Afrikaans hoor | ||
Albanian degjoj | ||
Amharic ስማ | ||
Arabic سمع | ||
Armenian լսել | ||
Assamese শুনা | ||
Aymara ist'aña | ||
Azerbaijani eşitmək | ||
Bambara ka mɛn | ||
Basque entzun | ||
Belarusian пачуць | ||
Bengali শুনুন | ||
Bhojpuri सुनल | ||
Bosnian čuti | ||
Bulgarian чувам | ||
Catalan escolta | ||
Cebuano pamati | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 听 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 聽 | ||
Corsican sente | ||
Croatian čuti | ||
Czech slyšet | ||
Danish høre | ||
Dhivehi އަޑުއިވުން | ||
Dogri सुनो | ||
Dutch horen | ||
English hear | ||
Esperanto aŭdi | ||
Estonian kuule | ||
Ewe se nu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dinggin | ||
Finnish kuulla | ||
French entendre | ||
Frisian hearre | ||
Galician escoita | ||
Georgian მოისმინე | ||
German hören | ||
Greek ακούω | ||
Guarani hendu | ||
Gujarati સાંભળો | ||
Haitian Creole tande | ||
Hausa ji | ||
Hawaiian lohe | ||
Hebrew לִשְׁמוֹעַ | ||
Hindi सुनो | ||
Hmong hnov | ||
Hungarian hall | ||
Icelandic heyra | ||
Igbo nụ | ||
Ilocano denggen | ||
Indonesian mendengar | ||
Irish chloisteáil | ||
Italian sentire | ||
Japanese 聞く | ||
Javanese ngrungokake | ||
Kannada ಕೇಳಿ | ||
Kazakh есту | ||
Khmer hear | ||
Kinyarwanda umva | ||
Konkani आयकप | ||
Korean 듣다 | ||
Krio yɛri | ||
Kurdish gûhdarkirin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) بیستن | ||
Kyrgyz угуу | ||
Lao ໄດ້ຍິນ | ||
Latin audite: | ||
Latvian dzirdēt | ||
Lingala koyoka | ||
Lithuanian girdėti | ||
Luganda okuwulira | ||
Luxembourgish héieren | ||
Macedonian слушне | ||
Maithili सुनू | ||
Malagasy mihainoa | ||
Malay dengar | ||
Malayalam കേൾക്കൂ | ||
Maltese isma | ||
Maori whakarongo | ||
Marathi ऐका | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯥꯕ | ||
Mizo ngaithla | ||
Mongolian сонсох | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကြားပါ | ||
Nepali सुन्नुहोस् | ||
Norwegian høre | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mverani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଶୁଣ | ||
Oromo dhaga'uu | ||
Pashto واورئ | ||
Persian شنیدن | ||
Polish słyszeć | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) ouvir | ||
Punjabi ਸੁਣੋ | ||
Quechua uyariy | ||
Romanian auzi | ||
Russian слышать | ||
Samoan faʻalogo | ||
Sanskrit शृणोतु | ||
Scots Gaelic cluinn | ||
Sepedi kwa | ||
Serbian чути | ||
Sesotho utloa | ||
Shona inzwa | ||
Sindhi ٻڌ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) අහන්න | ||
Slovak počuť | ||
Slovenian sliši | ||
Somali maqal | ||
Spanish oír | ||
Sundanese ngadangu | ||
Swahili sikia | ||
Swedish höra | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dinggin | ||
Tajik шунидан | ||
Tamil கேள் | ||
Tatar ишет | ||
Telugu వినండి | ||
Thai ได้ยิน | ||
Tigrinya ስማዕ | ||
Tsonga twa | ||
Turkish duymak | ||
Turkmen eşidiň | ||
Twi (Akan) te | ||
Ukrainian чути | ||
Urdu سن | ||
Uyghur ئاڭلاڭ | ||
Uzbek eshitish | ||
Vietnamese nghe | ||
Welsh clywed | ||
Xhosa yiva | ||
Yiddish הערן | ||
Yoruba gbo | ||
Zulu zwa |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word 'hoor' can also mean 'to belong' or 'to pertain to'. |
| Albanian | The word "degjoj" in Albanian shares its root with the Latin word "audio" and the Greek word "akouo", meaning "to hear" |
| Amharic | The verb ስማ also has a metaphorical sense, meaning 'understand'. |
| Arabic | The word "سمع" can also mean "obey" or "understand" in the context of religious teachings. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "լսել" (hear) also shares a root with the Ancient Greek word "κλύω" (hear) and the Latin word "cluere" (known). |
| Azerbaijani | The word "eşitmək" in Azerbaijani shares its root with the word "işitmək" in Turkish, meaning "to hear". In Azerbaijani, "eşitmək" also has alternate meanings, including "to understand" and "to perceive". |
| Basque | "Entzun" can also refer to the Basque musical genre of "bertsolaritza", in which poets sing improvised verses. |
| Belarusian | "Пачуць" in Belarusian is not a verb meaning "to taste," but rather a verb meaning "to hear". |
| Bengali | শুনুন derives from the Sanskrit word श्रु (shru), meaning knowledge acquired through listening. |
| Bosnian | In other Slavic languages, the cognate word means 'feel'. |
| Bulgarian | In addition to "hear," "чувам" can also mean "keep" in Bulgarian |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "escolta" has no alternate meanings and comes from the Latin word "auscultare". |
| Cebuano | The word "pamati" in Cebuano can also mean "to feel" or "to understand". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 听 can be used as a verb to listen, a noun for a court hearing, or an adjective for obedient. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The Chinese character "聽" can also mean "to understand" or "to obey". |
