Gray in Different Languages
Discover 'Gray' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Gray
Afrikaans grys | ||
Albanian gri | ||
Amharic ግራጫ | ||
Arabic اللون الرمادي | ||
Armenian մոխրագույն | ||
Assamese ধূসৰ | ||
Aymara ch'ixi | ||
Azerbaijani boz | ||
Bambara bugurinjɛ | ||
Basque grisa | ||
Belarusian шэры | ||
Bengali ধূসর | ||
Bhojpuri धूसर | ||
Bosnian siva | ||
Bulgarian сиво | ||
Catalan gris | ||
Cebuano ubanon | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 灰色 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 灰色 | ||
Corsican grisgiu | ||
Croatian siva | ||
Czech šedá | ||
Danish grå | ||
Dhivehi އަޅިކުލަ | ||
Dogri ग्रे | ||
Dutch grijs | ||
English gray | ||
Esperanto griza | ||
Estonian hall | ||
Ewe fu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) kulay-abo | ||
Finnish harmaa | ||
French gris | ||
Frisian griis | ||
Galician gris | ||
Georgian ნაცრისფერი | ||
German grau | ||
Greek γκρί | ||
Guarani hovyhũ | ||
Gujarati ભૂખરા | ||
Haitian Creole gri | ||
Hausa launin toka-toka | ||
Hawaiian hinahina | ||
Hebrew אפור | ||
Hindi धूसर | ||
Hmong txho | ||
Hungarian szürke | ||
Icelandic grátt | ||
Igbo isi awọ | ||
Ilocano dapo | ||
Indonesian abu-abu | ||
Irish liath | ||
Italian grigio | ||
Japanese グレー | ||
Javanese klawu | ||
Kannada ಬೂದು | ||
Kazakh сұр | ||
Khmer ប្រផេះ | ||
Kinyarwanda imvi | ||
Konkani राखाडी | ||
Korean 회색 | ||
Krio gre | ||
Kurdish gewr | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خۆڵەمێشی | ||
Kyrgyz боз | ||
Lao ສີຂີ້ເຖົ່າ | ||
Latin griseo | ||
Latvian pelēks | ||
Lingala gris | ||
Lithuanian pilka | ||
Luganda gray | ||
Luxembourgish gro | ||
Macedonian сиво | ||
Maithili धूसर | ||
Malagasy grey | ||
Malay kelabu | ||
Malayalam ചാരനിറം | ||
Maltese griż | ||
Maori hina | ||
Marathi राखाडी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯁꯃꯨ ꯝꯆꯨ | ||
Mizo paw | ||
Mongolian саарал | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မီးခိုးရောင် | ||
Nepali खैरो | ||
Norwegian grå | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) imvi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଧୂସର | ||
Oromo daalacha | ||
Pashto خړ | ||
Persian خاکستری | ||
Polish szary | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) cinzento | ||
Punjabi ਸਲੇਟੀ | ||
Quechua uqi | ||
Romanian gri | ||
Russian серый | ||
Samoan lanu efuefu | ||
Sanskrit धूसर | ||
Scots Gaelic liath | ||
Sepedi sehla | ||
Serbian сива | ||
Sesotho putsoa | ||
Shona gireyi | ||
Sindhi ڀورو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අළු | ||
Slovak sivá | ||
Slovenian siva | ||
Somali cawl | ||
Spanish gris | ||
Sundanese kulawu | ||
Swahili kijivu | ||
Swedish grå | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) kulay-abo | ||
Tajik хокистарӣ | ||
Tamil சாம்பல் | ||
Tatar соры | ||
Telugu బూడిద | ||
Thai สีเทา | ||
Tigrinya ሓሙዂሽቲ ሕብሪ | ||
Tsonga mpunga | ||
Turkish gri | ||
Turkmen çal | ||
Twi (Akan) nso | ||
Ukrainian сірий | ||
Urdu سرمئی | ||
Uyghur كۈلرەڭ | ||
Uzbek kulrang | ||
Vietnamese màu xám | ||
Welsh llwyd | ||
Xhosa ngwevu | ||
Yiddish גרוי | ||
Yoruba grẹy | ||
Zulu mpunga |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "grys" has a secondary meaning of "white horse" or "gray horse". |
| Albanian | The word "gri" in Albanian is derived from the Proto-Indo-European word |
| Amharic | The word "ግራጫ" also means "bald" in Old Amharic (Ge'ez). |
| Arabic | Originally, the word "اللون الرمادي" referred to the color of ashes but now it has come to mean any shade of gray. |
| Azerbaijani | "Boz" also refers to a shade of blue in Azerbaijani and is related to the Turkish word "boz" meaning "dark". |
| Basque | The word "grisa" is derived from the Latin word "grisius," which means "ash-gray". |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word шэры (gray) is cognate with the Russian word серый (gray) and the Polish word szary (gray) |
| Bengali | Did you know 'ধূসর' can also mean 'smoky' or 'dim'? |
| Bosnian | The word "siva" can also mean "dull", "gloomy" or "dark" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "сиво" can also mean "bluish" or "ashy". |
| Catalan | "Gris" originally meant "dark brown" in Occitan, from which it was adopted into Catalan, Spanish and French. |
| Cebuano | In linguistics, the word "uban" is the basis for the terms "ubanon" and "giuban" both of which mean "grayed" or "became gray." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 灰色 is a common Chinese compound word, where 灰 means "ashes" and 色 means "color". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "灰色" (gray) gets its name from its similarity to a young horse ("灰色马") |
| Corsican | The word "grisgiu" can also refer to a person who is perceived as dull or lacking in excitement. |
| Croatian | The word 'siva' in Croatian can also refer to a bluish-green shade. |
| Czech | The word "šedá" can also refer to a shade of gray or to a grayish color. |
