False in Different Languages
Discover 'False' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
False
Afrikaans onwaar | ||
Albanian i rremë | ||
Amharic ውሸት | ||
Arabic خاطئة | ||
Armenian կեղծ | ||
Assamese মিছা | ||
Aymara k'ari | ||
Azerbaijani yalan | ||
Bambara nkalon | ||
Basque faltsua | ||
Belarusian ілжывы | ||
Bengali মিথ্যা | ||
Bhojpuri गलत | ||
Bosnian lažno | ||
Bulgarian невярно | ||
Catalan fals | ||
Cebuano bakak | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 假 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 假 | ||
Corsican falsu | ||
Croatian lažno | ||
Czech nepravdivé | ||
Danish falsk | ||
Dhivehi ރަނގަޅުނޫން | ||
Dogri गलत | ||
Dutch false | ||
English false | ||
Esperanto falsa | ||
Estonian vale | ||
Ewe alakpa | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) mali | ||
Finnish väärä | ||
French faux | ||
Frisian falsk | ||
Galician falso | ||
Georgian ყალბი | ||
German falsch | ||
Greek ψευδής | ||
Guarani japu | ||
Gujarati ખોટું | ||
Haitian Creole fo | ||
Hausa ƙarya | ||
Hawaiian wahaheʻe | ||
Hebrew שֶׁקֶר | ||
Hindi असत्य | ||
Hmong cuav | ||
Hungarian hamis | ||
Icelandic rangt | ||
Igbo ugha | ||
Ilocano saan nga agpayso | ||
Indonesian salah | ||
Irish bréagach | ||
Italian falso | ||
Japanese false | ||
Javanese palsu | ||
Kannada ಸುಳ್ಳು | ||
Kazakh жалған | ||
Khmer មិនពិត | ||
Kinyarwanda ibinyoma | ||
Konkani फट | ||
Korean 그릇된 | ||
Krio lay | ||
Kurdish şaş | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) هەڵە | ||
Kyrgyz жалган | ||
Lao ບໍ່ຈິງ | ||
Latin falsus | ||
Latvian nepatiesa | ||
Lingala lokuta | ||
Lithuanian melagingas | ||
Luganda -kyaamu | ||
Luxembourgish falsch | ||
Macedonian лажни | ||
Maithili झूठ | ||
Malagasy diso | ||
Malay salah | ||
Malayalam തെറ്റായ | ||
Maltese falza | ||
Maori hē | ||
Marathi खोटे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯔꯥꯟꯕ | ||
Mizo diklo | ||
Mongolian худал | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မှားသည် | ||
Nepali गलत | ||
Norwegian falsk | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zabodza | ||
Odia (Oriya) ମିଥ୍ୟା | ||
Oromo soba | ||
Pashto غلط | ||
Persian نادرست | ||
Polish fałszywy | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) falso | ||
Punjabi ਗਲਤ | ||
Quechua pantasqa | ||
Romanian fals | ||
Russian ложный | ||
Samoan pepelo | ||
Sanskrit असत्य | ||
Scots Gaelic meallta | ||
Sepedi maaka | ||
Serbian лажно | ||
Sesotho bohata | ||
Shona nhema | ||
Sindhi ڪوڙو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) බොරු | ||
Slovak nepravdivé | ||
Slovenian napačno | ||
Somali been ah | ||
Spanish falso | ||
Sundanese palsu | ||
Swahili uwongo | ||
Swedish falsk | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) hindi totoo | ||
Tajik дурӯғ | ||
Tamil பொய் | ||
Tatar ялган | ||
Telugu తప్పుడు | ||
Thai เท็จ | ||
Tigrinya ሓሶት | ||
Tsonga vunwa | ||
Turkish yanlış | ||
Turkmen ýalan | ||
Twi (Akan) ɛnyɛ ampa | ||
Ukrainian помилковий | ||
Urdu جھوٹا | ||
Uyghur false | ||
Uzbek yolg'on | ||
Vietnamese sai | ||
Welsh ffug | ||
Xhosa ubuxoki | ||
Yiddish פאַלש | ||
Yoruba èké | ||
Zulu amanga |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Onwaar" is derived from the archaic Middle Dutch word "onwar" meaning "not true". In Afrikaans its form and meaning remain nearly identical. |
| Albanian | "I rremë" derives from the Latin "remex" (rower), and in Albanian it also means "fake oar" or "useless thing". |
| Amharic | The word ውሸት can also mean 'empty' or 'vain' in Amharic, suggesting a connection between falsehood and futility. |
| Arabic | The word 'خاطئة' in Arabic is linguistically related to the Hebrew word 'chata' meaning 'to miss the mark'. |
| Armenian | Կեղծ derives from the Indo-European root *ḱeg-, meaning “to hide, concealed” — perhaps through Greek κίβδηλος kībdēlos — but it is only attested in Armenian as an adj. for “counterfeit”. |
