Forest in Different Languages
Discover 'Forest' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Forest
Afrikaans bos | ||
Albanian pyll | ||
Amharic ደን | ||
Arabic غابة | ||
Armenian անտառ | ||
Assamese অৰণ্য | ||
Aymara quqarara | ||
Azerbaijani meşə | ||
Bambara tu | ||
Basque basoa | ||
Belarusian лес | ||
Bengali বন। জংগল | ||
Bhojpuri जंगल | ||
Bosnian šuma | ||
Bulgarian гора | ||
Catalan bosc | ||
Cebuano lasang | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 森林 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 森林 | ||
Corsican furesta | ||
Croatian šuma | ||
Czech les | ||
Danish skov | ||
Dhivehi ޖަންގަލި | ||
Dogri जंगल | ||
Dutch woud | ||
English forest | ||
Esperanto arbaro | ||
Estonian mets | ||
Ewe ave | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kagubatan | ||
Finnish metsä | ||
French forêt | ||
Frisian wâld | ||
Galician bosque | ||
Georgian ტყე | ||
German wald | ||
Greek δάσος | ||
Guarani ka'aguy | ||
Gujarati વન | ||
Haitian Creole forè | ||
Hausa gandun daji | ||
Hawaiian ululaau | ||
Hebrew יַעַר | ||
Hindi वन | ||
Hmong hav zoov | ||
Hungarian erdő | ||
Icelandic skógur | ||
Igbo ohia | ||
Ilocano kabakiran | ||
Indonesian hutan | ||
Irish foraoise | ||
Italian foresta | ||
Japanese 森林 | ||
Javanese alas | ||
Kannada ಅರಣ್ಯ | ||
Kazakh орман | ||
Khmer ព្រៃ | ||
Kinyarwanda ishyamba | ||
Konkani रान | ||
Korean 숲 | ||
Krio bush | ||
Kurdish daristan | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دارستان | ||
Kyrgyz токой | ||
Lao ປ່າໄມ້ | ||
Latin silva | ||
Latvian mežs | ||
Lingala zamba | ||
Lithuanian miškas | ||
Luganda ekibira | ||
Luxembourgish bësch | ||
Macedonian шума | ||
Maithili जंगल | ||
Malagasy ala | ||
Malay hutan | ||
Malayalam വനം | ||
Maltese foresta | ||
Maori ngahere | ||
Marathi वन | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯎꯃꯪ | ||
Mizo ramhnuai | ||
Mongolian ой | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) သစ်တော | ||
Nepali जङ्गल | ||
Norwegian skog | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nkhalango | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଜଙ୍ଗଲ | ||
Oromo bosona | ||
Pashto ځنګل | ||
Persian جنگل | ||
Polish las | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) floresta | ||
Punjabi ਜੰਗਲ | ||
Quechua sacha sacha | ||
Romanian pădure | ||
Russian лес | ||
Samoan togavao | ||
Sanskrit वनः | ||
Scots Gaelic coille | ||
Sepedi lešoka | ||
Serbian шума | ||
Sesotho moru | ||
Shona sango | ||
Sindhi ٻيلو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) වන | ||
Slovak les | ||
Slovenian gozd | ||
Somali kaynta | ||
Spanish bosque | ||
Sundanese leuweung | ||
Swahili msitu | ||
Swedish skog | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) gubat | ||
Tajik ҷангал | ||
Tamil காடு | ||
Tatar урман | ||
Telugu అడవి | ||
Thai ป่าไม้ | ||
Tigrinya ጭካ | ||
Tsonga nhova | ||
Turkish orman | ||
Turkmen tokaý | ||
Twi (Akan) kwaeɛ | ||
Ukrainian ліс | ||
Urdu جنگل | ||
Uyghur ئورمان | ||
Uzbek o'rmon | ||
Vietnamese rừng | ||
Welsh goedwig | ||
Xhosa ihlathi | ||
Yiddish וואַלד | ||
Yoruba igbo | ||
Zulu ihlathi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "bos" in Afrikaans is derived from the Proto-Indo-European word "*bʰuh₂os", meaning "abode" or "dwelling". It is also used to refer to a wooded area or a group of trees. |
| Albanian | Pyll derives from the Proto-Albanian form *pūl, which is also the root of the word "pullë" (leaf). |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "ደን" can also refer to a thicket or dense undergrowth. |
| Arabic | غابة in Arabic also means a |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "անտառ" (forest) is also used to refer to a place where trees are planted in rows or groups, especially for commercial purposes. |
| Azerbaijani | "Meşə" originates from the Persian word "meşan", meaning "dwelling place of wild animals". |
| Basque | The word "basoa" comes from the proto-Basque word "*baso-a", meaning "place of refuge or protection". |
| Belarusian | "Лес" (les) also means "wood" or "beam" in Belarusian. |
| Bengali | The word "বন। জংগল" also means "forest" in Hindi and Marathi. |
