Five in Different Languages
Discover 'Five' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Five
Afrikaans vyf | ||
Albanian pesë | ||
Amharic አምስት | ||
Arabic خمسة | ||
Armenian հինգ | ||
Assamese পাঁচ | ||
Aymara phisqha | ||
Azerbaijani beş | ||
Bambara duuru | ||
Basque bost | ||
Belarusian пяць | ||
Bengali পাঁচ | ||
Bhojpuri पाँच | ||
Bosnian pet | ||
Bulgarian пет | ||
Catalan cinc | ||
Cebuano lima | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 五 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 五 | ||
Corsican cinque | ||
Croatian pet | ||
Czech pět | ||
Danish fem | ||
Dhivehi ފަހެއް | ||
Dogri पंज | ||
Dutch vijf | ||
English five | ||
Esperanto kvin | ||
Estonian viis | ||
Ewe atɔ̃ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) lima | ||
Finnish viisi | ||
French cinq | ||
Frisian fiif | ||
Galician cinco | ||
Georgian ხუთი | ||
German fünf | ||
Greek πέντε | ||
Guarani po | ||
Gujarati પાંચ | ||
Haitian Creole senk | ||
Hausa biyar | ||
Hawaiian elima | ||
Hebrew חָמֵשׁ | ||
Hindi पांच | ||
Hmong tsib | ||
Hungarian öt | ||
Icelandic fimm | ||
Igbo ise | ||
Ilocano lima | ||
Indonesian lima | ||
Irish cúig | ||
Italian cinque | ||
Japanese 五 | ||
Javanese lima | ||
Kannada ಐದು | ||
Kazakh бес | ||
Khmer ប្រាំ | ||
Kinyarwanda bitanu | ||
Konkani पाच | ||
Korean 다섯 | ||
Krio fayv | ||
Kurdish pênc | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێنج | ||
Kyrgyz беш | ||
Lao ຫ້າ | ||
Latin quinque | ||
Latvian pieci | ||
Lingala mitano | ||
Lithuanian penki | ||
Luganda taano | ||
Luxembourgish fënnef | ||
Macedonian пет | ||
Maithili पांच | ||
Malagasy dimy | ||
Malay lima | ||
Malayalam അഞ്ച് | ||
Maltese ħamsa | ||
Maori tokorima | ||
Marathi पाच | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯉꯥ | ||
Mizo panga | ||
Mongolian тав | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ငါး | ||
Nepali पाँच | ||
Norwegian fem | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) zisanu | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପାଞ୍ଚ | ||
Oromo shan | ||
Pashto پنځه | ||
Persian پنج | ||
Polish pięć | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) cinco | ||
Punjabi ਪੰਜ | ||
Quechua pichqa | ||
Romanian cinci | ||
Russian 5 | ||
Samoan lima | ||
Sanskrit पंचं | ||
Scots Gaelic còig | ||
Sepedi hlano | ||
Serbian пет | ||
Sesotho hlano | ||
Shona shanu | ||
Sindhi پنج | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පහ | ||
Slovak päť | ||
Slovenian pet | ||
Somali shan | ||
Spanish cinco | ||
Sundanese lima | ||
Swahili tano | ||
Swedish fem | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) lima | ||
Tajik панҷ | ||
Tamil ஐந்து | ||
Tatar биш | ||
Telugu ఐదు | ||
Thai ห้า | ||
Tigrinya ሓሙሽተ | ||
Tsonga ntlhanu | ||
Turkish beş | ||
Turkmen bäş | ||
Twi (Akan) nnum | ||
Ukrainian п'ять | ||
Urdu پانچ | ||
Uyghur بەش | ||
Uzbek besh | ||
Vietnamese số năm | ||
Welsh pump | ||
Xhosa ntlanu | ||
Yiddish פינף | ||
Yoruba marun | ||
Zulu ezinhlanu |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In the Afrikaans language, the word "vyf" for "five" ultimately derives from an Old French word for "four". |
| Albanian | The word "pesë" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *penkʷe, meaning "five", and is cognate with words for "five" in other Indo-European languages such as Latin "quinque" and English "five" |
| Amharic | "አምስት" in Amharic can also mean "the five senses". |
| Arabic | 'خمسة' means 'five' in Arabic. However, it is also used to refer to the five pillars of Islam, the five senses, and the five major prayers in Islam. |
| Armenian | The word "հինգ" also comes from the word "hing" meaning "five" from Proto-Indo-European. |
| Azerbaijani | "Beş" also means "cradle" in Azerbaijani, similar to its etymology in various Turkic languages. |
| Basque | The word "bost" in Basque is derived from an older Proto-Basque form "*borst", meaning "fist". |
| Belarusian | The word "пяць" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*pętь", also related to the English word "fist". |
| Bengali | Five is sometimes used in the context of a group of five (not necessarily ordered) like 'ganguli panchak' ('a group of five') |
| Bosnian | Bosnian "pet" can also mean "Friday" or a "rooster" |
| Bulgarian | "Пет" is the Slavic root for the number five, and is a cognate with the Latin "quinque" and Greek "pente". |
| Catalan | The word "cinc" (five) in Catalan also means a fist |
| Cebuano | The word "lima" also means "hand" in Cebuano, reflecting the use of fingers to count. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "五" means 'five', but it can also be used to represent the five elements (金, 木, 水, 火, 土), or the five cardinal directions (东, 西, 南, 北, 中). |
| Chinese (Traditional) | Traditional Chinese character "五" can also mean "all" or "every" in certain contexts. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, "Cinque" is influenced by Tuscan Italian, which borrowed the word from the Lombardic language, likely originating from the Proto-Germanic "*fimf". |
| Croatian | The word "pet" in Croatian also means "rooster" and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*pěti" meaning "to crow". |
