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | फेल | ||
| Dhivehi | ނާކާމިޔާބުވުން | ||
| Dogri | नकाम | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mabibigo | ||
| Guarani | meg̃ua | ||
| Ilocano | maabak | ||
| Krio | fel | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | شکست | ||
| Maithili | विफल | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯥꯏꯊꯤꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hlawhchham | ||
| Oromo | kufuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବିଫଳ | ||
| Quechua | pantay | ||
| Sanskrit | अनुत्तीर्णः | ||
| Tatar | уңышсызлык | ||
| Tigrinya | ምውዳቕ | ||
| Tsonga | hluleka | ||