| Bosnian | The word "šuma" originally meant "a place where the sound of wind in the trees can be heard". |
| Bulgarian | Other meanings of "гора" include wilderness, mountain, or wasteland. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "bosc" comes from the Latin word "boscus," meaning "grove" or "woodland." |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "lasang" can also refer to a cooking pot or a type of grass used for thatching. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | Originally a term used for wooded mountains but now refers to any area covered in dense trees. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In Traditional Chinese, 森林 (sēn lín) originally referred to dense vegetation that provided shelter, with "sēn" meaning "gather" and "lín" implying "shade". |
| Corsican | Corsican 'furesta' ('forest') derives from Vulgar Latin 'foresta', which is also the origin of English 'forest' and French 'forêt'. Corsican 'furesta' can also mean 'hunting reserve' or 'thicket'. |
| Croatian | The word "šuma" is also used to refer to a specific type of forest in Croatia known as a "coppice", which is characterized by being managed by periodic felling and regrowth. |
| Czech | "Les" can also mean "fraud" or "trickery" in Czech. |
| Danish | The word is related to the German word "Schaf", meaning "sheep", and likely originates from the practice of grazing sheep in forests. |
| Dutch | Dutch word "woud" originally meant "pasture" or "meadow" and only later came to mean "forest." |
| Esperanto | The word "arbaro" also means "treeless moor" in Basque, which may explain its appearance in the Basque-inspired name of the language Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "mets" is also used to refer to woodland, a place with mainly trees and few houses or other buildings. |
| Finnish | Metsä is a Finnish word also meaning 'the realm of the dead' and 'otherworldly' |
| French | The word "forêt" derives from the Latin "forestis", meaning "outside" or "wild", and originally referred to uncultivated land. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "wâld" is cognates with the English word "wold" and means "uncultivated land". |
| Galician | The Galician word "bosque" derives from the Celtic root "busk" meaning "woodland" or "pasture". |
| Georgian | The word ტყე (t'q'e) can also mean "a group of people" or "a crowd". |
| German | German "Wald" shares a root with "violence" due to the wild and dangerous nature of pre-agricultural forests. |
| Greek | The word 'δάσος' also refers to a place of refuge or a sanctuary in Greek, denoting a safe haven or shelter. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word 'વન' (pronounced 'van') is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vana', which means 'forest' or 'wilderness', and also has the alternate meaning of 'garden' or 'grove' in Gujarati. |
| Haitian Creole | The word "forè" in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word "forêt," which also means "forest." |
| Hausa | In Hausa, 'gandun daji' literally means 'the back of a forest,' highlighting its position as a secluded and remote area. |
| Hawaiian | It can also refer to a specific type of grove or an area with an abundance of wild plants or flowers |
| Hebrew | The word "יַעַר" derives from the root ע-ר-ר, meaning "to be bushy", and it referred originally to any bushy thicket, regardless of its size or density. |
| Hindi | The word 'वन' in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'vana', meaning 'collection of trees'. |
| Hmong | "Hav zoov" is a term used by the Hmong to refer to both a forest and a spirit that inhabits the forest. |
| Hungarian | The word "erdő" originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*h₁erdʰ-" meaning "wilderness" or "clearing", reflecting its dual meaning as both a natural wilderness and a managed woodland in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | Skógur derives from the Old Norse word, 'skog', and also translates as 'woodland', 'bosque', and 'a place abounding with trees'. |
