Improve in Different Languages
Discover 'Improve' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'improve' holds a significant place in our daily lives, pushing us to be better and do better. It's a cultural cornerstone, a driving force that encourages growth, learning, and development in all aspects of life. From language to technology, from personal relationships to global economies, the concept of improvement is universal and essential.
Throughout history, the pursuit of improvement has led to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations. It's the very essence of human progress, a testament to our resilience and determination. But what does 'improve' mean in different languages, and how does this simple word resonate with people across the globe?
Understanding the translation of 'improve' in various languages can provide valuable insights into different cultures and their unique perspectives on growth and progress. For instance, in Spanish, 'improve' translates to 'mejorar,' while in French, it becomes 'améliorer.' In Mandarin, the word for improve is '提高,' and in German, it's 'verbessern.'
Join us as we explore the many translations of 'improve' and delve into the fascinating cultural contexts that surround this simple, yet powerful word.
Improve
Improve in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | verbeter | ||
| In Afrikaans, `verbeter` comes from the Late Latin `verbitare`, meaning `to change into a word.` | |||
| Amharic | ማሻሻል | ||
| The word "ማሻሻል" is derived from the Amharic root word "ሻሻ", meaning "to become good". | |||
| Hausa | inganta | ||
| The word "inganta" in Hausa is derived from the Arabic word "inghat"," meaning "amendment" or "correction", and also signifies "progress" or "advancement". | |||
| Igbo | melite | ||
| Igbo "melite" originates from "melie" (to sweeten, to make tasty). | |||
| Malagasy | manatsara | ||
| "Manatsara" is derived from the root word "atsara," which means "to adjust" or "to make right." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kusintha | ||
| The verb "kusintha" can also mean to repair, change for the better, alter, renovate, adjust, or convert. | |||
| Shona | kunatsiridza | ||
| Somali | hagaajin | ||
| The word "hagaajin" is derived from the Arabic word "haajja", which means "to perform the Hajj pilgrimage". It can also refer to the act of making something better or more perfect. | |||
| Sesotho | ntlafatsa | ||
| The word "ntlafatsa" also means "to make better" or "to enhance". | |||
| Swahili | kuboresha | ||
| The Swahili word "kuboresha" is derived from the Arabic word "hurūsh" meaning "money" or "wealth". | |||
| Xhosa | phucula | ||
| The word 'phucula' also means 'to recover from an illness', 'to repair', or 'to rectify'. | |||
| Yoruba | mu dara si | ||
| The Yoruba word "mu dara si" can also mean "to make beautiful" or "to adorn". | |||
| Zulu | ngcono | ||
| The word "ngcono" comes from the root "gcona" meaning "to be straight" or "to be correct". Therefore, "ngcono" could possibly mean "to straighten out" or "to correct" which in turn could mean "to improve". | |||
| Bambara | ka fisaya | ||
| Ewe | yi ŋgɔ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | gutera imbere | ||
| Lingala | kobongisa | ||
| Luganda | okwongera okulongoosa | ||
| Sepedi | kaonafala | ||
| Twi (Akan) | tu mpɔn | ||
Improve in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | تحسن | ||
| The word "تحسن" is derived from the root "حسن" which also means "beauty" or "goodness". | |||
| Hebrew | לְשַׁפֵּר | ||
| לְשַׁפֵּר in Hebrew can also mean 'to be pleasant' and comes from a root meaning 'to be fair' in Aramaic. | |||
| Pashto | پرمختګ | ||
| The word "پرمختګ" can also mean "progress" or "advancement". | |||
| Arabic | تحسن | ||
| The word "تحسن" is derived from the root "حسن" which also means "beauty" or "goodness". | |||
Improve in Western European Languages
| Albanian | përmirësohen | ||
| The Albanian word "përmirësohen" comes from the Latin word "meliorare," meaning "to make better." | |||
| Basque | hobetu | ||
| The Basque word "hobetu" also means "to be beautiful" or "to be good." | |||
| Catalan | millorar | ||
