Impose in Different Languages
Discover 'Impose' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'impose' is a powerful one, carrying with it a sense of command and control. It signifies the act of demanding or requiring something from someone, often without their consent. This can be seen in various cultural contexts, where certain norms or expectations are imposed upon individuals, shaping their behavior and actions. For instance, in many Asian cultures, respect for elders is an unspoken rule, a social expectation that is imposed upon younger generations.
Moreover, understanding the translation of 'impose' in different languages can provide fascinating insights into how different cultures approach the concept of authority and expectation. For example, in Spanish, 'imponer' goes beyond simple imposition, often implying a sense of power or force. Meanwhile, in German, 'aufzwingen' not only means to impose but also to drill or inculcate, reflecting a didactic approach to imposition.
Join us as we explore the translations of 'impose' in various languages, shedding light on the rich cultural nuances that underpin this powerful word.
Impose
Impose in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | oplê | ||
| "Oplê" originates from the Dutch "opleggen" and had previously meant "to pay" but "to lay upon" is now its only meaning. | |||
| Amharic | አስገባ | ||
| The Amharic word "አስገባ" also has the alternate meaning of "to make enter" | |||
| Hausa | ɗorawa | ||
| Ɗorawa can also mean to 'weigh down' or 'burden' something. | |||
| Igbo | wetara | ||
| The verb 'wetara' is sometimes used to mean 'to be overbearing or domineering'. | |||
| Malagasy | hametraka | ||
| The word hametraka originates from the root word hametra, which means to press down on something with a heavy object, while hametatra refers to a state of being pressed down or burdened. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kakamiza | ||
| The word 'kakamiza' also means 'sit on' or 'step on', but is never used in this sense metaphorically. | |||
| Shona | gadza | ||
| The word 'gadza' can also mean 'to impose' or 'to put forward as a suggestion' in Shona. | |||
| Somali | soo rogo | ||
| The phrase "soo rogo" can also mean "to assign responsibility"} | |||
| Sesotho | qobella | ||
| Swahili | kulazimisha | ||
| The word 'kulazimisha' is derived from the Arabic word 'لزمه' meaning 'to be necessary' or 'to be obligatory'. | |||
| Xhosa | nyanzelisa | ||
| In Zulu, "nyanzelisa" also refers to "teaching or guiding someone through a difficult task". | |||
| Yoruba | fa | ||
| The word "fa" in Yoruba can also refer to "destiny" or "fate". | |||
| Zulu | ukubeka | ||
| In addition to its literal meaning, "ukubeka" also metaphorically refers to "placing someone in a difficult position" or "burdening them with a task or responsibility. | |||
| Bambara | ka jagoya | ||
| Ewe | ɖo nu ame dzi | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gushira | ||
| Lingala | kopusa na makasi | ||
| Luganda | okusibawo | ||
| Sepedi | lefiša | ||
| Twi (Akan) | fa hyɛ | ||
Impose in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | فرض | ||
| فرض can also refer to taxes, a required act or thing, a religious duty, assumption, and a hypothesis or theory. | |||
| Hebrew | לֶאֱכוֹף | ||
| The Hebrew word "לֶאֱכוֹף" ("impose") is derived from the root "אכף", meaning "to bend" or "to force" | |||
| Pashto | مسلط کول | ||
| "مسلط کول" is a Pashto verb that is derived from a combination of the Persian root word "سلط" meaning "authority" and the Pashto verb "کول" meaning "to load". This verb can imply both the imposition of force or authority, as well as the act of loading something onto someone or something else. | |||
| Arabic | فرض | ||
| فرض can also refer to taxes, a required act or thing, a religious duty, assumption, and a hypothesis or theory. | |||
Impose in Western European Languages
| Albanian | imponoj | ||
| The verb 'imponoj' in Albanian comes from the Latin word 'imponere', which means 'to put on or in'. | |||
