Imagination in Different Languages
Discover 'Imagination' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Imagination
Afrikaans verbeelding | ||
Albanian imagjinata | ||
Amharic ቅinationት | ||
Arabic خيال | ||
Armenian երեւակայություն | ||
Assamese কল্পনা | ||
Aymara amuyt’awinaka | ||
Azerbaijani xəyal | ||
Bambara miirili ye | ||
Basque irudimena | ||
Belarusian уяўленне | ||
Bengali কল্পনা | ||
Bhojpuri कल्पना के बारे में बतावल गइल बा | ||
Bosnian mašta | ||
Bulgarian въображение | ||
Catalan imaginació | ||
Cebuano hunahuna | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 想像力 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 想像力 | ||
Corsican imaginazione | ||
Croatian mašta | ||
Czech představivost | ||
Danish fantasi | ||
Dhivehi ޚިޔާލެވެ | ||
Dogri कल्पना करना | ||
Dutch verbeelding | ||
English imagination | ||
Esperanto imago | ||
Estonian kujutlusvõime | ||
Ewe susuŋudɔwɔwɔ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) imahinasyon | ||
Finnish mielikuvitus | ||
French imagination | ||
Frisian ferbylding | ||
Galician imaxinación | ||
Georgian ფანტაზია | ||
German phantasie | ||
Greek φαντασία | ||
Guarani imaginación rehegua | ||
Gujarati કલ્પના | ||
Haitian Creole imajinasyon | ||
Hausa tunanin | ||
Hawaiian manaʻo | ||
Hebrew דִמיוֹן | ||
Hindi कल्पना | ||
Hmong kev xav | ||
Hungarian képzelet | ||
Icelandic ímyndunarafl | ||
Igbo pụrụ ichetụ n'echiche | ||
Ilocano imahinasion | ||
Indonesian imajinasi | ||
Irish samhlaíocht | ||
Italian immaginazione | ||
Japanese 想像力 | ||
Javanese imajinasi | ||
Kannada ಕಲ್ಪನೆ | ||
Kazakh қиял | ||
Khmer ការស្រមើលស្រមៃ | ||
Kinyarwanda ibitekerezo | ||
Konkani कल्पनाशक्त | ||
Korean 상상력 | ||
Krio imajineshɔn | ||
Kurdish xewn | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خەیاڵ | ||
Kyrgyz элестетүү | ||
Lao ຈິນຕະນາການ | ||
Latin imagination | ||
Latvian iztēle | ||
Lingala makanisi ya kokanisa | ||
Lithuanian vaizduotė | ||
Luganda okulowooza | ||
Luxembourgish imaginatioun | ||
Macedonian имагинација | ||
Maithili कल्पना के | ||
Malagasy mamoron | ||
Malay khayalan | ||
Malayalam ഭാവന | ||
Maltese immaġinazzjoni | ||
Maori whakaaro pohewa | ||
Marathi कल्पना | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯃꯦꯖꯤꯅꯦꯁꯟ ꯇꯧꯕꯥ꯫ | ||
Mizo suangtuahna (imagination) a ni | ||
Mongolian төсөөлөл | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) စိတ်ကူး | ||
Nepali कल्पना | ||
Norwegian fantasi | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) malingaliro | ||
Odia (Oriya) କଳ୍ପନା | ||
Oromo yaada (imagination) jedhamuun beekama | ||
Pashto تخیل | ||
Persian خیال پردازی | ||
Polish wyobraźnia | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) imaginação | ||
Punjabi ਕਲਪਨਾ | ||
Quechua imaginación nisqa | ||
Romanian imaginație | ||
Russian воображение | ||
Samoan mafaufauga | ||
Sanskrit कल्पना | ||
Scots Gaelic mac-meanmna | ||
Sepedi boikgopolelo | ||
Serbian машта | ||
Sesotho monahano | ||
Shona fungidziro | ||
Sindhi تخيل | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පරිකල්පනය | ||
Slovak predstavivosť | ||
Slovenian domišljijo | ||
Somali male | ||
Spanish imaginación | ||
Sundanese imajinasi | ||
Swahili mawazo | ||
Swedish fantasi | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) imahinasyon | ||
Tajik хаёлот | ||
Tamil கற்பனை | ||
Tatar фантазия | ||
Telugu ination హ | ||
Thai จินตนาการ | ||
Tigrinya ምናኔ ምናኔ | ||
Tsonga ku ehleketa | ||
Turkish hayal gücü | ||
Turkmen hyýal | ||
Twi (Akan) adwene mu nsusuwii | ||
Ukrainian фантазія | ||
Urdu تخیل | ||
Uyghur تەسەۋۋۇر | ||
Uzbek tasavvur | ||
Vietnamese trí tưởng tượng | ||
Welsh dychymyg | ||
Xhosa intelekelelo | ||
Yiddish פאַנטאַזיע | ||
Yoruba oju inu | ||
Zulu umcabango |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "verbeelding" also means "pretend" and "falsely believe". |
| Albanian | In Albanian, "imagjinata" is derived from Latin "imaginari", meaning "to image" or "to create in the mind." |
| Amharic | Amharic "ቅinationት" is derived from the Geez word "ቈነተ" (qonate) and also means "faith" or "belief". |