| Danish | Danish grå 'gray' is also used figuratively to mean 'not quite right' or 'odd,' e.g. Grådig (gray-ish) might be used to describe a strange or unusual person. |
| Dutch | The word "grijs" comes from the Middle Dutch word "grijsen," meaning "to grow gray." |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "griza" is derived from the French word "gris" and can also mean "grizzled" or "hoary". |
| Estonian | The word "hall" in Estonian has its origins in the Proto-Uralic word *śalə, meaning "gray or dark". |
| Finnish | The Finnish word harmaa also means 'dim' or 'gloomy', and is related to words like 'horror' and 'haunted'. |
| French | In French, "gris" is derived from the Germanic word "grisja," meaning "gray" or "ash-colored." It also has a slang meaning of "drunk" or "intoxicated." |
| Frisian | The Frisian word 'griis' is likely derived from Proto-Germanic '*grīsab', meaning 'old person' or 'hoary'. |
| Galician | In Galician, the word "gris" can also mean "cold" or "impersonal." |
| German | The word "grau" in German is often associated with the notion of twilight or dusk, and derives from an Indo-European root meaning "to shine" or "to glow". |
| Greek | The word "γκρί" is a cognate of the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰrei-, meaning "to shine", and is unrelated to the word "grey", which derives from the Old English "græg", meaning "grey-coloured". |
| Gujarati | The word "ભૂખરા" is related to the Sanskrit word "भू" meaning "earth" or "soil", and its alternate meanings include a brownish-gray color, a type of soil, and a kind of grain. |
| Haitian Creole | Gri, meaning 'gray' in Haitian Creole, is etymologically derived from the French word 'gris'. |
| Hausa | The word "launin toka-toka" also means "the color of ashes" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | "Hinahina" translates to "gray" in Hawaiian, but also connotes ideas of weakness, fragility, and vulnerability. |
| Hebrew | The etymology of "אפור" ("gray") is debated, some propose a relation to "אפר" ("ashes") but the actual origins are unclear |
| Hindi | From Old Hindi धूसर (dhūsar) "ash-colored, grey", derivative of धूल (dhūl) "dust, ashes," ultimately from Sanskrit धूली (dhūlī) "dust, ashes." |
| Hmong | The word "txho" in Hmong can also mean "to fade", "to lose color", or "old". |
| Hungarian | "Szürke" also means "unimportant" and "average" in Hungarian. |
| Icelandic | Related to the word 'greet', the Icelandic word 'grátt' also has undertones of weeping and lamenting. |
| Igbo | The word "isi awọ" can also refer to the ash from a hearth or the ashes of the dead, and is sometimes used to describe something that is old or withered. |
| Indonesian | "Abu-abu" also means "ash" in Indonesian, as in "gray from the ashes". |
| Irish | The Irish word "liath" is also used to describe something that is dull or lifeless, and it can be applied to both physical and emotional states. |
| Italian | Grigio can also mean "ancient" or "antique," coming from the Lombard "grig" (gray hair). |
| Japanese | "グレー" also means "a gray area". |
| Javanese | "Klawu" also refers to the color of unripe rice in Javanese. |
| Kannada | The word "ಬೂದು" can also mean black or dark-coloured in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | It is also used to refer to a grayish-greenish color in Kazakh |
| Khmer | "ប្រផេះ" can also be a term for a ghost or spirit, especially one of ill-omen. |
| Korean | Did you know that 회색 can also mean "uncertain" or "ambiguous" in Korean? |
| Kurdish | Gewr, which can also mean 'sky' or 'air', originates from the Proto-Indo-European root '*gʷʰer-' meaning 'to shimmer, shine'. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz, "боз" also refers to the color of a horse's coat, specifically a pale bay or chestnut color. |
| Lao | The word derives from Thai "สีขี้เถ้า" referring to the color of ash. |
| Latin | The original meaning of the Latin "griseus" was "reddish gray". |
| Latvian | The word "pelēks" can also refer to a type of fish found in the Baltic Sea. |
| Lithuanian | "Pilkas" shares the same root with the word "pelė", meaning "mouse". |
| Luxembourgish | "Gro" comes from the same root as the French "gris" or English "gray" and is also used in Luxembourgish to describe the color of a horse or the sky on a gloomy day. |
| Macedonian | In other Slavic languages, such as Russian, the word |
| Malagasy | In Malagasy, 'gris' can also mean 'white' or 'clear'. |
| Malay | Kelabu derives from a Proto-Austronesian word that also meant "ash," "dust," and "powder." |
| Malayalam | The word "ചാരനിറം" (gray) in Malayalam is derived from the Sanskrit word "च्छाय" (shadow), indicating its neutral and intermediate shade. |
| Maltese | The etymology of the Maltese word "griż" is uncertain, but it may be derived from the Sicilian word "grisu" or the Arabic word "gharb". |
| Maori | The Maori word "hina" primarily means "gray," but it also signifies "silver," "gleam," and various shades of gray or silver. |