| Basque | inposatu | ||
| In Basque, inposatu originates from Latin and also means "put, place". | |||
| Catalan | imposar | ||
| The verb "imposar" in Catalan comes from the Latin "imponere", which means "to put on" or "to place upon". It can also mean "to force" or "to compel". | |||
| Croatian | nametnuti | ||
| The Croatian word "nametnuti" originally meant to "put on" something, but now it is used to describe imposition or adding something unwanted. | |||
| Danish | pålægge | ||
| 'Pålægge' originates from the Old Norse word 'påleggja', meaning 'to lay on' or 'to impose' | |||
| Dutch | opleggen | ||
| The word "opleggen" also means "to burden" or "to charge". | |||
| English | impose | ||
| "Impose" originates from the Latin "imponere," meaning "to place upon" or "to lay on top of," reflecting its usage in senses denoting the application of something, burden, or influence. | |||
| French | imposer | ||
| In French, 'imposer' comes from the Latin word 'imponere', meaning 'to put on' or 'to place upon'. | |||
| Frisian | oplizze | ||
| The word "oplizze" comes from the Old Frisian word "oplizzia", meaning "to impose" or "to inflict". | |||
| Galician | impoñer | ||
| In Galician, "impoñer" also means to install, put on, or place something, such as clothing or a device. | |||
| German | auferlegen | ||
| "Auferlegen" in German goes back to Middle High German "ûflegen", which originally meant "to put on (clothes)", "to cover (something with cloth)" or "to wrap up (to warm something)". | |||
| Icelandic | leggja á | ||
| Leggja á ('impose') is also the archaic Icelandic term for 'to bet,' related to the Norwegian word 'legg' ('wager'). | |||
| Irish | a fhorchur | ||
| "A fhorchur" also means "to bring up an argument" or "to advance". | |||
| Italian | imporre | ||
| In Italian, "imporre" can also mean "to lay hands on", "to invest with", or "to confer an office or dignity upon". | |||
| Luxembourgish | opdrängen | ||
| "Opdrängen" originally described the action of pushing a door open and is now used in Luxembourgish to mean "impose". | |||
| Maltese | timponi | ||
| In Maltese, “timponi” has alternate meanings such as ‘order’ or ‘appoint’, which are rooted in its Latin origin “imponere” meaning to put upon or lay upon. | |||
| Norwegian | pålegge | ||
| "Pålegge" is cognate with the English word "leg", suggesting an underlying meaning of "put" or "place". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | impor | ||
| The word 'impor' comes from the Latin verb 'imponere', meaning 'to place upon' or 'to impose'. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | impose | ||
| In Scots Gaelic, "impose" can also mean "appoint" or "impose" a task. | |||
| Spanish | imponer | ||
| The Spanish word "imponer" also carries the alternate meaning of "to impress" or "to inspire awe". | |||
| Swedish | förelägga | ||
| From Middle Low German *vorelegghen*, from Old Saxon *foraleggian*. | |||
| Welsh | gosod | ||
| Gosod may derive from Proto-Indo-European roots that connect it to 'place, to put down', but is a loanword in modern Welsh that originally meant 'payment'. | |||
Impose in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | навязваць | ||
| The word "навязваць" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *navęzati, meaning "to tie on" or "to bind". | |||
| Bosnian | nametnuti | ||
| "Nametnuti" literally means "to put on" or "to place something on top of something else". | |||
| Bulgarian | налагам | ||
| Bulgarian "налагам" can also mean "to force" or "to apply". | |||
| Czech | vnucovat | ||
| The Czech word "vnucovat" shares its roots with the word "vnuk" (grandson), suggesting a sense of unwanted or burdensome influence. | |||
| Estonian | kehtestama | ||
| "Kehtestama" comes from "kehtestada" meaning "to establish" and is often used to describe the act of imposing a law or regulation. | |||
| Finnish | määrätä | ||
| The verb 'määrätä' also means 'to order', 'to command' or 'to define'. | |||
| Hungarian | kényszeríteni | ||