| Arabic | The word "خيال" in Arabic can also mean "phantom" or "apparition". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "xəyal" in Azerbaijani also means "dream" or "vision." |
| Basque | The word "irudimena" (meaning "imagination" in Basque) comes from the Latin phrase "imago mentis," meaning the "image that is in the mind." |
| Belarusian | "Уяўленне" is a Belarusian word with a long and rich history, meaning both "imagination" and "representation" in various contexts. |
| Bengali | The word "কল্পনা" originates from the Sanskrit word "कल्पन" (kalpana), meaning "construction" or "formation" |
| Bosnian | The word "mašta" can also mean "fantasy" or "daydream" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | In Bulgarian, the word "въображение" can also mean "fantasy" or "pretense." |
| Catalan | "Imaginació" in Catalan comes from the Latin word "imaginatio", which means the formation of mental images. |
| Cebuano | The word 'hunahuna' can also refer to a mental image, a plan, or an idea. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 想像力 (xiǎngxiànglì) derives from the morphemes 想像, 'image' + 想, 'thought' and also commonly means 'image' or 'conception'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 想像力 (xiǎngxiànglì) comes from the characters 想 (xiǎng) "to think" and 像 (xiàng) "image". |
| Corsican | Corsican "imaginazione" (imagination) derives from the Late Latin "imaginare" (imagine, portray), related to "imago" (image), but it also means "supposition, idea". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "mašta" is cognate with the Persian word "mâst," which means "intoxication" or "ecstasy." |
| Czech | The word "představivost" is derived from the verb "představit", which means "to introduce" or "to present". |
| Danish | The word "fantasi" can also refer to a type of horse show in Denmark, involving elaborate costumes and choreography. |
| Dutch | Dutch word 'verbeelding' originally meant 'the ability to foresee,' rather than the faculty of imagining things that do not exist, as it does today. |
| Esperanto | "Imago" is a loanword from Latin and carries the meaning of "image" beyond its main meaning of "imagination" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "kujutlusvõime" is derived from the verb "kujutama" ("to imagine"), which in turn comes from the Proto-Uralic root *kuδe- ("shape, form"). |
| Finnish | The term 'mielikuvitus' comes from 'mieli' (mind) and 'kuvitus' (image), and also refers to the imaginative ability to visualize. |
| French | The French word "imagination" derives from the Latin "imaginatio," meaning "image-making." |
| Frisian | The word "ferbylding" also means "depiction" in Frisian. |
| Galician | The Galician word "imaxinación" stems from the Latin word "imaginatio", meaning "image" or "phantasm." |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "ფანტაზია" derives from the Greek word "φαντασία" (phantásia) through the intermediary of Ottoman Turkish "fantezi," which itself comes from Persian "fantazi," which ultimately derives from Greek "φαντάζειν" (phantázein)", meaning "to make appear" or "to present vividly before the mind or senses." |
| German | "Phantasie," meaning "imagination" in German, derives from the Greek word "phantasia," which means "appearance" or "illusion." |
| Greek | The Greek word "φαντασία" (phantasia) originally meant "appearance" or "image". |
| Gujarati | The word "કલ્પના" is derived from the Sanskrit word "kalpa", which means "a creation". The word can also refer to a "poetic conception" or an "artistic representation". |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "imajinasyon" is derived from the French word "imagination" and also means "idea" or "thought." |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "tunanin" is also used to describe the faculty of reason or intellect. |
| Hawaiian | The term 'manaʻo', meaning 'thought, idea, or intention,' is rooted in a combination of the words 'mā' (‘thought, reflection, understanding’) and '‘ono' (‘to want, crave, or desire’).”} |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "דִמיוֹן" ("imagination") also means "similarity" and "likeness". |
