Failure in Different Languages
Discover 'Failure' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Failure
Afrikaans mislukking | ||
Albanian dështimi | ||
Amharic ውድቀት | ||
Arabic بالفشل | ||
Armenian ձախողում | ||
Assamese বিফল হোৱা | ||
Aymara pantja | ||
Azerbaijani uğursuzluq | ||
Bambara ka dɛsɛ | ||
Basque porrota | ||
Belarusian няўдача | ||
Bengali ব্যর্থতা | ||
Bhojpuri असफल | ||
Bosnian neuspjeh | ||
Bulgarian неуспех | ||
Catalan fracàs | ||
Cebuano kapakyasan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 失败 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 失敗 | ||
Corsican fallimentu | ||
Croatian neuspjeh | ||
Czech selhání | ||
Danish fiasko | ||
Dhivehi ފެއިލްވުން | ||
Dogri नकामी | ||
Dutch mislukking | ||
English failure | ||
Esperanto malsukceso | ||
Estonian ebaõnnestumine | ||
Ewe madzedzi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kabiguan | ||
Finnish epäonnistuminen | ||
French échec | ||
Frisian mislearring | ||
Galician fracaso | ||
Georgian მარცხი | ||
German fehler | ||
Greek αποτυχία | ||
Guarani jejavyreko | ||
Gujarati નિષ્ફળતા | ||
Haitian Creole echèk | ||
Hausa rashin cin nasara | ||
Hawaiian holomua | ||
Hebrew כישלון | ||
Hindi असफलता | ||
Hmong tsis ua hauj lwm | ||
Hungarian kudarc | ||
Icelandic bilun | ||
Igbo odida | ||
Ilocano pannakaabak | ||
Indonesian kegagalan | ||
Irish teip | ||
Italian fallimento | ||
Japanese 失敗 | ||
Javanese gagal | ||
Kannada ವೈಫಲ್ಯ | ||
Kazakh сәтсіздік | ||
Khmer ការបរាជ័យ | ||
Kinyarwanda gutsindwa | ||
Konkani अपेस | ||
Korean 실패 | ||
Krio fel | ||
Kurdish têkçûnî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) شکست | ||
Kyrgyz ийгиликсиздик | ||
Lao ຄວາມລົ້ມເຫຼວ | ||
Latin defectum, | ||
Latvian neveiksme | ||
Lingala kopola | ||
Lithuanian nesėkmė | ||
Luganda okugwa | ||
Luxembourgish echec | ||
Macedonian неуспех | ||
Maithili विफलता | ||
Malagasy tsy fahombiazana | ||
Malay kegagalan | ||
Malayalam പരാജയം | ||
Maltese falliment | ||
Maori ngoikore | ||
Marathi अपयश | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯥꯏꯊꯤꯕ | ||
Mizo hlawhchhamna | ||
Mongolian алдаа | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ပျက်ကွက် | ||
Nepali असफलता | ||
Norwegian feil | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kulephera | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିଫଳତା | ||
Oromo kufaatii | ||
Pashto ناکامي | ||
Persian شکست | ||
Polish niepowodzenie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) falha | ||
Punjabi ਅਸਫਲਤਾ | ||
Quechua pantay | ||
Romanian eșec | ||
Russian неудача | ||
Samoan toilalo | ||
Sanskrit असफलता | ||
Scots Gaelic fàilligeadh | ||
Sepedi go palelwa | ||
Serbian неуспех | ||
Sesotho ho hloleha | ||
Shona kukundikana | ||
Sindhi ناڪامي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අසමත් වීම | ||
Slovak zlyhanie | ||
Slovenian neuspeh | ||
Somali guuldarro | ||
Spanish fracaso | ||
Sundanese kagagalan | ||
Swahili kutofaulu | ||
Swedish fel | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pagkabigo | ||
Tajik нокомӣ | ||
Tamil தோல்வி | ||
Tatar уңышсызлык | ||
Telugu వైఫల్యం | ||
Thai ความล้มเหลว | ||
Tigrinya ውድቀት | ||
Tsonga hluleka | ||
Turkish başarısızlık | ||
Turkmen şowsuzlyk | ||
Twi (Akan) nkuguodie | ||
Ukrainian невдача | ||
Urdu ناکامی | ||
Uyghur مەغلۇبىيەت | ||
Uzbek muvaffaqiyatsizlik | ||
Vietnamese sự thất bại | ||
Welsh methiant | ||
Xhosa ukusilela | ||
Yiddish דורכפאַל | ||
Yoruba ikuna | ||
Zulu ukwehluleka |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "mislukking" originally meant "bad luck" and is derived from the Dutch word "mislukken" meaning "to be unsuccessful" or "to fail". However, in Afrikaans, its meaning has shifted to simply mean "failure". |
| Albanian | "Dështim" in Albanian comes from the Latin "destruxio," meaning destruction. |
| Amharic | The word 'ውድቀት' (failure) also has the alternate meanings of 'collapse', 'fall' or 'defeat'. |
| Arabic | In Arabic, "بالفشل" can also be used to describe the state or condition of something that is unsuccessful or not up to standard. |
