Fifteen in different languages

Fifteen in Different Languages

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

Updated on March 6, 2024

The number fifteen is significant in many cultures and contexts. In mathematics, it's a prime number, and in measurements, it's a common unit of time. Fifteen minutes is a standard interval in many settings, from school bells to medical appointments. In some religious traditions, fifteen holds special meaning, such as the fifteen prayers of the Rosary in Catholicism. Moreover, fifteen is a number that represents balance and harmony in numerology.

Given its significance, it's no wonder that people might want to know the translation of fifteen in different languages. For example, in Spanish, fifteen is 'quince', while in French, it's 'quinze'. In Mandarin Chinese, fifteen is ‘十五’ (shí wǔ), and in Japanese, it's ‘十五’ (juugo).

Understanding the translation of fifteen in different languages can help build connections across cultures and show respect for diverse traditions. It can also be a fun way to explore the world of language and learn something new.

Fifteen


Fifteen in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansvyftien
The Afrikaans word "vyftien" has the same root as the English word "fifteen", both derived from the Proto-Germanic "fimf-tēhan" meaning "five-ten".
Amharicአስራ አምስት
Hausagoma sha biyar
The term "goma sha biyar" in Hausa combines the words "goma" (nine) and "sha biyar" (six), suggesting a division of the number fifteen into two parts.
Igboiri na ise
The Igbo word "iri na ise" (literally "four on top of eleven") derives from the counting system where 15 is considered as 11 + 4.
Malagasydimy ambin'ny folo
The Malagasy word 'dimy ambin'ny folo' is thought to have originated from an expression meaning 'to count the toes and fingers'.
Nyanja (Chichewa)khumi ndi zisanu
Shonagumi neshanu
"Gumi neshanu" in Shona literally means "a fist and ten," alluding to the fifteen knuckles on a hand.
Somalishan iyo toban
Somali "shan iyo toban" (fifteen) derives from "shan" (five), "iyo" (and), "toban" (ten), but also means "half of thirty"}
Sesotholeshome le metso e mehlano
"Leshome le metso e mehlano" is an idiomatic expression that literally means "the day and its parts are five".
Swahilikumi na tano
"Kumi na tano" (fifteen) is a compound phrase comprised of "kumi" (ten) and "tano" (five).
Xhosashumi elinantlanu
The Xhosa word "Shumi elinantlanu" derives from the Proto-Bantu word "-dʒana-nandi" meaning "count and then (it is so)".
Yorubamẹdogun
The Yoruba word "mẹdogun" can also mean "a large multitude of people".
Zuluishumi nanhlanu
In Zulu, 'ishumi nanhlanu' can also mean 'an old person of great importance or value'.
Bambaratan ni duuru
Ewewuiatɔ̃
Kinyarwandacumi na gatanu
Lingalazomi na mitano
Lugandakumi na taano
Sepedilesomehlano
Twi (Akan)dunnum

Fifteen in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicخمسة عشر
The Arabic word “خمسة عشر” is a compound word meaning “five and ten”.
Hebrewחֲמֵשׁ עֶשׂרֵה
The word "חֲמֵשׁ עֶשׂרֵה" is a compound of the words "חֲמֵשׁ" (five) and "עֶשׂר" (ten).
Pashtoپنځلس
In Pashto, "پنځلس" can also mean "one-and-a-half" or "fifteen out of a hundred".
Arabicخمسة عشر
The Arabic word “خمسة عشر” is a compound word meaning “five and ten”.

Fifteen in Western European Languages

Albanianpesembedhjete
The Albanian word "pesembedhjete" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷetwer- or *kʷetwer-yo-, meaning "four" and "fifteen," respectively.
Basquehamabost
The Basque word "hamabost" is composed of the words "hamar" (ten) and "bost" (five), hence meaning literally "ten and five".
Catalanquinze
The word "quinze" in Catalan can also refer to a playing card with a value of 15.
Croatianpetnaest
The word 'petnaest' is a compound of two Old Slavic words, 'peť' ('five') and 'na deset' ('on ten').
Danishfemten
The Danish word "femten" (fifteen) derives from the Proto-Germanic "*fimf-tainiz" (five and ten).
Dutchvijftien
The Dutch word "vijftien" is derived from the Old Saxon word "fifteina" and literally means "five and ten."
Englishfifteen
The origin of the word 'fifteen' lies in the Old English words 'fif' and 'tiene', meaning 'five' and 'ten', respectively.
Frenchquinze
The French word "quinze" is derived from Latin "quindecim" which means "fifteen". "Quinze" was also an ancient coin worth fifteen deniers.
Frisianfyftjin
The word "fyftjin" is derived from the Old Frisian word "fiftēne", meaning "fifteen".
Galicianquince
The Galician word "quince" also means "to go out".
Germanfünfzehn
The word "fünfzehn" comes from the words "fünf" (five) and "zehn" (ten), meaning "five and ten".
Icelandicfimmtán
The Icelandic word "fimmtán" is derived from the Old Norse word "fimten," which literally means "five tens."
Irishcúig déag
Italianquindici
"Quindici" is derived from the Latin "quindecim," meaning "fifteen," and is related to the word "quinque," meaning "five."
Luxembourgishfofzéng
The word "fofzéng" comes from the Old High German word "fünfzæne" and is related to the German word "fünfzehn" and the Dutch word "vijftien".
Malteseħmistax
Ħmistax is also used to describe a period of half a month, similar to the English idiom "a fortnight".
Norwegianfemten
"Femten" derives from the old Germanic word for the number "five" and the suffix "ten": "five tens".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)quinze
In Old French, “quinze” meant the day before payday.
Scots Gaeliccòig-deug
The word "còig-deug" in Scots Gaelic is a compound of the words "còig" (five) and "deug" (ten), but it can also refer to the number of days in a fortnight.
Spanishquince
The word "quince" in Spanish comes from the Latin "quinque", meaning "five", and the suffix "-nce", meaning "unit of."
Swedishfemton
Femton is also a slang term for a 50-cent coin.
Welshpymtheg
The word pymtheg can also refer to a type of fish called the 'fifteen-spined stickleback'