| Azerbaijani | The Azerbaijani word "yalan" is related to the Turkish word "yalan" and the Persian word "derog", both meaning "falsehood". |
| Basque | The word "faltsua" in Basque can also mean "incomplete", or "deformed" |
| Belarusian | Ілжывы can also mean 'fictitious' or 'fabricated'. |
| Bengali | The Sanskrit root word, "mith-", from which "মিথ্যা" is derived, also holds connotations of "error" or "illusion", as seen in words like "mithya", meaning "false view or perception". |
| Bosnian | The term 'lažno' or 'lažni' can also be used to describe someone who is cunning or deceitful in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | In Old Church Slavonic, "невярно" also meant "not believing," "faithless," or "unfaithful," as it is related to "вера" ("faith"). |
| Catalan | In Catalan, the word "fals" can also refer to a type of dance or a type of bird. |
| Cebuano | "Bakak" has an alternate meaning of "to be wrong". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In Cantonese, "假" is also used as a prefix to indicate something is artificial or synthetic (e.g., 假花), but "虚假" is preferred. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 假 (false) was originally used as a verb meaning 'to borrow' or 'to lend' |
| Corsican | Corsican "falsu" has evolved from Latin "falsus" with the same meaning, but can also figuratively mean "poor quality" or "badly made." |
| Croatian | Lažno can also mean 'hypocritically' or 'pretentiously'. |
| Czech | "Nepravdivé" comes from the Proto-Slavic "nepravь" ("unjust") and is related to the Russian "неправда" ("injustice"). |
| Danish | "Falsk" is cognate with English "false" and German "falsch", from Proto-Germanic *falskaz meaning "false, cunning, deceitful, treacherous". |
| Dutch | "Vals" can also mean forgery (e.g. "valse munten") or oath (e.g. "een eed vals doen", to forswear) |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "falsa" originates from the Latin word "falsus", and also means "incorrect" or "wrong". |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "vale" originally meant "a lie" and was related to the Finnish word "valehtella," meaning "to tell a lie." |
| Finnish | Väärä is also the name of a region in Finland, located in the southwest. |
| French | In French, the word "faux" can also mean "scythe" or "beech tree" |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "falsk" is also a noun with the archaic meaning "forgery". |
| Galician | "Falso" also means "fictitious" or "fake" in Galician. |
| Georgian | The word "ყალბი" in Georgian literally means "changed" or "substituted". |
| German | German "falsch" derives from Proto-Germanic "falks" meaning "crooked" or "twisted" and is related to the English word "false". |
| Greek | The term "ψευδής" derives from the PIE root *bʰewdh-, meaning "to speak" and is related to the words "φημί" and "φάτις" (statement). |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "ખોટું" can also mean "wrong," "mistaken," or "incorrect." |
| Haitian Creole | "Fo" in Haitian Creole comes from the French word "faux" and can also mean "wrong". |
| Hausa | The word 'ƙarya' is also used in Hausa for 'village' and is cognate to Arabic 'qarya' ('village'). |
| Hawaiian | "Wahaheʻe" (pronounced wah-hah-heh-eh) is also used to describe something that is inauthentic or not genuine. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "שֶׁקֶר" can also mean "falsehood" or "a lie". |
| Hindi | The word असत्य can also mean 'non-existence' or 'illusion'. |
| Hmong | The word "cuav" in Hmong can also refer to a lie or to something that is not real or true. |
| Hungarian | Hamis also means "forgery" in Hungarian, and is related to the word "hamisít" meaning "to forge" or "to counterfeit". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word 'rangt' has roots in Old Norse, where it referred to being crooked or twisted, and is also related to the English word 'wrong'. |