| It is a loanword from the Turkish "kendiremek", meaning "to restrain (an animal)" or "to tighten (a belt)" | |||
| Latvian | uzlikt | ||
| Derived from "uzlikt", meaning to place on or impose. | |||
| Lithuanian | primesti | ||
| "Primesti" shares the same Indo-European root as "primary" in English. | |||
| Macedonian | наметне | ||
| The word "наметне" can also mean "to put on" or "to place on top". | |||
| Polish | narzucać | ||
| The verb "narzucać" is a derivative of the noun "narzuta", which originally meant a blanket or a sheet. | |||
| Romanian | a impune | ||
| The Romanian word "a impune" is derived from the Latin word "imponere", which means "to place upon" or "to set in place". | |||
| Russian | навязывать | ||
| The Russian word "навязывать" can also mean "to force someone to do something against their will". | |||
| Serbian | наметати | ||
| "Наметати" can also mean "to accumulate" or "to heap up". | |||
| Slovak | uložiť | ||
| The word "uložiť" can also mean "to arrange" or "to deposit" in Slovak. | |||
| Slovenian | vsiliti | ||
| "Vslititi" originates from a Proto-Slavic verb *vъ-siliti, composed of *vъ-, meaning "in" and *siliti, meaning "to push". | |||
| Ukrainian | нав'язувати | ||
| The word "нав'язувати" in Ukrainian comes from the Old Church Slavonic root "вязь" ("связь"), meaning "connection" or "bond", and the prefix "на-" ("при-"), meaning "on" or "to", hence its meaning of "to impose" or "to force upon someone". | |||
Impose in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | চাপিয়ে দেওয়া | ||
| চাপিয়ে দেওয়া translates from Bengali 'পাওয়াইয়া দেওয়া,' which is ultimately derived from Sanskrit and originally meant being empowered by a deity. | |||
| Gujarati | લાદવું | ||
| "લાદવું" (impose) derives from Sanskrit root "laghu" (light) and means "to load lightly" or "to assign responsibilities." | |||
| Hindi | थोपना | ||
| The Hindi word "थोपना" (impose) is derived from the Sanskrit word "तप," meaning "to heat" or "to warm." | |||
| Kannada | ಹೇರಿ | ||
| The verb "ಹೇರಿ" in Kannada can also mean "to assign", "to fix", or "to impose a tax". | |||
| Malayalam | ചുമത്തുന്നതു | ||
| The word 'ചുമത്തുന്നതു' ('impose') is derived from the Latin word 'impositus', which means 'to place or put upon'. It can also mean 'to charge or burden' or 'to force or compel' someone to do something. | |||
| Marathi | लादणे | ||
| The Marathi word 'लादणे' can also refer to the act of loading something onto a vehicle or animal. | |||
| Nepali | थोप्नुहोस् | ||
| थोप्नुहोस् comes from the Sanskrit word स्थापयति (sthāpayati), meaning "to establish" or "to place." | |||
| Punjabi | ਥੋਪੋ | ||
| The word "ਥੋਪੋ" (thopo) in Punjabi is derived from Sanskrit "sthāpayati", meaning "to establish", "to set up", or "to fix". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | පැනවීම | ||
| The word "පැනවීම" shares the same root with the word "පන", meaning "oath" or "promise". | |||
| Tamil | திணிக்கவும் | ||
| Telugu | విధించండి | ||
| Urdu | مسلط کرنا | ||
Impose in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 强加 | ||
| "强加" 一词源自古汉语中的 "强", 意指用力或强制, 引申为强迫或施加; "加" 则表示添加或附加, 因此 "强加" 具有强迫他人接受或施加意愿的意思。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 強加 | ||
| 強加源自佛教用語，意指強行灌輸教義或信仰給他人。 | |||
| Japanese | 課す | ||
| 課す literally means "to force someone to learn something" and also denotes "to punish" in Japanese | |||
| Korean | 두다 | ||
| The Korean word "두다" can also mean "put down" or "leave out". | |||
| Mongolian | ногдуулах | ||
| The word "ногдуулах" can also mean "to coerce" or "to force". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စည်းကမ်းချက် | ||
Impose in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | memaksakan | ||
| The verb memaksakan is derived from the noun paksa, which means "force" or "compulsion." | |||
| Javanese | nemtokke | ||
| Nemtokke is taken from the word 'tumtok', which originally means to put something on or in place. | |||
| Khmer | ដាក់បន្ទុក | ||