| Corsican | The word "sente" in Corsican can also mean "to smell" or "to scent". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, "čuti" not only means "hear," but also "feel," especially in the sense of "feel emotion." |
| Czech | "Slyšet" comes from the Proto-Slavic root "*slyšati", meaning "to hear, to listen". |
| Danish | The word "høre" is derived from the Old Norse word "heyra," which means "to listen or obey." |
| Dutch | In Dutch, “horen” can also mean “to obey”. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "aŭdi" is derived from the Latin "audire," meaning "to hear", and is also related to the English words "auditory" and "audience." |
| Estonian | In Finnish, the word "kuule" means "listen" whereas in Estonian its cognate "kuule" means "hear." |
| Finnish | It shares the same root as "korva", meaning "ear." |
| French | The French verb "entendre" can also mean "to understand", a usage derived from the Latin "intelligere". |
| Frisian | The verb "hearre" can also mean "to listen" or "to perceive" in Frisian. |
| Galician | "Escoitar" comes from the Latin word "audire" meaning "to listen" and is related to "auctor" meaning "author". |
| German | The verb "hören" can also mean "to obey" or "to listen to" in German. |
| Greek | “Ακούω” is also used in phrases meaning 'obey', 'understand' 'acknowledge', and figuratively 'listen to', 'pay attention or notice' |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "સાંભળો" can also mean "to obey" or "to listen attentively." |
| Haitian Creole | The verb 'tande' comes from the French 'entendre', which also means to listen or perceive. |
| Hausa | Hausa "ji" can both mean "hear" and "hear (a case) - adjudicate" due to the latter sense originating from the former in a metonymic shift. |
| Hawaiian | ‘Lohe is also used to mean ‘rumor’ or ‘information’; however, it is not synonymous with ‘lelo’, which means ‘to speak’. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "שמוע" means not only to perceive sound but also to "listen" or "obey". |
| Hindi | The word "सुनो" comes from the Sanskrit word "śru", meaning "to hear" or "to perceive". |
| Hmong | In modern Hmong, 'hnov' has the additional meaning of 'to obey.' |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "hall" also means "to die" and is cognate with the Finnish word "halua" meaning "want". |
| Icelandic | Heyra "hear" could have originated from the word "heyra" meaning "to be amazed", although that is not certain. |
| Igbo | In addition to meaning "hear," the Igbo word "nụ" can also mean "listen" or "understand." |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "mendengar" can also mean "to listen" or "to heed". |
| Irish | The word 'chloisteáil' in Irish can also mean 'to obey' or 'to listen to' from the root word 'cluas' meaning ear. |
| Italian | In Latin, "sentire" also meant "to feel" and "to think." |
| Japanese | The kanji 聞く can also mean 'to ask', as in the phrase '質問を聞く' (shitsumon o kiku - to ask a question). |
| Javanese | "Ngrungokake" can also mean 'to obey' in Javanese, deriving from the word 'rungu' (ear) implying that 'hearing' leads to 'obeying'. |
| Kannada | The verb 'ಕೇಳಿ' (kēli) also means 'ask', reflecting the close connection between listening and questioning in the Kannada language. |
| Kazakh | The verb "есту" in Kazakh is derived from the Proto-Turkic root *es- "to hear", and is cognate with similar words in other Turkic languages, such as Turkish "işitmek". |
| Khmer | The Khmer word for "hear" (ស្តាប់) is related to the word for "to understand" (យល់), suggesting a close connection between hearing and comprehension in the Khmer language. |
| Korean | "듣다" is the Sino-Korean word for "hear", derived from Middle Chinese "ťuk". |
| Kurdish | The word "gûhdarkirin" can also mean "to listen" or "to understand" in Kurdish. |
| Kyrgyz | The word also refers to the |
| Latin | The Latin root of "audire" has a connection to Latin "aura," or "ear." |
| Latvian | The word "dzirdēt" in Latvian also means "to eavesdrop" or "to listen in on a conversation". |
| Lithuanian | The verb 'girdėti' is also used in a figurative sense, e.g. 'girdėti istoriją' ('to hear a story') means to be told about something that happened. |
| Luxembourgish | The word "héieren" may also mean "to understand" or "to follow". |
| Macedonian | The word "слушне" in Macedonian comes from the Proto-Slavic word *slušati, meaning "to listen". |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "mihainoa" also means "to listen" or "to understand". |
| Malay | "Dengar" is the equivalent of "hear" in English and can also mean "listen" or "obey" in the context of commands or advice. |
| Malayalam | The verb "കേൾക്കൂ" in Malayalam can also mean "understand" or "listen to". |
| Maltese | "Isma" is thought to have evolved from the Arabic imperative "'ism'" (listen!) and ultimately from the Semitic root "S-M-A". |
| Maori | 'Whakarongo' originates from the words 'whakaronga' (causing to bend down) and 'rongo' (to listen) suggesting an active or obedient listening posture |