| Igbo | Igbo word ugha, meaning "false," is derived from "ugha-ugha," used to describe unsteady movement or a lie. |
| Indonesian | The word 'salah' can also refer to an error or mistake. |
| Irish | The word "bréagach" can also mean "illusion" or "mirage" in Irish, reflecting its connection to the concept of perceived reality. |
| Italian | Falsetto is an Italian term for a type of singing voice that is higher than a person's normal speaking voice. |
| Japanese | In Japanese, the word "false" can also mean "unnatural" or "pretend." |
| Javanese | The Javanese word 'palsu' derives from 'salu' ('one'), indicating its original meaning of 'single' or 'uniform'. |
| Kannada | The word "ಸುಳ್ಳು" can also mean "a lie" or "untruth" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | The root of "жалған" also appears in the related terms "жалғандық" (meaning "lie, untruth") and "жалғаншы" (meaning "liar"). In another meaning, the verb "жалу" from which it is derived means "to cover or wrap" in Kazakh, suggesting an alternate interpretation of "жалған" as a disguise or deception. |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "មិនពិត" can also mean "not true" or "incorrect". |
| Kurdish | Şaş originates from the Kurdish word 'şaşin' meaning 'to be amazed' or 'to be perplexed', and has come to mean 'false' or 'wrong' over time. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "жалган" also means "deception" or "illusion" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | In the Tai Lüe language, the word "ບໍ່ຈິງ" means "not true or real" and "incorrect". |
| Latin | "Falsus" means "false" from the Latin root meaning "to deceive" |
| Latvian | The Latvian word "nepatiesa" can also mean "dishonest" or "unscrupulous. |
| Lithuanian | The word "melagingas" comes from the Greek word "melangein," which means "to mix" or "to deceive." |
| Luxembourgish | "Falsch" is the Luxembourgish cognate of the German word "falsch", which ultimately derives from the Proto-Germanic root "*falsk-." |
| Macedonian | The etymology of "лажни" is from Latin through Greek "лаж" (lie) or from Ottoman "yaln" meaning "false, not real, unreal, fictional". |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "DISO" can also mean "untrue" or "incorrect". |
| Malay | The Arabic word "salah" also means 'mistake, error, fault', and is the origin of the Malay word "silap", which has the same meaning. |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "തെറ്റായ" can also mean "inaccurate" or "mistaken". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "falza" is derived from the Arabic word "falsa" meaning "copper coin" and has come to mean "false" in Maltese due to the association of copper coins with counterfeit currency. |
| Maori | Maori has two distinct words for "no" which are sometimes used in conjunction: "kāore" is used for absolute negation and "hē" for relative negation (e.g. he didn't go yesterday). |
| Marathi | The word 'खोटे' in Marathi shares its origin with 'khota' in Hindi and 'khuda' or 'khuta' in Urdu and Persian, meaning 'false or impure money' |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "худал" can also mean "empty" or "deficient". |
| Nepali | The word "गलत" is derived from the Sanskrit word "गल" meaning "to go astray". |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "falsk" comes from the Old Norse "falskr" which also meant "unskillful" and "faulty". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "zabodza" in Nyanja can also mean "fake" or "imitation." |
| Pashto | The etymology of the Pashto word 'غلط' is likely linked to the Arabic word 'الغلط', meaning 'error' or 'mistake'. |
| Persian | The Persian word "نادرست" can also be used to mean "incorrect" or "inaccurate." |