| Igbo | "Ohia" also means "a spirit" in Igbo, reflecting the sacredness of forests in Igbo culture. |
| Indonesian | "Hutan" originally meant "mountain" in Old Javanese but later came to denote any uninhabited or uncultivated area. |
| Irish | The word 'foraoise' is derived from the Old Irish word 'foirinn', meaning a hunting or chasing ground. |
| Italian | The Italian word "foresta" derives from the Latin "forestis", meaning "pertaining to the outside" or "wild". |
| Japanese | "森林" (shinrin) is etymologically related to the term "mori," also meaning a forest or grove. |
| Javanese | In Javanese, the word "alas" not only means "forest," but also refers to the base or foundation of something. |
| Kannada | 'ಅರಣ್ಯ' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'অরণ्य' ('araṇya'), meaning 'wilderness' or 'uninhabited place' |
| Kazakh | The word "орман" also refers to a group of people or a gathering of animals in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | "ព្រៃ" can also mean "uninhabited", "wild", or "virgin" in Khmer. |
| Korean | "숲" is a Sino-Korean word derived from the Chinese character "숲" (sù), meaning "forest, woods, or grove." |
| Kurdish | The word "daristan" in Kurdish comes from the Persian word "dar" meaning "tree" and the suffix "-istan" meaning "place". It can also refer to a garden or orchard. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz folklore, the term "токой" can also refer to "sacred groves" where religious rituals and ceremonies were performed. |
| Lao | "ປ່າໄມ້" can also refer to a place where trees are abundant, such as a park or a garden. |
| Latin | From the Proto-Italic *selwā, the source of Latin silva "wood" and "timber," but also of silvanus "belonging to the forest." |
| Latvian | "Mežs" in Latvian, meaning "forest," derives from the Proto-Baltic root (*medʰ-) signifying "tree." |
| Lithuanian | "Miškas" is also used in Lithuanian mythology to refer to a sacred forest or grove. |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Bësch" is derived from the Proto-Germanic word *buskaz, meaning "bush" or "woodland". |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word "шума" comes from the Indo-European root "segh-," which also gave rise to the words "silence" and "secrecy" in English. |
| Malagasy | The word "ala" in Malagasy can also refer to a clearing or a valley. |
| Malay | The Malay word "hutan" also means "jungle" or "wilderness". |
| Malayalam | The word 'വനം' in Malayalam, though primarily meaning 'forest', is also used in some contexts to refer to a 'group' or 'collection'. |
| Maltese | "Foresta" is a term with origins in Latin, and also refers to "wild animals" or "woods" in Italian, French and Portuguese. |
| Maori | The word 'ngahere' in Maori also refers to a place of concealment or refuge. |
| Marathi | The word "वन" means "forest" in Marathi and can also refer to a dense thicket or a garden. |
| Mongolian | The origin of 'ой' can be traced back to a Proto-Mongolic root meaning 'place with a lot of trees'. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "သစ်တော" (forest) in Myanmar (Burmese) originally meant "a place of trees" and also "a place of spirits". |
| Nepali | The word "जङ्गल" can also mean "a chaotic or unruly place". |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "skog" is thought to be a loan from Old Norse "skógr", which originally referred to a thicket or dense woodland. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Nkwalango" can mean a clearing in a forest, a plantation, a garden, or an urban market. |
| Pashto | In Pashto, "ځنګل" also means "thicket" or "jungle". |
| Persian | The word "جنگل" in Persian shares a root with "jungle", meaning "wasteland" in Sanskrit. |
| Polish | Las is used as a surname in Poland, derived from the Old Polish word "las" meaning "forest". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Foresta derives from the Latin word 'forestis', meaning 'outside the city'. In Portugal, it also refers to a type of land with uncultivated vegetation. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਜੰਗਲ" (jangal) in Punjabi is derived from the Sanskrit word "jangala," which means "uncultivated land or wilderness." |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "pădure" originates from the Latin "saltus" (meaning "woodland") via Slavic languages. |