| Czech | The word "Pět" in Czech is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*pętь", which also meant "fist". |
| Danish | The singular form of Danish "fem" can also be used to mean "some" or "a few". |
| Dutch | The word "vijf" may have originated from the Proto-West Germanic term "*fünf" (five), possibly borrowed from the Pre-Germanic language spoken by the Lusatian culture in Central Europe around 2000 BC. |
| Esperanto | The word "kvin" in Esperanto is derived from the Latin "quinque", and also means "a period of five days". |
| Estonian | The word "viis" in Estonian originates from the Proto-Finnic word "*wiite". |
| Finnish | Viisi's origins are in the Proto-Finnic word *wi:te which also meant 'little finger' |
| French | The word “cinq” comes from the Latin word |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "fiif" is cognate with the English word "five" and the German word "fünf." |
| Galician | Galician "cinco" shares its Latin root "quinque" with other Romance languages and also means "claw". |
| Georgian | The Georgian word |
| German | "Fünf" is a cognate of the English word "five" and the Old English word "fīf," which is related to the Latin word "quinque." |
| Greek | πέντε is related to words meaning "bend" or "angle" in several Indo-European languages. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "પાંચ" (five) can also mean "hand" or "fist", as it is related to the Sanskrit word "pañca" meaning "five" or "hand". |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'senk' is a direct descendant of the French 'cinq' and is also cognate with the Spanish 'cinco'. |
| Hausa | Biyar is also used to refer to someone or something that is of good quality or high value, especially in Hausa culture. |
| Hawaiian | The word 'elima' also refers to the five fingers of the hand and is sometimes used to describe a group of five. |
| Hebrew | "חָמֵשׁ" is also the name of a Jewish religious text containing the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, known in English as the Torah |
| Hindi | In Sanskrit, "पांच" can also mean "hand" or "palm." |
| Hmong | The word "tsib" is also used as an adverb meaning "five times" or "by fives". |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word for "five" "öt" also refers to a group of five people, as well as the fifth day of a month. |
| Icelandic | Fimm is cognate with the words for 'five' in the other North Germanic languages, and with 'fingers' in Slavic languages. |
| Igbo | The word "ise" in Igbo also signifies "being whole or complete" in addition to "five". |
| Indonesian | The word "lima" also has other meanings in Indonesian, such as "hand" and the name of a type of citrus fruit. |
| Irish | "Cúig" can also mean "five-pointed" or "five-part" in Irish, relating to its shape. |
| Italian | In Italian, "cinque" also refers to the fifth part of an hour or quarter, as in a clock's "quarter to" or "quarter past". |
| Japanese | The character "五" is also used to represent the 5 elements (metal, wood, water, fire and earth). |
| Javanese | "Lima" also means "to pass by" in Javanese, such as in the phrase "lima ngarep" meaning "to pass by the front". |
| Kannada | "ಐದು" is derived from the proto-Dravidian word "*caytu" meaning "hand" as humans once used their hands to count. |
| Kazakh | The word "бес" (five) in Kazakh also means "very much" or "too much". |
| Khmer | The word "ប្រាំ" ("five") in Khmer originates from the Mon language and has a cognate in Sanskrit, "pañca," meaning "five" |
| Korean | 다섯 "5" is a sino-korean word, but it was originally an old Korean word meaning "much," "many," or "plenty." |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "pênc" is thought to derive from the Proto-Indo-European word "penkwe" or "pe". |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "беш" ("five") also appears in the names of various Kyrgyz tribes and clans, such as the "Беш-багыш" ("Five-Blessings") and "Беш-тамир" ("Five-Roots"). |
| Lao | The Lao word ຫ້າ (five) is pronounced "ha" and shares the same Proto-Tai etymology as the Vietnamese word "năm" (five). |
| Latin | The Latin word "quinque" (meaning "five") is related to the English word "quintet" (a group of five musicians). |
| Latvian | "Pieci" is also a Latvian archaic verb meaning "to endure," "to suffer," and "to tolerate," and is used in the phrase "paciest karu," meaning "to tolerate or endure war." |
| Lithuanian | The word “penki” may be derived from the numeral “pi” (meaning “two”) and the diminutive suffix “-ki” (meaning “small”), implying the counting of five as “two-plus-three”. |
| Luxembourgish | "Fënnef" is probably of Celtic origin and comes from the word *penkwe, which also meant "five". |
| Macedonian | The word "пет" also refers to a Macedonian folk dance. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word DIMY has another meaning of "to count". |
| Malay | "Lima" also means 'sharpen' and 'to forge' due to its relation to the word "lemang" (to forge). |
| Malayalam | The word "അഞ്ച്" is etymologically related to "finger," suggesting counting using fingers as the original basis for the number system. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "ħamsa" also means "open hand" and has a protective significance. |