Fifteen in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianпятнаццаць
The word "пятнаццаць" ("fifteen") in Belarusian is derived from the Old Slavonic word "пѧтьнадесять" ("fifteen"), which is a compound of the Proto-Slavic words for "five" and "ten". In some dialects, the word is also used to refer to the collective noun "fifteen head of cattle".
Bosnianpetnaest
The Bosnian word "petnaest" (fifteen) derives from Proto-Slavic "pętъ na desęte" meaning "five on ten".
Bulgarianпетнадесет
In Bulgarian, "петнадесет" is a combination of "пет" (five) and "надесет" (ten).
Czechpatnáct
The word "patnáct" is not a compound word in Czech, although it seems to be related to the words "pět" (five) and "náct" (ten).
Estonianviisteist
The Estonian word “viisteist” means “fifteen”, but its literal translation is “five over ten”.
Finnishviisitoista
"Viisi" means "five" and "toista" means "second" in Finnish.
Hungariantizenöt
The second part of the word "tizenöt" comes from the Old Turkish word "öt", meaning five.
Latvianpiecpadsmit
While "piecpadsmit" literally translates as "five-and-ten", it is the original Latvian term for the number fifteen.
Lithuanianpenkiolika
The Lithuanian word "penkiolika" is related to "penki" meaning "five", and "olik" meaning "to remain", signifying that fifteen is "five remaining".
Macedonianпетнаесет
The Macedonian word for fifteen, "пeтнаeсeт" (pronounced petnaeset) is a compound word meaning "five and ten".
Polishpiętnaście
The word "piętnaście" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *pętь, meaning "five", and *nadeste, meaning "ten".
Romaniancincisprezece
The word "cincisprezece" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷenkʷe, meaning "five" or "fifteen," and the suffix "-sprezece," meaning "ten."
Russianпятнадцать
The word "пятнадцать" derives from the Old Slavic phrase "пѧть на десять", meaning "five on ten"
Serbianпетнаест
Serbian "petnaest" is derived from "pet" (five) and "naest" (ten), like Latin "quindecim" from "quinque" and "decem".
Slovakpätnásť
The word "pätnásť" is derived from the Old Slavic word "pętъ", meaning "five", and the suffix "-nást", meaning "ten", indicating its position as the fifth number in the tens sequence.
Slovenianpetnajst
"Petnajst" comes from Proto-Slavic "pętъ" ("five") and "na desęte" ("on ten").
Ukrainianп’ятнадцять
The word “п’ятнадцять” is derived from the Proto-Slavic word “pętъnadesęte”, meaning “the fifth ten”.

Fifteen in South Asian Languages

Bengaliপনের
"পনের" or "পাঁচের" is an alternate way of saying "পনের" (fifteen).
Gujaratiપંદર
Hindiपंद्रह
पंद्रह ('fifteen') is derived from 'पञ्चदश' ('pañcadasha'), which literally means 'five tens'.
Kannadaಹದಿನೈದು
"ಹದಿನೈದು" is an example of a word in Kannada without a direct root in Sanskrit.
Malayalamപതിനഞ്ച്
Marathiपंधरा
The word 'पंधरा' comes from the Sanskrit word 'पञ्चदश' (pañcadaśa), meaning 'fifteen'. In Marathi, it is also used to refer to the day of the fortnight that falls 15 days after the new moon or full moon.
Nepaliपन्ध्र
The word "पन्ध्र" is derived from the Sanskrit word "पंचदश", which means "fifteen."
Punjabiਪੰਦਰਾਂ
The word "ਪੰਦਰਾਂ" is derived from the Sanskrit words "pañca" (five) and "daśa" (ten), indicating its numerical value.
Sinhala (Sinhalese)පහළොව
The Sinhalese word "පහළොව" (fifteen) derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "penkwe" meaning "five" and "dasa" meaning "ten".
Tamilபதினைந்து
"பதினைந்து" originally meant "fifteen" hundred in Tamil and later changed to mean "fifteen".
Teluguపదిహేను
Urduپندرہ
The word "pandra" also means "the day of the full moon" in Urdu.