| The Catalan verb "millorar" originally meant "to become better" or "to recover," especially from an illness. | |||
| Croatian | poboljšati | ||
| The verb "poboljšati" is cognate with the Bulgarian "подобрение" (improvement) and ultimately derives from the Slavic "boljь" (better). | |||
| Danish | forbedre | ||
| The word "forbedre" in Danish is derived from the Old Norse word "bota" meaning "to make better". | |||
| Dutch | verbeteren | ||
| 'Verbeteren' comes from the same root as 'verbetern', a nearly obsolete German word meaning 'to chastise' or 'to criticize'. | |||
| English | improve | ||
| The word 'improve' comes from the Latin word 'probare', meaning to test or approve. | |||
| French | améliorer | ||
| The word "améliorer" is derived from the Latin word "meliorare," meaning "to make better or improve." | |||
| Frisian | ferbetterje | ||
| The word "ferbetterje" in Frisian shares its origin with the English word "better" and the Dutch word "beter," all deriving from the Proto-Germanic root *betra-. | |||
| Galician | mellorar | ||
| The Galician word "mellorar" comes from the Latin "meliorāre", meaning "to make better", and is related to the English word "meliorate". | |||
| German | verbessern | ||
| "Verbessern" derives from a Middle High German term that meant "turn to good," highlighting the concept of transforming something from bad to good. | |||
| Icelandic | bæta | ||
| The word "bæta" is derived from the Old Norse word "bota", which means "to make better, to repair, or to amend." | |||
| Irish | feabhsú | ||
| The Irish word "feabhsú" comes from the root "feá" meaning "better" and refers to making something "more good". | |||
| Italian | ottimizzare | ||
| The Italian word "Ottimizzare" originates from the Latin word "Optimus", meaning "best". | |||
| Luxembourgish | verbesseren | ||
| The word "verbesseren" originally meant "to make better" in Luxembourgish, but it now also means "to fix" or "to repair". | |||
| Maltese | ittejjeb | ||
| The word "ittejjeb" is derived from the Arabic word "tayyab" which means "good" or "healthy". | |||
| Norwegian | forbedre | ||
| The word "forbedre" is derived from the Old Norse "bota, | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | melhorar | ||
| The original meaning of “melhorar” (“improve” in English) in Portuguese is the same as that of “to get better” in English, but it can also mean “to become better than”, “to improve oneself”, “to make better”, and “to get one's health back. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | adhartachadh | ||
| In the context of Gaelic literature and folklore, "adhartachadh" can also mean "mend" or "heal" in a wider sense | |||
| Spanish | mejorar | ||
| The Spanish word "mejorar" derives from the Latin "meliorare," which means "to make better," and is related to "melius," which means "better." | |||
| Swedish | förbättra | ||
| The word 'förbättra' has Indo-European roots and is related to the word 'better'. | |||
| Welsh | gwella | ||
| Welsh 'gwella' and Irish 'feall' share the same etymology with the meaning of 'better, improve', and are both ultimately traceable back to Proto-Celtic '*ǵʰʷéli-ós' with the same meaning. | |||
Improve in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | палепшыць | ||
| The word "палепшыць" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *po-lepšiti, which itself derives from *lěpъ, meaning "good" or "better." | |||
| Bosnian | poboljšati | ||
| The verb 'poboljšati' can also mean 'to improve oneself' or 'to make progress'. | |||
| Bulgarian | подобряване | ||
| The word "подобряване" ultimately comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "добрый" meaning "good". | |||
| Czech | zlepšit | ||
| The word "zlepšit" is derived from "lepšiti", meaning "to do something better or to make something prettier". | |||
| Estonian | parandada | ||
| The noun “parandada” also relates to the word “parandus” (correction) — both mean “improvement”, but “parandada” is used with a direct object, and “parandus” without one. | |||
| Finnish | parantaa | ||
| In older Finnish 'parantaa' meant to 'heal' a person or animal. | |||
| Hungarian | javítani | ||