| The word “ដាក់បន្ទុក” literally means to “put pressure on” and may refer to the imposition of taxes, fines, or other burdens, as well as more generally to the act of coercing someone to do something against their will | |||
| Lao | ບັງຄັບ | ||
| The word "ບັງຄັບ" is also used in the context of traditional Lao medicine, referring to the use of supernatural powers to treat illness. | |||
| Malay | memaksakan | ||
| "Memaksakan" also means "force in" or "thrust in". | |||
| Thai | กำหนด | ||
| The Thai word "กำหนด" comes from the Sanskrit word "niyama", meaning "rule" or "law". | |||
| Vietnamese | áp đặt | ||
| Áp đặt derives from Chinese, where it also means 'to fix in position,' hence its alternate use in the context of construction work | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | magpataw | ||
Impose in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | tətbiq | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "tətbiq" also means "request". This has no relation to its meaning as "impose". | |||
| Kazakh | жүктеу | ||
| The Kazakh word "жүктеу" also means "to lift" or "to carry". | |||
| Kyrgyz | таңуулоо | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "таңуулоо" ("impose") is also used in other contexts such as "to impose silence on someone" or "to impose a tax". | |||
| Tajik | таҳмил кардан | ||
| The word "таҳмил кардан" is derived from the Arabic word "حمل" (hamala), meaning "to carry" or "to bear a burden". | |||
| Turkmen | salmak | ||
| Uzbek | yuklamoq | ||
| "Yuklamoq" also means "to get out of bed or car" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | impose | ||
Impose in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hoʻokau | ||
| In a compound hoʻokau can indicate a repetitive or habitual quality of a verb. | |||
| Maori | whakatau | ||
| The Maori word "whakatau" can also mean "to meet" or "to greet". | |||
| Samoan | faʻamalosi | ||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | magpataw | ||
| "Magpataw" is also a colloquial term meaning to put something down temporarily, like a burden. | |||
Impose in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | nukt'aña | ||
| Guarani | japouka | ||
Impose in International Languages
| Esperanto | trudi | ||
| Esperanto's "trudi" derives from Romance languages where it means "push," "press," or "shove". | |||
| Latin | imponeret | ||
| The Latin word "imponere" can also mean "to put on" or "to place upon". | |||
Impose in Others Languages
| Greek | επιβάλλω | ||
| In modern Greek, επιβάλλω can also have the connotation of 'apply' or 'command'. | |||
| Hmong | yaum | ||
| The word "yaum" in Hmong can also mean "set up" when referring to an object or "create" when referring to an event. | |||
| Kurdish | ferz kirin | ||
| The word "ferz kirin" can also refer to the act of compelling someone to do something against their will. | |||
| Turkish | empoze etmek | ||
| Turkish 'empoze etmek' comes from Latin 'imponere' which means 'to place upon' and is also used to refer to a ruler being placed upon a throne. | |||
| Xhosa | nyanzelisa | ||
| In Zulu, "nyanzelisa" also refers to "teaching or guiding someone through a difficult task". | |||
| Yiddish | אָנטאָן | ||
| The Yiddish word “אָנטאָן” comes from the German word “antun”, meaning to “put on” or “apply”. | |||
| Zulu | ukubeka | ||
| In addition to its literal meaning, "ukubeka" also metaphorically refers to "placing someone in a difficult position" or "burdening them with a task or responsibility. | |||
| Assamese | আৰোপ কৰা | ||
| Aymara | nukt'aña | ||
| Bhojpuri | थोपल | ||
| Dhivehi | އިމްޕޯސް | ||
| Dogri | लागू करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | magpataw | ||
| Guarani | japouka | ||
| Ilocano | ipilit | ||
| Krio | fos | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | سەپاندن | ||
| Maithili | थोपनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯅꯝꯐꯨꯗ ꯆꯠꯅꯍꯟꯕ | ||
| Mizo | tawrh tir | ||
| Oromo | irra kaa'uu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଲଗାନ୍ତୁ | | ||
| Quechua | kamachiy | ||
| Sanskrit | आ- सज् | ||
| Tatar | кертү | ||
| Tigrinya | ፀዓነ | ||
| Tsonga | vekela | ||