Flow in Different Languages
Discover 'Flow' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'flow' holds a significant place in our lives, often used to describe the smooth and uninterrupted movement of liquids, ideas, or even emotions. It's a concept that transcends language barriers, making it a fascinating subject for global audiences.
Culturally, 'flow' is a cornerstone in various philosophies and practices. In Chinese, it's 'Li', a key principle in Taoism, symbolizing the natural order of the universe. In Japanese, it's 'Nagare', reflecting their appreciation for harmony in change. In Indian philosophy, it's 'Leela', the cosmic dance of creation and destruction.
Understanding the translation of 'flow' in different languages not only enriches our vocabulary but also offers a glimpse into diverse cultural perspectives. It's a journey of discovery that blends language, culture, and philosophy, making it an exciting exploration for language enthusiasts and cultural explorers alike.
Join us as we delve into the translations of 'flow' in various languages, from English to Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi, and more. Prepare to be fascinated by the beauty of linguistic diversity and cultural nuances.
Flow
Flow in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | vloei | ||
| The Afrikaans word "vloei" also means "filter paper" or "rolling paper" | |||
| Amharic | ፍሰት | ||
| "ፍሰት" in Amharic is said to derive from the Semitic root *ps* meaning "to divide" or "to separate," suggesting its original meaning of "division" or "separation of parts." | |||
| Hausa | kwarara | ||
| "Kwarara" also means "to move (in waves)" or "to be unsteady" in Hausa. | |||
| Igbo | igba | ||
| The Igbo word "igba" also signifies "a measure of quantity" (especially of liquids), "time", or "a particular period of time in the course of a day", depending on the context. | |||
| Malagasy | mikoriana | ||
| The word "mikoriana" also means "to flow" or "to run" in Malagasy. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kuyenda | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of 'flow', 'kuyenda' also means 'to go' or 'to travel' in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | kuyerera | ||
| "Kuyera" also means "to swim," or "to cause something to flow". | |||
| Somali | qulqulaya | ||
| Somali word "qulqulaya" also means "to be in a state of confusion or disarray." | |||
| Sesotho | phalla | ||
| The word "phalla" can also mean "to leak" or "to run" in Sesotho. | |||
| Swahili | mtiririko | ||
| The word 'mtiririko' has meanings of 'flow' as well as 'circulation' and 'course'. | |||
| Xhosa | ukuhamba | ||
| 'Ukuhamba' also means 'to travel' and derives from the verb 'hamba', which means 'to go'. | |||
| Yoruba | ṣàn | ||
| Ṣàn also means "to fall down" and this is its primary meaning | |||
| Zulu | ukugeleza | ||
| In Zulu, "ukugeleza" also means "to spread" or "to disperse." | |||
| Bambara | sooro | ||
| Ewe | si | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gutemba | ||
| Lingala | koleka | ||
| Luganda | okukulukuta | ||
| Sepedi | elela | ||
| Twi (Akan) | tene | ||
Flow in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | تدفق | ||
| تدفق in Arabic can also refer to the process of flowing or pouring, as well as the amount of something that is flowing. | |||
| Hebrew | זְרִימָה | ||
| "זְרִימָה" is derived from "זְרַם" ("stream") and is related to "זר" ("strange"), which suggests movement or change. | |||
| Pashto | جریان | ||
| In Pashto, the word "جریان" can also refer to a "stream of thought" or "course of events". | |||
| Arabic | تدفق | ||
| تدفق in Arabic can also refer to the process of flowing or pouring, as well as the amount of something that is flowing. | |||
Flow in Western European Languages
| Albanian | rrjedhin | ||
| The Albanian word "rrjedhin" shares the same Indo-European root as "river" and "riddle", referencing the idea of a concealed or mysterious movement. | |||
| Basque | fluxua | ||
| Fluxua in Basque can also mean flow of time, or the course of events. | |||
| Catalan | flux | ||
| In Catalan, "flux" refers to the flow of water, a menstrual period, or diarrhea. | |||
| Croatian | teći | ||
| "Teći" in Croatian also means "to run" (away), like "uteći" (to run away). | |||
| Danish | flyde | ||
| The Danish word "flyde" can also mean "to float or drift". | |||
| Dutch | stromen | ||
| "Stromen" can also refer to the ridges between two furrows. | |||
| English | flow | ||
| "Flow" derives from the Old English term "flowan," meaning "to glide or move smoothly. | |||
| French | couler | ||
| "Couler" is also used in French to describe the sinking of a ship and the shedding of tears. | |||
| Frisian | streame | ||
| In Medieval Frisian, 'streame' also meant 'to fight' as in 'the king will streame against the Danes'. | |||
| Galician | fluxo | ||
| The Galician word "fluxo" can also refer to a type of traditional Galician bagpipes. | |||
| German | fließen | ||
| The verb 'fließen' also relates to the words 'fluid' and 'fluence' due to its shared origin from the Latin word 'fluere', meaning 'to flow'. | |||