| Marathi | The word 'राखाडी' in Marathi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'रक्त' (blood), referring to the reddish-gray color of ashes. |
| Mongolian | The term "саарал" also references shades such as ashen, slate, leaden, silvery, and charcoal, and is associated with the concepts of age, wisdom, and balance. |
| Nepali | The word "खैरो" derives from the Sanskrit word "कावरी" meaning "reddish-brown" but has come to mean "gray" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | The word "grå" also refers to the color of a horse and is an adjective meaning "difficult". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "imvi" also means "ash" in Nyanja. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "خړ" is commonly known as "gray" in English, but it also historically has meant "brown" or "grayish-brown". |
| Persian | خاکستری in Persian originates from the word خاکستر (ashes) and originally meant "ash-colored" or "dirty white." |
| Polish | The word "szary" in Polish can also mean "dull, boring, or commonplace." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "cinzento" derives from the Latin word "cinis" (ash), and it can also refer to the color of ash or smoke. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਸਲੇਟੀ" also means "bluish" in Punjabi, as opposed to the usual meaning of "gray" or "grey". |
| Romanian | "gri" is of Latin origin, meaning "gray", and can also refer to "grief" or "grimace". |
| Russian | "Серый" can also mean "ordinary," "dull," or "uneventful" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "lanu efuefu" can also figuratively mean "a person who is not reliable, dishonest or unstable and is not worthy of trust." |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "liath" can also refer to a blue-gray color in Scots Gaelic, similar to "glaucous" in English. |
| Serbian | The word "сива" can also refer to a type of fish or a variety of grapes. |
| Sesotho | "Putsoa" can also refer to a type of animal skin or a traditional type of blanket |
| Shona | Despite its English cognate, it is etymologically unrelated to "grey" in English, and actually means "black" in Shona. |
| Sindhi | The Sanskrit word "bhal" (bear) is a possible cognate of the Sindhi word "ڀورو" and may have influenced its usage to describe the color of bears. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In addition to 'gray,' the Sinhala word 'අළු' can also refer to shades of yellow, black, or dark red. |
| Slovak | "Sivá" also means "female duck" in Slovak. |
| Slovenian | The word 'siva' shares the same root with the word 'srebro' ('silver') and originally meant 'shiny'. |
| Somali | The word "cawl" in Somali can also refer to a type of traditional clothing or a specific color shade. |
| Spanish | Gris also means 'young deer or fawn' in French, and 'fur' or 'ermine' in Old English. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "kulawu" originally referred to the color of the sky during a storm. |
| Swahili | The word "kijivu" can also refer to "ash" or "dust". |
| Swedish | In Swedish, "grå" can also refer to a shade of green, similar to "olive" in English. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Kulay-abo means both 'gray' and 'dark' in Tagalog and is derived from the root word 'abo' meaning 'darkness' or 'shadow'. |
| Tajik | The word "хокистарӣ" can also refer to "gray hair" or "a gray-haired person" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "சாம்பல்" can also refer to ashes or a shade of light gray. |
| Telugu | The word 'బూడిద' can also refer to the ash left over after a fire. |
| Thai | The word 'สีเทา' can refer to both the color 'gray' and to the shade 'dark brown or dull grey'. |
| Turkish | In addition to "gray," "gri" can also refer to a type of light brown in Turkish. |
| Ukrainian | The word «сірий» is also used to describe a dull, uninspiring, or gloomy person or situation. |
| Urdu | The word "سرمئی" is derived from the Semitic word "sirm" meaning "black" or "dark". |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "kulrang" also means "dove-colored" or "ash-colored." |
| Vietnamese | The Vietnamese word ''màu xám'' derives from Old Vietnamese and originally meant ''black.'' |
| Welsh | The Welsh word llwyd, meaning gray, is also used to describe a type of fish found in the River Teifi in Wales, known as the llwyd bach or 'little gray fish'. |
| Xhosa | The word "ngwevu" in Xhosa also means "clever" or "intelligent". |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word 'gray' ('גרוי') derives from Old High German, and in the 16th century was the word for the color of horses, especially warhorses. |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, the word "grẹy" is also used to refer to a type of cloth or fabric. |
| Zulu | Mpunga also refers to a gray animal or a black horse. |
| English | The word "gray" comes from the Old English word "græg", meaning "badger", and is also related to the words "green" and "grayling". |