| Hindi | "कल्पना" is derived from the Sanskrit word "कल्प" meaning "to form or create" and can also refer to a "world" or "era". |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "kev xav" refers to the mind's eye and the ability to visualize, and can also mean 'to plan' |
| Hungarian | The word "képzelet" is derived from the verb "képzel", which means "to imagine", "to conceive", or "to visualize". |
| Icelandic | "Ímyndunarafl" is a compound word made up of "ímynd" (image) and "rafl" (raft), suggesting a raft of images or an image-raft. |
| Indonesian | "Imajinasi" in Indonesian is derived from the Sanskrit word "kalpana", meaning "representation" or "creation". |
| Italian | "Immaginazione" also means "image" in Italian, deriving from the Latin word "imago" |
| Japanese | 想像力 is an on-yomi pronunciation borrowed from Chinese 想像力, where it also means "imagination". |
| Javanese | The Javanese word "imajinasi" also means "vision". |
| Kannada | The word "ಕಲ್ಪನೆ" can also mean "creation" or "invention" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | "Қиял" is a derivative of the Persian "khyāl", meaning "thought, idea, or fancy". |
| Korean | "상상력" is also used to refer to a person's thoughts and feelings. |
| Kurdish | The word "xewn" can also refer to the act of creating something new or different, as well as the process of thinking or envisioning something. |
| Kyrgyz | "Элестетүү" could also mean "creating" or "producing" something from one's mind. |
| Latin | Latin "imago" refers to a mental image and "-ation" signifies action or state resulting in "imagination" meaning creation or forming of mental images. |
| Latvian | The word "iztēle" is derived from the verb "iztēlot", which means "to imagine", and is related to the word "tēls", which means "image". |
| Lithuanian | "Vaizduotė" derives from the verb "vaizduoti" – to portray, represent, envision, imagine, perceive, think, reflect. |
| Luxembourgish | The term "Imaginatioun" originally meant "creative imagination" and was derived from the Latin word "imago" meaning "image". It has evolved over time to encompass other meanings such as "imagination" and "thought". |
| Malagasy | The word "mamoron" derives from the Proto-Austronesian root "*ma-qamoR", meaning "dream" or "vision". |
| Malay | The Malay word "khayalan" also means "fantasy", "fiction", "daydream", or "vision". |
| Malayalam | The word 'ഭാവന' ('imagination') comes from the Sanskrit root 'bhāv' ('to become'), signifying its transformative and creative nature. |
| Maltese | "Immaġinazzjoni" in Maltese is derived from the Latin "imaginatio" (image or likeness), which in turn comes from the verb "imaginare" (to imagine). |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "कल्पना" (imagination) is derived from the Sanskrit verb "कल्प" (to imagine), which also has the meanings "to create" and "to shape". |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word |
| Nepali | In Sanskrit, “कल्पना” means “to form in the mind” and is derived from “कल्प”, meaning “to form” or “to create”. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "fantasi" derives from the Greek "phantasia", which originally referred to the ability of the mind to perceive objects not physically present. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'malingaliro' is also used to describe 'fantasy' and 'delusion'. |
| Pashto | Pashto "تخیل" also means "thought" and is a synonym for "خیال." |
| Persian | The Persian word |
| Polish | "Wyobraźnia" is derived from the Old Polish word "obraźnia," meaning "image," and is related to the word "obraz," meaning "picture". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "imaginação" derives from the Latin "imaginatio," meaning "image-making" or "faculty of creating mental images." |
| Punjabi | The word "ਕਲਪਨਾ" (kalpana) in Punjabi is derived from Sanskrit and also means "creation, composition, or invention". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "imaginație" derives from the Latin "imaginatio", meaning "image" or "figure". |