| Polish | The word "fałszywy" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *lьsьtivъ, meaning "deceitful" or "cunning". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Falso" comes from the Latin word "falsus", meaning "deceptive" or "untrue". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਗਲਤ" can also mean "mistake" or an "error" in Punjabi |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "fals" derives from the Latin word "falsus", meaning "deceptive" or "untrue". |
| Russian | "Ложный" comes from Old East Slavic "лъжати", "to lie", from Proto-Slavic *lьgъ "lie, untruth", from Proto-Indo-European *leugh- "to lie, deceive, conceal". |
| Samoan | The word "pepelo" can also refer to a rumor or a lie. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Meallta" in Scots Gaelic can also mean "concealed" or "hidden." |
| Serbian | The word 'лажно' in Serbian can be used to refer to a counterfeit or forgery or to describe someone as dishonest or insincere. |
| Sesotho | In a literal sense, the word “bohata” can be translated as “that which is without” or “devoid of”. |
| Shona | "Nhema" also refers to a type of fish, reed, grass, and plant with black berries. |
| Sindhi | The word کوٕو ‘false’ in Sindhi is originally derived from the Sanskrit word कूऱ:द, meaning "false or a lie" which also appears in other modern Indic languages such as Hindi as कुर, Marathi as कूर, and Konkani as कूरो |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "බොරු" in Sinhala is derived from the Pali word "vohara", which means "to speak" or "to say". |
| Slovak | The word "nepravdivé" comes from the Slavic root "prav", meaning "truth", and the prefix "ne-", meaning "not". |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word "napačno" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "nepravъ", which originally meant "not right". |
| Somali | The word "been ah" in Somali can also mean "fake" or "artificial". |
| Spanish | The word "falso" is derived from the Latin word "falsus," which means "deceptive" or "untrue." |
| Sundanese | Palsu also means 'not genuine' or 'counterfeit'. |
| Swahili | In some Bantu languages, "uwongo" means "truth" or "certainty", reflecting a cultural emphasis on the truthfulness of witnesses. |
| Swedish | The word 'falsk' also means 'falsely made' or 'fake' in Swedish. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Hindi totoo" can also be interpreted as "not true to oneself" or "not genuine". |
| Tajik | The word "дурӯғ" derives from the Persian word "دروغ" with the same meaning. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "பொய்" is also used as an adjective to describe something that is fake or artificial, and as an adverb to mean "falsely". |
| Thai | The word "เท็จ" can also mean "to deny" or "to deceive". |
| Turkish | Yanlış also means "unlucky" when used idiomatically with the word "ayak" as in "yanlış ayakla kalkmak ("to get out of bed on the wrong foot") |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "помилковий" is cognate with the Polish "myłkowy", "mylić", which can mean to err or to make a mistake. |
| Urdu | The word "جھوٹا" not only means "untrue", but also describes something brittle and breakable. |
| Uzbek | "Yolg'on" in Uzbek ultimately comes from the Persian word "drog" meaning "lie". |
| Vietnamese | The word "sai" in Vietnamese also has secondary meanings such as "mistaken" or "wrongful". |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "ffug" can also mean "deception" or "fiction." |
| Xhosa | The word "Ubuxoki" in Xhosa also refers to a type of traditional medicine used for protection against witchcraft. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פאַלש" also means "stale". |
| Yoruba | "Èké" refers to a "wrong side" or "reverse side" of something, such as a fabric or a relationship. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'amanga', besides meaning 'false', can also refer to a 'trick', 'cheat', or even a 'joke'. |
| English | The word "false" derives from the Latin "falsus" meaning "deceptive" or "untrue," which in turn evolved from the Proto-Indo-European root "*pelh2-" meaning "to deceive." |