| Icelandic | flæði | ||
| The word "flæði" can also refer to the rate of flow or the amount of something flowing in a given time period. | |||
| Irish | sreabhadh | ||
| The Gaelic word "sreabhadh" is also the name of the plant known as "meadow sweet". | |||
| Italian | flusso | ||
| The Italian word "flusso" also refers to discharge or flux in medicine and physics. | |||
| Luxembourgish | fléissen | ||
| The verb "fléissen" derives from the Indo-European root *sreu-, meaning "to flow, to run." | |||
| Maltese | fluss | ||
| The Maltese word "fluss" is derived from the Latin "fluxus" and also means "pus" in medical contexts. | |||
| Norwegian | strømme | ||
| "Strømme" also means "to stream", a sense of the word which has become archaic in English, but persists in other Germanic languages like German "strömen". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | fluxo | ||
| The word "fluxo" in Portuguese can also mean "flux" or "discharge". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | sruthadh | ||
| The word 'sruthadh' in Scots Gaelic also refers to a stream or current of water. | |||
| Spanish | fluir | ||
| The Spanish word "fluir" derives from the Latin "fluere," meaning "to flow," and also can mean "to be fluent" or "to emanate." | |||
| Swedish | flöde | ||
| Swedish word "flöde", meaning flow, also refers to the "flood" as a river or body of water overflowing and submerging surrounding areas. | |||
| Welsh | llif | ||
| Llif derives from the Proto-Celtic word *leykw-, meaning 'melt' or 'flow', and is cognate with the English word 'liquid'. | |||
Flow in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | паток | ||
| The Belarusian word "паток" can also refer to a stream or current of liquid. | |||
| Bosnian | protok | ||
| "Protok" in Bosnian also can mean "leak" or "hole". | |||
| Bulgarian | поток | ||
| The word "поток" also means "stream" or "current" in Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | tok | ||
| In astronomy, "tok" refers to the "flux" or flow of particles or energy in a particular direction, such as in a stream of subatomic particles. | |||
| Estonian | voolama | ||
| Voolama also means "to be on the run" or "to flee" in Estonian slang. | |||
| Finnish | virtaus | ||
| "Virtaus" is also a historical term referring to the right of preemption | |||
| Hungarian | folyam | ||
| "Folyam" means "stream" in Hungarian, but it also has other meanings, such as "process" or "course". | |||
| Latvian | plūsma | ||
| Plūsma is cognate with the Sanskrit word "pluṣṇa" meaning "plenty" or "abundance". | |||
| Lithuanian | tekėti | ||
| "Tekėti" also means "to marry" in Lithuanian | |||
| Macedonian | проток | ||
| In some regions of Macedonia, the word "проток" is also used to refer to a "channel" or "duct". | |||
| Polish | pływ | ||
| The word "pływ" in Polish also means "tide". | |||
| Romanian | curgere | ||
| The Romanian word "curgere" originates from the Latin verb "currere", meaning "to run" or "to flow", and shares its etymology with the English word "current". | |||
| Russian | течь | ||
| "Течь" (flow) comes from Proto-Slavic "*tekti" (to run, to flow), related to "*tek" (to run). Compare Latin "fugere" (to flee) and Sanskrit "srajati" (to flow). | |||
| Serbian | проток | ||
| The word "проток" can also refer to a "strait" or a "channel". | |||
| Slovak | tok | ||
| The word "tok" used to only refer to the flow of a liquid, but later usage generalized the meaning to any kind of flow. | |||
| Slovenian | pretok | ||
| The word "pretok" in Slovenian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*prĕtokъ", which means "water current" or "stream". | |||
| Ukrainian | потік | ||
| The word "потік" can also refer to a "stream" or "current" in Ukrainian. | |||
Flow in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | প্রবাহ | ||
| The word "প্রবাহ" (probah) originates from the Sanskrit word "प्रवाह" (pravah), and can also mean "current", "stream", or "movement". | |||
| Gujarati | પ્રવાહ | ||
| The Gujarati word "પ્રવાહ" (flow) is linguistically related to the Sanskrit verb "प्रवहति" (move forward) that can be decomposed onto the following morphemes: "pra-" (forward) and "vah" (to move). | |||
| Hindi | बहे | ||
| The Hindi word "बहे" is a homonym that also refers to the verb "to blow" | |||
| Kannada | ಹರಿವು | ||
| "ಹರಿವು" means "flow" in Kannada, but it also refers to a "river", "current", or "stream." | |||
| Malayalam | ഒഴുക്ക് | ||
| In Malayalam, "ഒഴുക്ക്" not only refers to "flow" but also denotes "a way of doing things" or "custom" | |||
| Marathi | प्रवाह | ||
| "प्रवाह" also means "series" or "succession" in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | प्रवाह | ||
| The word प्रवाह also means "abundance" or "profusion" in Nepali. | |||
| Punjabi | ਵਹਾਅ | ||
| "ਵਹਾਅ" (flow) also has other meanings such as "movement" and "rhythm". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ගලනවා | ||
| The word "ගලනවා" also means "to melt", "to leak", or "to drip" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | ஓட்டம் | ||
