Gender in Different Languages
Discover 'Gender' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Gender
Afrikaans geslag | ||
Albanian gjinia | ||
Amharic ፆታ | ||
Arabic جنس | ||
Armenian սեռը | ||
Assamese লিংগ | ||
Aymara jiniru | ||
Azerbaijani cinsiyyət | ||
Bambara cɛnimusoya | ||
Basque generoa | ||
Belarusian падлогу | ||
Bengali লিঙ্গ | ||
Bhojpuri लिंग | ||
Bosnian pol | ||
Bulgarian пол | ||
Catalan gènere | ||
Cebuano sekso | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 性别 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 性別 | ||
Corsican genere | ||
Croatian spol | ||
Czech rod | ||
Danish køn | ||
Dhivehi ޖިންސު | ||
Dogri लिंग | ||
Dutch geslacht | ||
English gender | ||
Esperanto sekso | ||
Estonian sugu | ||
Ewe na | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kasarian | ||
Finnish sukupuoli | ||
French le sexe | ||
Frisian geslacht | ||
Galician xénero | ||
Georgian სქესი | ||
German geschlecht | ||
Greek γένος | ||
Guarani meña | ||
Gujarati લિંગ | ||
Haitian Creole sèks | ||
Hausa jinsi | ||
Hawaiian kāne kāne | ||
Hebrew מִין | ||
Hindi लिंग | ||
Hmong tub los ntxhais | ||
Hungarian nem | ||
Icelandic kyn | ||
Igbo okike | ||
Ilocano kinatao | ||
Indonesian jenis kelamin | ||
Irish inscne | ||
Italian genere | ||
Japanese 性別 | ||
Javanese jinis kelamin | ||
Kannada ಲಿಂಗ | ||
Kazakh жыныс | ||
Khmer ភេទ | ||
Kinyarwanda uburinganire | ||
Konkani लिंग | ||
Korean 성별 | ||
Krio bɔy ɔ gal | ||
Kurdish zayendî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ڕەگەز | ||
Kyrgyz жынысы | ||
Lao ເພດ | ||
Latin genus | ||
Latvian dzimums | ||
Lingala mobali to mwasi | ||
Lithuanian lytis | ||
Luganda obutonde | ||
Luxembourgish geschlecht | ||
Macedonian пол | ||
Maithili लिंग | ||
Malagasy lahy sy ny vavy | ||
Malay jantina | ||
Malayalam ലിംഗഭേദം | ||
Maltese sess | ||
Maori ira tangata | ||
Marathi लिंग | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯖꯦꯟꯗꯔ | ||
Mizo mipa leh hmeichhe thliarna | ||
Mongolian хүйс | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကျားမ | ||
Nepali लि .्ग | ||
Norwegian kjønn | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) jenda | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଲିଙ୍ଗ | ||
Oromo koorniyaa | ||
Pashto جندر | ||
Persian جنسیت | ||
Polish płeć | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) gênero | ||
Punjabi ਲਿੰਗ | ||
Quechua ima kay | ||
Romanian gen | ||
Russian пол | ||
Samoan itupa | ||
Sanskrit लिंग | ||
Scots Gaelic gnè | ||
Sepedi bong | ||
Serbian пол | ||
Sesotho bong | ||
Shona jenda | ||
Sindhi جنس | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ස්ත්රී පුරුෂ භාවය | ||
Slovak rod | ||
Slovenian spol | ||
Somali jinsiga | ||
Spanish género | ||
Sundanese jenis kelamin | ||
Swahili jinsia | ||
Swedish kön | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kasarian | ||
Tajik ҷинс | ||
Tamil பாலினம் | ||
Tatar җенес | ||
Telugu లింగం | ||
Thai เพศ | ||
Tigrinya ፆታ | ||
Tsonga rimbewu | ||
Turkish cinsiyet | ||
Turkmen jyns | ||
Twi (Akan) bɔbea | ||
Ukrainian стать | ||
Urdu صنف | ||
Uyghur جىنسى | ||
Uzbek jins | ||
Vietnamese giới tính | ||
Welsh rhyw | ||
Xhosa isini | ||
Yiddish דזשענדער | ||
Yoruba iwa | ||
Zulu ubulili |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "geslag" in Afrikaans is derived from "geslacht" in Dutch, meaning "kindred" or "family line." |
| Albanian | The word "gjinia" (gender) in Albanian derives from the Latin word "genus" (kind) and can also mean "race" or "ethnicity". |
| Amharic | The word 'ፆታ' is also used to describe the biological sex of a person or animal. |
| Arabic | The triliteral root of جنس (j-n-s) has several meanings related to kind, race, or origin. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "սեռը" (gender) is also used to refer to grammatical gender, as opposed to biological sex. |
| Azerbaijani | "Cinsiyyət" (gender) comes from the Arabic root "j-n-s" meaning "kind, group, or type," and can also refer to "sex" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The Basque word "generoa" derives ultimately from the Latin "genus", which also means "kind", "type", "race", or "family". |
| Belarusian | Падлог (podlog) also means "floor" and derives from the Proto-Slavic *podъlъgъ, with the root "pod" meaning "under" and "lъgъ" meaning "lying surface". |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, the word 'pol' can also refer to the geographical axis of the Earth, in addition to meaning 'gender'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "пол" in Bulgarian can also refer to "floor" or "half". |
| Catalan | The word "gènere" in Catalan derives from the Latin word "genus" and retains its original meaning of "kind" or "group". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 性别 (gender) comes from 性 (nature or property) + 别 (to divide). It can also refer to the biological characteristics distinguishing males from females or sexual characteristics. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 性別 can also refer to "sex" as in "biological sex", and is also used when describing the "sex of an object", like a car. |