| Azerbaijani | "Uğursuzluq" derives from the Turkish word "uğursuz" meaning "unlucky" or "inauspicious". |
| Basque | The word "porrota" in Basque is derived from the French "pêché" meaning "sin" or "error". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "няўдача" is derived from the root "даць", meaning "to give", expressing the concept of "not getting what you wanted." |
| Bengali | The word "ব্যর্থতা" (byarthatha) comes from the Sanskrit word "वृथा" (vrtha), meaning "wasted" or "useless". |
| Bosnian | The word "neuspjeh" is derived from the Slavic roots "ne" (no) and "uspjeh" (success), meaning "lack of success". |
| Bulgarian | The term "неуспех" is rooted from the word for "not" ("не") and an old form for "success" without the prefix (усп-). |
| Catalan | In Catalan, the word "fracàs" also means "noise" or "uproar". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In Mandarin, "失败" (shībài) also means "to waste something" or "to let something be in vain". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The word 「失敗」can also mean "to try" or "to make an attempt" |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "fallimentu" also means "fraud," deriving from the Latin "fallere" ("to deceive"). |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "neuspjeh" is composed of the negation "ne" and the verb "uspeti" meaning "to succeed", thus literally meaning "non-success". |
| Czech | The word "selhání" in Czech is also a colloquial term for a car breakdown or a computer crash. |
| Danish | The word "fiasko" is derived from the Italian word "fiasco," which originally referred to a type of bottle used for storing wine. |
| Dutch | The word "mislukking" originates from the Middle Dutch "mislucken", meaning "to miss the target" or "to go wrong". |
| Esperanto | Malsukceso derives from the Esperanto words "mal" (bad) and "sukceso" (success) and can also mean "misfortune" or "disaster". |
| Estonian | The noun 'ebaõnnestumine' is a derivative of the verb 'ebaõnnestuma', which itself is a compound of 'eba' ('un-') and 'õnnestuma' ('to succeed') with an additional -mine ending, thus literally meaning 'not-succeeding'. |
| Finnish | The word "epäonnistuminen" is a compound word formed from the words "epä-" (not) and "onnistua" (to succeed). |
| French | The word "échec" originates from the Persian word "shāh māt" which means "the king is dead" in a game of chess. |
| Frisian | The word mislearring originally meant "misfortune" in Frisian. |
| Galician | Galician "fracaso" derives from Gothic "fraikaznan" (to ask), but also means "to crack" or "to break" in Galician. |
| Georgian | The word "მარცხი" is derived from the Proto-Kartvelian root *mar-*, meaning "to throw" or "to cast." |
| German | Fehler, meaning "failure" in German, originates from the Old High German "felhan," meaning "to fail" or "to go astray," and is related to the English word "fault." |
| Greek | The word "αποτυχία" in Greek literally means "falling from" or "missing the mark". |
| Gujarati | In Gujarati "નિષ્ફળતા (nisphalata)" can also mean a miscarriage or the state of a plant that does not bear fruit. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "echèk" in Haitian Creole derives from the French word "échec", meaning "failure" or "checkmate" in chess. |
| Hausa | "Rashin cin nasara" literally means "lack of achievement or success" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | “Holomua” is also used to describe a |
| Hebrew | Hebrew word "כישלון" is derived from "כשל" ("to stumble"), alluding to the idea of stumbling or falling short of expectations. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word असफलता "failure" is also used to describe any unaccomplished task, a state of imperfection or a state of being unfulfilling. |
| Hmong | Tsïs ua hauj lwm literally means "failure to do something". |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "kudarc" also refers to a type of earthenware pot or bowl, hinting at the idea that failure may be a vessel for learning and growth. |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic slang, "bilun" can also refer to a blunder or an unfortunate mishap. |