| The word 'ஓட்டம்' (flow) in Tamil can also refer to the act of running or the running of a vehicle. | |||
| Telugu | ప్రవాహం | ||
| 'ప్రవాహం' also means 'current' in an electric circuit or 'stream' in a computer program. | |||
| Urdu | بہاؤ | ||
| The word 'بہاؤ' is derived from the Persian word 'بہ' or the Arabic word 'باء,' meaning 'with' or 'by.' | |||
Flow in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 流 | ||
| The character 流 (liú) can also mean "to exile" or "to drift". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 流 | ||
| 流 can also mean to exile, circulate, or miscarry, and is used in the phrase 水到渠成 "water flows into an irrigation ditch naturally" to refer to something happening effortlessly. | |||
| Japanese | フロー | ||
| フロー can also refer to an assembly process or the way a computer processes data. | |||
| Korean | 흐름 | ||
| "흐름" could also mean "trend" or "direction" depending on the context. | |||
| Mongolian | урсгал | ||
| The Mongolian word "урсгал" can also have the metaphorical meaning of "progress" or "course of development". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စီးဆင်းမှု | ||
Flow in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | mengalir | ||
| "Mengalir" is related to "alir" (stream), "ulir" (thread), "gelora" (waves). | |||
| Javanese | mili | ||
| The word "mili" in Javanese can also refer to a "stream" or "small river." | |||
| Khmer | លំហូរ | ||
| លំហូរ (flow) also means 'a period of time' and can be used to refer to the changing of epochs or eras. | |||
| Lao | ໄຫຼ | ||
| The word ໄຫຼ can also mean "melt", "leak", or "slide" in Lao. | |||
| Malay | aliran | ||
| The Malay word "aliran" comes from the Sanskrit word "srati" and also means "sect" or "stream of thought". | |||
| Thai | ไหล | ||
| The word "ไหล" can also mean "sloped" or "incline". Its original form comes from the Pali word "velā" which means "time". | |||
| Vietnamese | lưu lượng | ||
| "Lưu lượng" is a Sino-Vietnamese word, originally meaning "the number of people" or "the volume of water". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | daloy | ||
Flow in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | axın | ||
| "Axın" has the alternate meaning of channel | |||
| Kazakh | ағын | ||
| Ағын is a derivative of the verb ағу, meaning “to flow,” “to run,” or “to be poured,” and it can also refer to a liquid substance itself. | |||
| Kyrgyz | агым | ||
| The word "агым" can also refer to the flow of information, time, or money. | |||
| Tajik | ҷараён | ||
| The Tajik word "ҷараён" (flow) originates from the Persian word "جریان" and is also used as a term in physics and mathematics. | |||
| Turkmen | akymy | ||
| Uzbek | oqim | ||
| In some contexts, "oqim" can also refer to a current, stream, or flood. | |||
| Uyghur | flow | ||
Flow in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kahe | ||
| In Hawaiian, "kahe" can also mean "a place of running water" or "to leak." | |||
| Maori | rere | ||
| Rere also means to fall, and as a noun it can refer to a waterfall or rapids. | |||
| Samoan | tafe | ||
| Tafe can also refer to the act of flowing, or a continuous stream. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | dumaloy | ||
| The Tagalog word "dumaloy" also means "to run" or "to spread". | |||
Flow in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | uñsuña | ||
| Guarani | mbosyry | ||
Flow in International Languages
| Esperanto | fluo | ||
| The word “fluo” in Esperanto comes from the Latin word “fluus” (flowing) and also refers to fluorescence. | |||
| Latin | influunt | ||
| Despite its origin meaning "flow," "influunt" also denotes "entering a place" or "pouring." | |||
Flow in Others Languages
| Greek | ροή | ||
| In ancient Greek, "ροή" also meant "stream of thought" or "discourse." | |||
| Hmong | ntws | ||
| In addition to its literal meaning, "ntws" can also figuratively refer to the flow of time, money, or emotions. | |||
| Kurdish | herrikîn | ||
| The word "herrikîn" is also used in Kurdish to describe "a flowing river" or "a rushing stream" | |||
| Turkish | akış | ||
| The word "akış" in Turkish also means "broadcasting" or "streaming". | |||
| Xhosa | ukuhamba | ||
| 'Ukuhamba' also means 'to travel' and derives from the verb 'hamba', which means 'to go'. | |||
| Yiddish | לויפן | ||
| "לויפן" comes from the German "laufen" or the Yiddish word "לויף" meaning "run". | |||
| Zulu | ukugeleza | ||
| In Zulu, "ukugeleza" also means "to spread" or "to disperse." | |||
| Assamese | বৈ অহা | ||
| Aymara | uñsuña | ||
| Bhojpuri | बहाव | ||
| Dhivehi | އޮހުން | ||
| Dogri | तंदीड़ी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | daloy | ||
| Guarani | mbosyry | ||
| Ilocano | agayus | ||
| Krio | flo | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | گوزەر | ||
| Maithili | बहाव | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯆꯦꯟꯊꯕ | ||
| Mizo | luang | ||
| Oromo | yaa'uu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପ୍ରବାହ | ||
| Quechua | purisqan | ||
| Sanskrit | प्रवाहः | ||
| Tatar | агым | ||
| Tigrinya | ዋሕዚ | ||
| Tsonga | khuluka | ||