| Corsican | "Ghjinere" is a false Cognate of the homograph "Genere" in Italian, instead being related to the Latin word "genus" meaning "type". |
| Croatian | Spol can also mean 'half' in certain contexts, e.g. 'spol kolača' ('half a cake'). |
| Czech | Czech "rod" (gender) may also refer to lineage, birth, origin, or species. |
| Danish | The Danish word "køn" can also refer to physical beauty, charm, or attractiveness. |
| Dutch | "Geslacht" relates to "kindred" or "lineage" and originally referred to male-female distinction in humans, later expanding to cover animals and plants. |
| Esperanto | The Esperantist term for "gender" is "sekso," from the word "sekso" meaning "sex". In Esperanto, the two concepts are not as rigidly distinct as they often are in English. |
| Estonian | Sugu means 'race' in Finnish, and 'gender' in Estonian. |
| Finnish | Sukupuoli has been used with various meanings in Finnish: sex, kind, family, generation, descent, lineage, race, stock, or a tribe. |
| French | In French, |
| Frisian | Like in Dutch, it refers to one's biological sex, but also can refer to one's family lineage. |
| Galician | "Xénero" also translates to "kind" or "sort" in Galician, as in "xénero de comedia" (genre of comedy). |
| Georgian | In Georgian, "სქესი" also refers to a "sort", "category", "type", or "variety", beyond its primary meaning of "gender". |
| German | Geschlecht, in German, can also refer to biological sex, family, lineage, or tribe. |
| Greek | Γένος primarily referred to birth, descent, stock, or race but came to mean 'sex' under Hellenistic influence. |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "લિંગ" ("gender") also means "sign, mark, symptom, characteristic, attribute, property, or characteristic mark". |
| Hausa | In the Kanuri language, 'jinsi' refers to the grammatical concept of gender, while in Hausa, it exclusively denotes biological sex. |
| Hawaiian | In the Hawaiian language, kāne kāne is used more often as a synonym for "male" and is less common as a general term for "gender." |
| Hebrew | The word מִין (gender) also has the alternate meanings "species" or "type" in Hebrew. |
| Hindi | In Sanskrit, 'लिंग' also means 'sign, mark, or characteristic. |
| Hmong | The term "tub los ntxhais" in Hmong is also used to refer to other attributes such as sex, gender identity, and sexuality. |
| Hungarian | The word "nem" in Hungarian can also mean "species" or "type". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "kyn" also means "race" or "type." |
| Igbo | 'Okike', meaning gender or nature in Igbo language, is also a name given to female children born on the traditional market day, Nkwo or Afo |
| Indonesian | In Indonesian, the word "jenis kelamin" can also refer to the biological sex of an organism, as well as the social and cultural roles and expectations associated with different sexes. |
| Irish | The word "inscne" in Irish also refers to the genus of plants or animals. |
| Italian | "Genere" in Italian can also mean "kind", "type", or "genre", depending on the context. |
| Japanese | 性別 is the Japanese translation of the English word “gender,” and carries the same meaning in the context of social or cultural identity, but it can also be used to refer to grammatical gender or biological sex. |
| Kannada | In Kannada, "ಲಿಂಗ" can also mean a symbol or an ornament worn by Hindu men. |
| Kazakh | The term "жыныс" originally meant "birth" and has its roots in the Uralic languages |
| Khmer | The Khmer word ភេទ (gender) derives from the Sanskrit word bheda, meaning "distinction" or "difference". |
| Korean | In Korean, "성별" also means "nature/disposition" and shares its characters with the Chinese term "性別" (sex). |
| Kurdish | In Sorani, "zayendî" also denotes a group of musicians who play at weddings and other gatherings. |
| Lao | The Lao word "ເພດ" (gender) can also mean "sex" or "type". |
| Latin | The Latin word 'genus' originally referred to 'birth' or 'origin', also bearing meanings such as 'race', 'type', or 'kind'. |
| Latvian | The word "dzimums" also means "sex" and is derived from the Proto-Baltic word "*dʰĝʰim-ó-s" meaning "to give birth". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "Lytis" also means "essence" or "nature." |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "Geschlecht" can also refer to "race" or "family" in addition to "gender." |
| Macedonian | In Old Slavic, the word "пол" referred to a half of a whole, a side, or a direction. |
| Malay | The Malay word "jantina" is derived from the Sanskrit word "janta", meaning "race, kind, species" |