| Igbo | Igbo speakers use "odida" not just to mean "failure" but also to describe someone who "misses the mark" or an "incompetent or unlucky person." |
| Indonesian | The word "kegagalan" in Indonesian derives from the Sanskrit word "cala" meaning "to go astray" or "to be spoiled or destroyed." |
| Irish | The Irish word "teip" also refers to a "lapse" or "transgression" in the context of morality or conduct. |
| Italian | The word "fallimento" comes from the Latin verb "fallere," meaning "to deceive," and is related to the English word "fallacy." |
| Japanese | The word 失敗 can also mean "not succeeding to do something" or "making a mistake" in Japanese. |
| Javanese | "Gagak" in Javanese also means "crow", likely due to the bird's association with bad luck and failure. |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ವೈಫಲ್ಯ" (vaipalya) originates from the Sanskrit word "viphala". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word “сәтсіздік” also means “misfortune,” “incapacity,” and “bad luck.” |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "ការបរាជ័យ" also means "to be defeated" or "to be unable to do something" |
| Korean | "실패" (failure) is a Korean word that comes from the Chinese word "失擺," meaning "to lose" or "to make a mistake." |
| Kurdish | Têkçûnî, a Kurdish word for 'failure,' originates from the verb 'têkçûn,' meaning 'to fall or collapse,' and can also refer to 'downfall' or 'defeat.' |
| Kyrgyz | Слово «ийгиликсиздик» происходит от глагола «ийгилик» («успех») и имеет в своём составе отрицательный суффикс «-сиз-», то есть буквально означает «отсутствие успеха». |
| Latin | In medieval Latin, defectum could also refer to an eclipse or to a physical or mental disability. |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "neveiksme" comes from the word "veikt", which means "to do" or "to accomplish." |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "nesėkmė" literally means "not success". |
| Luxembourgish | "Ech" may refer to either a game of chess, or to something broken. |
| Macedonian | "Неуспех" is derived from the Slavic word "spēti" meaning "to succeed, to finish in time, to have time", and the prefix "ne-", meaning "not, no". |
| Malagasy | The word "tsy fahombiazana" is derived from the root word "fahomby" meaning success, and the negative prefix "tsy" indicating negation. |
| Malay | Kegagalan derives from the word gagah meaning 'to dare', thus kegagalan translates literally as 'a lack of daring'. |
| Maltese | The word "falliment" is derived from the Italian word "fallimento", meaning "bankruptcy". |
| Maori | The word "ngoikore" can also refer to a state of deficiency, poverty, or lack, as well as to a person who is poor or needy. |
| Marathi | The word "अपयश" in Marathi also means "dishonor" and is derived from the Sanskrit word "अपयशस्". |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "алдаа" can also mean "mistake" or "error". |
| Nepali | The Nepali word 'असफलता' has an alternate meaning, 'incompletion' or 'lack of success' |
| Norwegian | The word "feil" is derived from the old Norse word "fela", meaning "to lack" or "to be absent". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word for failure, 'kulephera,' also has an alternate meaning referring to the inability to pass through a narrow space. |
| Pashto | The word "ناکامي" (nakami) in Pashto also means "bad luck" or "disappointment". |
| Persian | شکست ('failure') can also mean 'breaking' or 'defeat' in Persian. |
| Polish | The word 'niepowodzenie' in Polish is derived from the prefix 'nie-' (meaning 'not') and the noun 'powodzenie' (meaning 'success'), thus literally translating to 'not having success'. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "falha" can also mean a gap or hole in a surface. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਅਸਫਲਤਾ" can also mean "unsuccessful" or "lacking success". |
| Romanian | The word "eșec" in Romanian can also refer to "a lack of success" or "an absence of expected results." |