| The word "javítani" is derived from the Proto-Uralic word *jawe-, meaning "to make straight". It also has the alternate meaning of "to repair". | |||
| Latvian | uzlabot | ||
| The Latvian word "uzlabot" is closely related to the Latin word "labor," meaning "work." | |||
| Lithuanian | tobulėti | ||
| The Lithuanian word "tobulėti" originally meant "to mature, to grow", and is related to the Latvian "tāpūt" (to become). | |||
| Macedonian | подобри | ||
| The word "подобри" (improve) in Macedonian comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*podbra-ti", which also means "to support" or "to help". | |||
| Polish | ulepszać | ||
| In Polish ulepszać can also mean "sweeten" or "make beautiful" depending on the context. | |||
| Romanian | îmbunătăţi | ||
| The word "îmbunătăţi" comes from the Latin word "bonitas" meaning "goodness" and has the alternate meaning of "embellish" in Romanian. | |||
| Russian | улучшить | ||
| The verb "улучшить" in Russian also means to "better" (one`s life). | |||
| Serbian | побољшати | ||
| The term "побољшати" originates from the Proto-Slavic root "boljь", referring to "well-being, better, more, advantage" | |||
| Slovak | vylepšiť | ||
| The word "vylepšiť" in Slovak is derived from the Old Czech word "liepiti", meaning "to make better". | |||
| Slovenian | izboljšati | ||
| The word "izboljšati" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *boljь, meaning "better". | |||
| Ukrainian | вдосконалити | ||
| The Ukrainian word "вдосконалити" is derived from the Slavic root "ved", meaning "to lead", suggesting the idea of "bringing to perfection".} | |||
Improve in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | উন্নতি | ||
| The Bengali word "উন্নতি" is etymologically related to "উন্নত" meaning "raised" or "high" in Sanskrit, indicating an upward trajectory of progress or advancement. | |||
| Gujarati | સુધારો | ||
| The Gujarati word "સુધારો" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-, meaning "to gather, to join," and also relates to the Sanskrit word "sadharana," meaning "common, ordinary." | |||
| Hindi | सुधारें | ||
| The word "सुधारें" also means "reform". | |||
| Kannada | ಸುಧಾರಿಸಿ | ||
| The word "ಸುಧಾರಿಸಿ" in Kannada is derived from the Sanskrit word "सुधारयति" (sudhārayati), which also means "to improve" or "to amend". | |||
| Malayalam | മെച്ചപ്പെടുത്തുക | ||
| Marathi | सुधारणे | ||
| "सुधारणे" ( verbessern ) kommt von "सुधार" ( Verbesserung ) und bedeutet "besser machen". | |||
| Nepali | सुधार गर्नुहोस् | ||
| The word "सुधार गर्नुहोस्" can also mean "to correct" or "to rectify" in Nepali. | |||
| Punjabi | ਸੁਧਾਰ | ||
| The word "ਸੁਧਾਰ" shares a root with "ਸੁਧ" (knowledge), suggesting a connection between improvement and acquisition of knowledge or understanding. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වැඩි දියුණු කරන්න | ||
| The word "improve" comes from the Old French word "emprover," which means "to make better or stronger." | |||
| Tamil | மேம்படுத்த | ||
| The Tamil word "மேம்படுத்த" (improve) is etymologically related to "மேல்" (above), implying a physical or metaphorical upward movement. | |||
| Telugu | మెరుగు | ||
| The word "మెరుగు" can also refer to the process of polishing or refining something. | |||
| Urdu | بہتر بنائیں | ||
| The word بہتر بنائیں originally meant "to make good" but has since come to mean "to improve". | |||
Improve in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 提高 | ||
| The word "提高" can also mean "to raise" or "to increase". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 提高 | ||
| Chinese 「提高」 literally means “raise up” and can also refer to increasing the height of something, such as a building or a bridge. | |||
| Japanese | 改善する | ||
| 改善する also means "to mend" or "to repair" in certain contexts. | |||
| Korean | 돌리다 | ||
| "돌리다" (improve) is a native Korean word, and it is not related to any Chinese characters. | |||
| Mongolian | сайжруулах | ||
| The word "сайжруулах" can also mean "to refine". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | တိုးတက်လာသည် | ||
Improve in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | memperbaiki | ||