| Malayalam | In Malayalam, the term "ലിംഗഭേദം" also means the "identification of one's gender". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "sess" is etymologically related to the Semitic root *θ-s-s*, meaning "to be firm", "to be solid", or "to be steadfast". |
| Maori | The word “ira tangata” in Maori can also refer to a person’s mana, or spiritual status. |
| Mongolian | "Хүйс" can mean not only 'gender' but also 'nature', or 'quality' in Mongolian. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | “ကျားမ” also means “male and female animals” and is used as the counting word for animals. |
| Nepali | "लि .्ग " is also the Nepali word for "a mark" on the forehead worn by Hindus (a 'tilak') |
| Norwegian | In Norwegian, kjønn means not only gender but can also refer to sex, which encompasses both anatomy and biology. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Jenda" in Nyanja can also refer to a tribe, race, or ethnic group. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "جندر" can also refer to "kind" or "type". |
| Persian | In Persian, "جنس" (jins) can also refer to "kind", "type", or "species". |
| Polish | The Polish word "płeć" has multiple meanings, including "gender", "sex", and "breed". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, the word "gênero" can also refer to a genre or type, as in "gênero musical" (musical genre). |
| Punjabi | In Punjabi, the term "ਲਿੰਗ" ("gender") is derived from Sanskrit and originally referred to biological sex but has since expanded to encompass a broader range of meanings, including gender identity and expression. |
| Romanian | The word "gen" in Romanian has a related meaning to "genus" in Latin, as it refers to the classification of things, such as gender, species, or category. |
| Russian | The Russian word "Пол" also means "half" or "side" and is related to the words "половина" "half" and "полоса" "band". |
| Samoan | Itupa can also refer to an 'itupā', which is a large bundle of fine woven floor sleeping mats used as traditional bedding to keep warm during the night. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Gnè" is cognate with "genus" and "kind" and is used for both "gender" and for "species" |
| Serbian | "Pol" is also used in Serbian to refer to "sex", "floor", "earth", "soil", "field" and "field of study". |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, the word "bong" can refer to gender as well as a musical instrument, a hairstyle, or a type of bird. |
| Shona | The noun 'jenda' is also borrowed into the Swahili language, where it means both 'nature' or 'essence' and 'gender'. |
| Sindhi | "جنس" can also mean "group" or "category". |
| Slovak | Slovak "rod" corresponds to the English "family" and the Russian "род". |
| Slovenian | The word 'spol' can also refer to the sex of an animal or plant, or to the kind or type of something. |
| Somali | The Somali word 'jinsiga' can also refer to 'species' or 'type'. |
| Spanish | Spanish "género" traces its etymology to "genus" and encompasses semantic realms of "type", "kind", and "genre". |
| Sundanese | "Jenis kelamin" can also mean "type" or "sort" in Sundanese. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "jinsia" can also mean "type" or "species" depending on the context |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "kön" also means "queue" or "line," reflecting the idea that people are often arranged in lines based on their gender. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "kasarian" also means "sexuality" or "sexual orientation". |
| Tajik | The term "ҷинс" may also refer to a grammatical gender or linguistic gender in the Tajik language |
| Telugu | The root of 'లింగం' (gender) also denotes the 'shape,' 'characteristic' or 'appearance' in some contexts. |
| Thai | The Thai word "เพศ" can also mean "species" or "kind". |
| Turkish | In addition to "gender," "cinsiyet" also means "the characteristic of being male or female" and is derived from the Arabic word "jins" meaning "sex." |
| Ukrainian | The word "Стать" in Ukrainian also means "to become" or "to start to be". |
| Urdu | In the Urdu language, "صنف" can also mean "type" or "kind" of something. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, the word “jins” can also mean "birth" or "origin". |
| Vietnamese | In Vietnamese, "giới tính" also refers to "sex" in the biological sense, as opposed to "phái tính" (sexuality). |
| Welsh | The word "rhyw" in Welsh also means "species, kind, sort"} |
| Xhosa | "Isini" also means "sex" as in "biological sex" |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "דזשענדער" (dzhender) is derived from the German word "Geschlecht". |
| Yoruba | The word "iwa" also means "character" or "behavior" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, 'ubulili' also refers to the way a person carries themselves or their demeanor. |
| English | The word 'gender' comes from the Latin 'genus' meaning 'kind' or 'class'. |