| Russian | The word "неудача" is derived from the Old Russian word "неудача" (lack of success). |
| Samoan | The word 'toilalo' ('failure') also refers to the last-born child in some Samoan families; the implication is that this child will never surpass their older siblings. |
| Serbian | The word "неуспех" is derived from the Russian word "неудача", which itself is derived from the Old Russian word "неуспе". The prefix "не-" means "not", while the stem "успе" means "success". Thus, the word "неуспех" literally means "not success", or "failure". |
| Sesotho | The word "ho hloleha" can also refer to a state of being stuck or unable to progress, highlighting its broader connotation of being unable to fulfill or achieve something. |
| Shona | The Shona word 'kukundikana' is also used to describe the act of being 'trapped' or 'imprisoned', and can refer to both physical and psychological states. |
| Sindhi | "ناڪامي" can also mean "impotence, disappointment, lack, misery, unhappiness or misfortune, etc." |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word 'අසමත් වීම' ('failure') in Sinhala literally means 'becoming unable' or 'not being able'. |
| Slovak | The word 'zlyhanie' in Slovak can also refer to a 'miscarriage' or 'abortive attempt'. |
| Slovenian | "Neuspeh" derives from two Proto-Slavic roots, "ne-" (not or lack of) combined with "u-speh (successful). " |
| Somali | The word "guuldarro" in Somali is also used to describe someone who is unsuccessful or has failed in their endeavors. |
| Spanish | The word "fracaso" in Spanish originally meant "noise" or "crash," but it has come to mean "failure" due to its association with the sound of something breaking. |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, "kagagalan" can also refer to a type of bird or to a failed or aborted attempt. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "kutofaulu" originally meant "to fall short" or "to miss the mark" but has come to mean "failure" in general |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "fel" also means "wrong" or "error", and is related to the English word "fault." |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Pagkabigo also means 'disappointment' as it is rooted in the word 'bigo' ('to disappoint'). |
| Tajik | The word "нокомӣ" in Tajik has Persian roots and also means "imperfection" or "inadequacy". |
| Tamil | The word "தோல்வி" originates from the Proto-Dravidian root "*tol-", meaning "to peel off", thus implying a loss of strength or status. |
| Telugu | The Telugu word "వైఫల్యం" derives from Sanskrit and literally means "going away from the fruit or result," encompassing a broader sense of missing out or unfulfillment. |
| Thai | The word "ความล้มเหลว" can also mean "a mistake" or "an error". |
| Turkish | {"text": "Başarısızlık, "başarmamak" fiilinden gelmektedir ve "sonuçsuzluk, başarısız olma" anlamına da gelir."} |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "невдача" derives from "не", meaning "not"; and "вдача" |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "ناکامی" also means "disappointment" or "frustration". |
| Uzbek | This word in Uzbek can be split into two: "muvaffaqiyat" and "sizlik". "Muvaffaqiyat" means "success", while "sizlik" carries the opposite meaning, "lack" or "absence", thus turning the word into "lack of success", which also means "failure." |
| Vietnamese | The word "sự thất bại" can also mean "a lack of results" or "an unsuccessful attempt to do something." |
| Welsh | The word "methiant" is also used to mean "forgetful" or "unlucky". |
| Xhosa | From the verb '-silela,' or 'try something and fail.' |
| Yiddish | "דורכפאַל" is related to the German word "Durchfall" and means literally "falling through". |
| Yoruba | The word "ikuna" also refers to "unfortunate" or "cursed" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | The word "ukwehluleka" can also mean "to be unable to do something" or "to be unsuccessful in achieving a goal." |
| English | The word failure comes from the Latin word “fallere”, meaning 'to deceive'. |