| Russian | The word "лес" in Russian has multiple meanings, including "forest" and "clearing"} |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "togavao" not only means forest but also has symbolic connotations of protection and abundance. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "coille" in Scots Gaelic has been traced back to the Old Irish word "coil", meaning "woodland" or "grove". |
| Serbian | The word "шума" is cognate with "шум" (noise), "шумати" (to rustle, to make noise), "шумети" (to roar) and "шум" (foam). |
| Sesotho | In addition, "moru" can refer to a sacred place or forest, or a place of concealment. |
| Shona | The word 'sango' in Shona also means 'a place where people do evil things'. |
| Sindhi | The word "ٻيلو" means "a large tract of land covered with dense vegetation" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | Sinhala "වන" (wana) may be cognate with Sanskrit "वन" (vana), both ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European "*weh₁-nó-" (meadow, dwelling). |
| Slovak | Les is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *lęsъ, which could also refer to a glade or pasture. |
| Slovenian | It is related to "wood" in Germanic languages, and has roots in proto-Germanic and proto-Indo-European. |
| Somali | The Somali word "kaynta" shares roots with the word "kayn," meaning "to have something in abundance." |
| Spanish | Bosque comes from "busch" in Old High German, meaning "thicket" or "group of trees". |
| Sundanese | Leuweung, meaning "forest" in Sundanese, also refers to "the spirits that inhabit the wilderness" or "the guardian spirits of the forest". |
| Swahili | The word "msitu" in Swahili also means "a place where many people live or gather, such as a village or town". |
| Swedish | Old Norse "skógr" was originally used for "prominent height" and later "dense undergrowth". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "gubat" also refers to battles fought in the forests during the Philippine Revolution. |
| Tajik | "Ҷангал" ultimately derives from Sanskrit "jangala," meaning "wild" or "uncultivated." |
| Tamil | The word 'காடு' is related to the word 'காட்' meaning 'mountain' and can also refer to a barren or uncultivated area. |
| Telugu | The word "అడవి" can also refer to a place of refuge or a hiding place. |
| Thai | The word ป่าไม้ can also mean "group of people who go to the forest for a purpose," such as hunting or foraging. |
| Turkish | Turkish "orman" derives from Arabic "aram" meaning "protected uncultivated area" referring to hunting grounds of the nobility |
| Ukrainian | The word "ліс" in Ukrainian also means "fox" and comes from the Proto-Slavic word "lisъ", meaning "beast". |
| Urdu | The word 'جنگل' (jangal) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'jangala', meaning 'uncultivated land'. |
| Uzbek | "O'rmon" in Uzbek is derived from the Mongolian "ormon" and the Persian "orman," meaning "forest." |
| Vietnamese | The word "rừng" in Vietnamese derives from the Mon-Khmer word "lûŋ" meaning "woods". |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "goedwig" derives from the Proto-Celtic "*widwos" meaning "wood" or "forest", also the root of the English word "wood". |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "ihlathi" also refers to a sacred forest or a thicket used for initiation ceremonies. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word for "forest" ("וואַלד") originated from the German word "wald" and shares its Germanic roots with the English word "weald." |
| Yoruba | The word "igbo" in Yoruba can also refer to a clan or community inhabiting a forest area. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "ihlathi" can also mean "a dense thicket". |
| English | Forest comes from the Latin 'foresta,' referring to a royal hunting ground or an uncultivated area outside the town. |