Fifteen in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)十五
"十五" (fifteen) is used as a euphemism for "the moon" because the full moon falls on the fifteenth day of the lunar month.
Chinese (Traditional)十五
'十五' is also the 15th day of a month in the Chinese lunar calendar, which is often associated with the full moon.
Japanese15
In Japanese, "15" (juugo) can also mean "complete" or "perfect".
Korean열 다섯
The Korean word "열 다섯" (15) can also refer to a type of traditional Korean folk song sung at weddings and other festive occasions.
Mongolianарван тав
The Mongolian word
Myanmar (Burmese)ဆယ့်ငါး

Fifteen in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianlimabelas
The word "limabelas", meaning "fifteen" in Indonesian, derives from the Old Javanese word "limawelas".
Javaneselimalas
The Javanese word “limalas” comes from the Proto-Austronesian number “lima” (5), and the Proto-Malayo-Polynesian suffix “-las” (ten), thus meaning “ten plus five”.
Khmerដប់ប្រាំ
The prefix
Laoສິບຫ້າ
The word "ສິບຫ້າ" is derived from the Sanskrit "saptadasha" and the Pali "sodasa", both of which mean "fifteen".
Malaylima belas
The word "lima belas" is directly translated from the Sanskrit words "panca" (five) and "dasa" (ten). In modern usage it can also refer to "fifteen minutes past the hour" or a quarter of an hour.
Thaiสิบห้า
"สิบห้า" (15) is a contraction of "สิบ" (10) and "ห้า" (5).
Vietnamesemười lăm
'Mười lăm' literally means 'ten and five'.
Filipino (Tagalog)labinlima

Fifteen in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijanion beş
"On beş" is a compound word meaning "ten five" or "ten on top" in Azerbaijani.
Kazakhон бес
"Он бес" is a homonym of "онбас", a measure of capacity for grain or liquid, now obsolete.
Kyrgyzон беш
The word "он беш" (fifteen) in Kyrgyz literally translates to "ten and five."
Tajikпонздаҳ
The Tajik word "понздаҳ" is composed of the words for "ten" ("дах") and "five" ("панҷ"), reflecting the base-10 number system.
Turkmenon bäş
Uzbeko'n besh
"O'n besh" derives from the Persian words "dah" (ten) and "panj" (five).
Uyghurئون بەش

Fifteen in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianumikumālima
The word "umikumālima" is derived from "umi" (ten) and "kumālima" (five), and can also mean "the fifteenth day of the month".
Maoritekau ma rima
Te kau ma rima ('fifteen') refers to 'the fifteen people' (the digits fingers and toes).
Samoansefulu ma le lima
"Sefulu ma le lima" literally means "ten and five" in Samoan.
Tagalog (Filipino)labinlimang
In Old Tagalog, "labinlimang" was written as "labinglimá" and referred to the number "fifteen thousand". Today, however, it is spelled "labinlimang" and refers to the number "fifteen".

Fifteen in American Indigenous Languages

Aymaratunka phisqhani
Guaranipapo

Fifteen in International Languages

Esperantodek kvin
The word "dek kvin" in Esperanto is a combination of the words "dek" (ten) and "kvin" (five), which reflects the base-ten number system used in many languages.
Latinquindecim
The word 'quindecim' is derived from the Proto-Italic word 'penkwe' meaning 'five' and the suffix '-decim' meaning 'ten', forming 'five and ten'.

Fifteen in Others Languages

Greekδεκαπέντε
The word 'δεκαπέντε' is a compound of 'δέκα' (ten) and 'πέντε' (five), but it originally meant 'fifteen hundred'.
Hmongkaum tsib
The word "kaum tsib" can also mean "two hundred seven".
Kurdishpanzdeh
The Kurdish word "panzdeh" is also used to mean "a half of thirty" and "a quarter of sixty".
Turkishon beş
"On" means "ten" and "beş" means "five" in Turkish, so "on beş" literally means "ten five".
Xhosashumi elinantlanu
The Xhosa word "Shumi elinantlanu" derives from the Proto-Bantu word "-dʒana-nandi" meaning "count and then (it is so)".
Yiddishפופצן
"פופצן" is thought to be formed by the root word "פופ" (five) and the suffix "צן" (ten), suggesting that it literally means "five and ten".
Zuluishumi nanhlanu
In Zulu, 'ishumi nanhlanu' can also mean 'an old person of great importance or value'.
Assameseপোন্ধৰ
Aymaratunka phisqhani
Bhojpuriपंदरह
Dhivehiފަނަރަ
Dogriपंदरां
Filipino (Tagalog)labinlima
Guaranipapo
Ilocanosangapulo ket lima
Kriofiftin
Kurdish (Sorani)پازدە
Maithiliपंद्रह
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯇꯔꯥꯃꯉꯥ
Mizosawmpanga
Oromokudha shan
Odia (Oriya)ପନ୍ଦର
Quechuachunka pichqayuq
Sanskritपञ्चदश
Tatarунбиш
Tigrinyaዓሰርተ ሓሙሽተ
Tsongakhumentlhanu

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