| Marathi | The Marathi word ऐका can also be used to mean 'to obey' or 'to heed'. |
| Mongolian | "Сонсох" also means "to listen" and "to smell". |
| Nepali | The word "सुन्नु होस्" also means "may it be heard" or "let it be heard" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | "Høre" is cognate with the English word "hist" and can also mean "to overhear". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "mverani" in Nyanja (Chichewa) can also mean "to listen" or "to obey". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "واورئ" is also used figuratively to mean "listen" or "understand". |
| Persian | The word "شنیدن" in Persian can also mean "to obey" or "to listen to". |
| Polish | "Słyszeć" originates from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₁- and *ḱlew-, meaning to "hear". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Ouvir" is derived from the Latin word "audire", which also means "to hear". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਸੁਣੋ" is also used in Punjabi to mean "listen" or "pay attention". |
| Romanian | The word "auzi" may be related to the Albanian word "dëgjoj" and the Turkish word "işitmek". |
| Russian | The Russian word «слышать» can also mean «to understand» or «to perceive». |
| Samoan | In Samoan, the word "faʻalogo" can also refer to "obedience" or "listening to advice or orders." |
| Scots Gaelic | The term "cluinn" in Scots Gaelic derives from the Old Irish word "cluinim" and shares a linguistic root with the Scottish word "cleek" and the English word "clap". |
| Serbian | The word "чути" can also mean "to feel" or "to experience". |
| Sesotho | The word "utloa" can also mean "to understand" or "to obey". |
| Shona | The word "inzwa" can also mean "to listen," "to heed," or "to perceive." |
| Sindhi | Sindhi word ٻڌ (hear) is also an imperative form of word 'bindhn' (bind). |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අහන්න can also mean to request or ask for something respectfully. |
| Slovak | The verb "počuť" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *poutъ, which also gave rise to the words "voice" and "sing". |
| Slovenian | The verb 'sliši' is likely derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'slyšati' or 'slushiti', both meaning 'to hear'. |
| Somali | The word "maqal" in Somali can also refer to a proverb or a saying. |
| Spanish | The verb "oír" (to hear) in Spanish comes from the Latin "audīre", which also means "to make someone hear" or "to pay attention". |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "ngadangu" can also mean "to eavesdrop" or "to listen intently". |
| Swahili | The word "sikia" in Swahili also means "feel" or "perceive", highlighting the connection between hearing and other senses in the language. |
| Swedish | The word "höra" comes from the Old Norse word "heyra," which also means "to listen." |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "dinggin" also means "listen", and it comes from the root word "dinig" which means "sound". |
| Tajik | The Russian word "слышать" and the Tajik word "шунидан" come from the same Proto-Indo-European root "ḱlew". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "கேள்" can also mean "ask" or "question" in English. |
| Thai | "ได้ยิน" in Thai comes from the Sanskrit word "śru" (to hear), and also means "understand". |
| Turkish | The word "duymak" also means "to feel" or "to perceive". |
| Ukrainian | The verb "чути" can also mean "to feel" or "to sense" in Ukrainian. |
| Urdu | The word "سن" can also refer to the faculty of understanding, wisdom, or judgment |
| Uzbek | The word "eshitish" also means "to listen" or "to understand" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | Nghe is cognate with nghe (`listen to`) in Thai and ngheo (`poor`) in Vietnamese due to their shared Proto-Tai origin. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "clywed" is related to the Latin "audire," meaning "to hear." |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa term 'yiva' (hear) also relates to the concepts of 'sense', 'understand' and 'perceive'. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word 'הערן' ('hear') also refers to 'understanding' or 'paying attention'. |
| Yoruba | The word "gbo" in Yoruba can also mean "understand" or "obey". |
| Zulu | Zulu “zwa” derives from Proto-Bantu *zwa, whose original meaning was to hear as well as to understand, know or recognise. |
| English | Cognates with German 'hören' and 'horchen', Dutch 'horen' and 'horchen', Swedish 'höra', Ancient Greek 'koein' (κοιν), ultimately going back to the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱlew- ('to listen'). Originally meant listening with full attention and thus understanding, like in the phrases 'to have a hearing' or 'to give someone a hearing'. The more everyday meaning 'to perceive sound' is an 18th-century development. |