| Russian | The word "воображение" also means "image" or "idea" in Russian. |
| Samoan | Samoan word "mafaufauga" also means "thought", "dream", or "reflection". |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word 'mac-meanmna' also refers to the faculty of reason and is related to the Old Irish word for 'thought' ('menme'). |
| Serbian | The word “машта” also refers to a type of folklore in Serbia |
| Sesotho | "Monahano" in Sesotho derives from "nahana," meaning "to hide" or "to conceal". |
| Shona | 'Fungidziro' also means 'imagination' in English, but it literally translates to 'the act of being creative'. |
| Sindhi | The word "تخیل" is also used to refer to someone who is thought to have magical powers, or to a kind of sorcery |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "පරිකල්පනය" is derived from the Sanskrit word "परिकल्पन" (parikalpana), which means "a mental construction" or "a hypothesis". |
| Slovak | Predstavivosť originates from the verb 'predstaviť', which means 'to present' or 'to imagine'. |
| Slovenian | In Slovenian, "domišljija" can also mean "conceit" or "vanity". |
| Somali | The word "male" in Somali also means "to think" or "to ponder". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "imaginación" has the added meaning of "image creation" and is the root of "imagen" (image). |
| Sundanese | The word 'imajinasi' (imagination) derives from the Sanskrit word 'kalpa', which means 'to imagine' or 'to create'. |
| Swahili | "Mawazo" also means "thoughts" and is related to the Swahili word "waza," meaning "to think." |
| Swedish | In the plural form, 'fantasier' means 'daydreams' in Swedish. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | In Old Tagalog, "imahinasyon" meant "mental image". It now also means imagination. |
| Tajik | The word "хаёлот" has roots in the Persian word "خيال" (khayāl), meaning "idea", "vision", or "fantasy". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "கற்பனை" (kalpana) also means "conception" or "creativity". |
| Telugu | Imagination is derived from the Latin word "imaginatio", which means "the act of forming a mental image or idea". Additionally, "ination" is also used to refer to a person's creative or artistic abilities. |
| Thai | In classical Thai language, "จินตนาการ" means "to create an image", while the alternate spelling "จิตนาการ" means "to imagine or to conceive of". |
| Turkish | Hayal gücü is derived from the Arabic word hayal, meaning 'image' or 'phantom', and the Turkish suffix -gücü, meaning 'power' or 'ability'. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "фантазія" is derived from the Greek word "φαντασία," which also means "appearance" or "illusion." |
| Urdu | "تخیل" derives from the same root as "create" and "cause to be", suggesting the active role of the imagination in bringing forth new realities. |
| Uzbek | The word "tasavvur" can also refer to a "picture" or a "vision". |
| Vietnamese | The Vietnamese word "trí tưởng tượng" is a compound word formed from the Sino-Vietnamese words "trí" (mind) and "tưởng tượng" (illusion). |
| Welsh | "Dychymyg" is the Welsh word for imagination, and comes from the roots "dychyn", meaning "thought" or "feeling" and "myg", meaning "something formed or shaped". |
| Xhosa | Intelekelelo shares a root with the verb ‘ukuqonda,” meaning to understand. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word for 'imagination,' פאַנטאַזיע, also means 'illusion' or 'fantasy,' hinting at the potential dangers of an overly vivid imagination. |
| Yoruba | "Oju inu" in Yoruba is said to relate to "mental eyes". It can also be used to describe a vivid daydream, but it is a more concrete concept than the abstract notion of imagination. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, the word 'umcabango' can also mean 'a plan' or 'a scheme' |
| English | Though most people connect 'image' in 'imagination' to a visual sense, it is etymologically connected to 'imitation,' as both come from the Latin root 'imitari'. |