| Maori | Tokorima is derived from the Proto-Austronesian numeral *lima, from which also originated the Māori word for 'hand'. |
| Marathi | पाच (paac) is derived from the Sanskrit word पंच (panch) and also means 'five' in Konkani and Gujarati. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "тав" also means "a group of five" or "a set of five". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ငါး" derives from the Proto-Tibeto-Burman word *ŋa, meaning "fish" or "animal". |
| Nepali | The word 'पाँच' may be derived from the Proto-Indo-European word '*penkʷe', meaning 'five'. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "fem" also means "pretty" in the sense of "beautiful" or "delicate". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "zisanu" (five) in Nyanja (Chichewa) is derived from the Proto-Bantu numeral "*taanu" and is cognate with the words for "five" in other Bantu languages, such as "tano" in Swahili and "ntanu" in Zulu. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "پنځه" can also mean "palm of the hand" or "fist". |
| Persian | In Persian, |
| Polish | The word "pięć" is derived from the Proto-Slavic "pętь" and is cognate with the Lithuanian "penki" and the Russian "пять". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Cinco" comes from the Latin "quinque", also meaning "five". |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, "ਪੰਜ" (panj) can also mean "a group of five" or "a hand (of cards)". |
| Romanian | "Cinci" in Romanian has connections to the Latin "quinque" as well as the Sanskrit "panca". |
| Russian | The Russian word "пять" (pyat) is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "pętь", which also meant "fist". |
| Samoan | Lima in Samoan can mean either "five" or "hand". |
| Scots Gaelic | "Còig" is a Gaelic word also meaning "a hollow, a cavity, a hole, a nook" or "a cup, a goblet, a bowl". |
| Serbian | The word "пет" also means "rooster" in Serbian, and is cognate with the Russian word "петух" (rooster). |
| Sesotho | hlano is a homophone and can also mean "a large number of". |
| Shona | The word 'shanu' can also refer to a group of five, or to the five fingers on a hand. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "پنج" can also refer to a type of hand drum or to the palm of the hand. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Sinhala 'පහ' ('five') is derived from Proto-Indo-Aryan root *panca ('five'). |
| Slovak | The word "päť" in Slovak is cognate with the word "five" in English and also means "fist". |
| Slovenian | The Slovenian word "pet" can also refer to a span of five days, or a five-day work week. |
| Somali | The word "shan" in Somali can also refer to "five fingers" or "hand" in the sense of "helping hand." |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "cinco" originates from the Latin "quinque", meaning "five", and shares its root with "quintuplets" in English. |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, "lima" can also refer to a type of bean, the palm of the hand, or a group of five people. |
| Swahili | In some regions, 'tano' also means 'plenty', 'very', or 'exceedingly'. |
| Swedish | Fem is also used as a prefix in Swedish, as in |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Tagalog, 'lima' also refers to the open hand, which has five fingers. |
| Tajik | The word "панҷ" in Tajik also has a homophonous meaning of "cotton". It is a loanword from Persian پنج "five". |
| Tamil | "ஐந்து" is also used as a suffix to denote a group of five, as in "விலங்கு": a group of five animals. |
| Telugu | The Telugu word "ఐదు" can also mean "group of five" or "the five senses." |
| Thai | Thai word "ห้า" may also refer to a type of tree or a measure used in some areas to measure length of cloth. |
| Turkish | The word "beş" ("five" in Turkish) is also used colloquially to mean "a lot" or "a bunch". |
| Ukrainian | The word "п'ять" (five) is derived from the Proto-Slavic form *pętь, which also means "fist". |
| Urdu | "پنچ" (/pãtʃ/) is derived from Sanskrit "pañca" (/pãtɕɐ/) meaning "five" and is also a nickname for "the fifth". |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word 'besh' shares a root with the Persian word 'panj', both of which are derived from the Proto-Indo-European root '*penkʷe' meaning 'five'. |
| Vietnamese | "Số năm" is a number in Vietnamese with several meanings, referring not only to the number five but also to the hand, a fist, or a group of five. |
| Welsh | In Welsh, 'pump' means 'five' but it also refers to a person or object that is round in shape or has a hump |
| Xhosa | Ntlanu' appears to be a loanword from Khoisan languages like Nama, where 'nt!anu' means 'five'. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פינף" ("finf") is derived from the Proto-Germanic "*fimf" and has cognates in German, Dutch, and English, among other languages. |
| Yoruba | The word 'marun' in Yoruba can also refer to a group of five people or things. |
| Zulu | The word "ezinhlanu" in Zulu also refers to the thumb. |
| English | The word "five" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European word *penkwe, meaning "hand". |