| The word "memperbaiki" derives from the root "perbaiki" (to correct, to fix), which also means "to improve" or "to repair". | |||
| Javanese | nambah | ||
| The word "nambah" in Javanese can also mean "add" or "increase". | |||
| Khmer | ធ្វើឱ្យប្រសើរឡើង | ||
| Lao | ປັບປຸງ | ||
| ປັບປຸງ (Phap Phung) is a word borrowed from the Central Thai “ปรับปรุง” which means “improve, restore, or rebuild” and the word “ปรับ” in Lao means “adjust.” | |||
| Malay | memperbaiki | ||
| The Malay word "memperbaiki" originally meant "to make amends" or "to rectify". | |||
| Thai | ทำให้ดีขึ้น | ||
| The word "ทำให้ดีขึ้น" can also mean "to make better". | |||
| Vietnamese | cải tiến | ||
| Cải tiến (improve) has a literal meaning of "change for the better" | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mapabuti | ||
Improve in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | yaxşılaşdırmaq | ||
| The word "yaxşılaşdırmaq" comes from the Persian word "behsan" with same meaning. | |||
| Kazakh | жақсарту | ||
| Kyrgyz | өркүндөтүү | ||
| Tajik | беҳтар кардан | ||
| Turkmen | gowulaşdyrmak | ||
| Uzbek | yaxshilash | ||
| The word "yaxshilash" also has the alternate meaning of getting better, as recovering from an illness or doing better at school. | |||
| Uyghur | ياخشىلاش | ||
Improve in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hoʻomaikaʻi | ||
| The Hawaiian word "hoʻomaikaʻi" can also mean "to make beautiful" or "to make attractive." | |||
| Maori | whakapai ake | ||
| The phrase `whakapai ake` can also mean `to heal`, hence improving the overall wellbeing | |||
| Samoan | faaleleia | ||
| The word 'faaleleia' in Samoan can also mean 'to prepare' or 'to get ready'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | mapabuti | ||
| The word 'mapabuti' is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root word 'pabulit', meaning 'to become better'. | |||
Improve in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | askichaña | ||
| Guarani | moporãve | ||
Improve in International Languages
| Esperanto | plibonigi | ||
| The Esperanto word "plibonigi" is derived from the words "pli" (more) and "boni" (good), and also has the connotation of "mend" or "repair". | |||
| Latin | meliorem | ||
| "Meliorem" can also mean "best" or "superior" and is cognate with the English word "mellow". | |||
Improve in Others Languages
| Greek | βελτιώσει | ||
| The ancient Greek verb βελτιόω (beltiόō) originally meant "to be better" or "to surpass in excellence," reflecting the comparative form of the adjective βελτίων (beltíōn, "better"). | |||
| Hmong | txhim kho | ||
| The Hmong verb "txhim kho" derives from an Austroasiatic root meaning "to make grow" or "to increase in size." | |||
| Kurdish | serrastkirin | ||
| The word "serrastkirin" originally meant "to make new" or "to renew" in Old Kurdish. | |||
| Turkish | geliştirmek | ||
| "Geliştirmek" in Turkish, meaning "improve," is derived from the verb "gelmek" meaning "come," as well as the suffix "-dirmek," which indicates "to make." | |||
| Xhosa | phucula | ||
| The word 'phucula' also means 'to recover from an illness', 'to repair', or 'to rectify'. | |||
| Yiddish | פֿאַרבעסערן | ||
| The Yiddish word “פֿאַרבעסערן” comes from the German word “verbessern”, which also means “improve”. | |||
| Zulu | ngcono | ||
| The word "ngcono" comes from the root "gcona" meaning "to be straight" or "to be correct". Therefore, "ngcono" could possibly mean "to straighten out" or "to correct" which in turn could mean "to improve". | |||
| Assamese | উন্নত কৰা | ||
| Aymara | askichaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | सुधार | ||
| Dhivehi | ކުރިއަށްވުރެ ރަނގަޅު ކުރުން | ||
| Dogri | सुधारो | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | mapabuti | ||
| Guarani | moporãve | ||
| Ilocano | pasayaaten | ||
| Krio | bɛtɛ | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | باشترکردن | ||
| Maithili | बेहतर करु | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯐꯒꯠꯄ | ||
| Mizo | hmasawn | ||
| Oromo | fooyyessuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଉନ୍ନତି କର | | ||
| Quechua | allinchay | ||
| Sanskrit | विशोधयतु | ||
| Tatar | яхшырту | ||
| Tigrinya | አማዕብል | ||
| Tsonga | antswisa | ||