Lake in Different Languages
Discover 'Lake' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Lake
Afrikaans meer | ||
Albanian liqeni | ||
Amharic ሐይቅ | ||
Arabic بحيرة | ||
Armenian լիճ | ||
Assamese হ্ৰদ | ||
Aymara quta | ||
Azerbaijani göl | ||
Bambara dala | ||
Basque lakua | ||
Belarusian возера | ||
Bengali হ্রদ | ||
Bhojpuri झील | ||
Bosnian jezero | ||
Bulgarian езеро | ||
Catalan llac | ||
Cebuano linaw | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 湖 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 湖 | ||
Corsican lavu | ||
Croatian jezero | ||
Czech jezero | ||
Danish sø | ||
Dhivehi ފެންގަނޑު | ||
Dogri झील | ||
Dutch meer | ||
English lake | ||
Esperanto lago | ||
Estonian järv | ||
Ewe tɔgbada | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) lawa | ||
Finnish järvi | ||
French lac | ||
Frisian mar | ||
Galician lago | ||
Georgian ტბა | ||
German see | ||
Greek λίμνη | ||
Guarani ypa | ||
Gujarati તળાવ | ||
Haitian Creole lak | ||
Hausa tabki | ||
Hawaiian loko | ||
Hebrew אֲגַם | ||
Hindi झील | ||
Hmong pas dej | ||
Hungarian tó | ||
Icelandic vatn | ||
Igbo ọdọ | ||
Ilocano dan-aw | ||
Indonesian danau | ||
Irish loch | ||
Italian lago | ||
Japanese 湖 | ||
Javanese tlaga | ||
Kannada ಸರೋವರ | ||
Kazakh көл | ||
Khmer បឹង | ||
Kinyarwanda ikiyaga | ||
Konkani तळें | ||
Korean 호수 | ||
Krio watasay | ||
Kurdish gol | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دەریاچە | ||
Kyrgyz көл | ||
Lao ທະເລສາບ | ||
Latin lacus | ||
Latvian ezers | ||
Lingala laki | ||
Lithuanian ežeras | ||
Luganda enyanja | ||
Luxembourgish séi | ||
Macedonian езеро | ||
Maithili झील | ||
Malagasy farihy | ||
Malay tasik | ||
Malayalam തടാകം | ||
Maltese lag | ||
Maori roto | ||
Marathi लेक | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯄꯥꯠ | ||
Mizo dil | ||
Mongolian нуур | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရေကန် | ||
Nepali ताल | ||
Norwegian innsjø | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nyanja | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହ୍ରଦ | ||
Oromo haroo | ||
Pashto جهيل | ||
Persian دریاچه | ||
Polish jezioro | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) lago | ||
Punjabi ਝੀਲ | ||
Quechua qucha | ||
Romanian lac | ||
Russian озеро | ||
Samoan vaituloto | ||
Sanskrit सरोवरः | ||
Scots Gaelic loch | ||
Sepedi letsha | ||
Serbian језеро | ||
Sesotho letšeng | ||
Shona lake | ||
Sindhi ن | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) විල | ||
Slovak jazero | ||
Slovenian jezero | ||
Somali haro | ||
Spanish lago | ||
Sundanese danau | ||
Swahili ziwa | ||
Swedish sjö | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) lawa | ||
Tajik кӯл | ||
Tamil ஏரி | ||
Tatar күл | ||
Telugu సరస్సు | ||
Thai ทะเลสาบ | ||
Tigrinya ቃላይ | ||
Tsonga tiva | ||
Turkish göl | ||
Turkmen köl | ||
Twi (Akan) sutadeɛ | ||
Ukrainian озеро | ||
Urdu جھیل | ||
Uyghur كۆل | ||
Uzbek ko'l | ||
Vietnamese hồ nước | ||
Welsh llyn | ||
Xhosa ichibi | ||
Yiddish טייך | ||
Yoruba adagun | ||
Zulu ichibi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "meer" derives from Dutch and also means "sea" or "ocean". |
| Albanian | The word "liqeni" in Albanian is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *leikʷ-, meaning "to flow" or "to pour". It is also cognate with the Latin word "lacus" and the Greek word "λίμνη" (limnē), both of which also mean "lake". |
| Amharic | The word "ሐይቅ" (lake) is also used to refer to a large body of water, such as a sea or ocean. |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "بحيرة" literally means "sea in a land" and is often used to describe large, inland bodies of water. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word |
| Azerbaijani | Göl also means ''the shadow of trees falling on the water'' |
| Basque | The word laku is also the name of a fish species in Basque (a small fish common in rivers). |
| Belarusian | Belarusian word 'возера' originates from the old Slavic word 'взеро', which means 'a small body of water' |
| Bengali | "হ্রদ" also means 'heart' or 'joy' |
| Bosnian | Bosnian 'Jezero' may derive from Slavic word 'jezero', Old Church Slavonic 'jezero' (lake), and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European root '*h₁éǵʰros' (water). |
| Bulgarian | The word "езеро" (lake) is related to the Proto-Slavic word *jezero, meaning "swamp, water-filled depression" and is often used in Bulgarian for artificial lakes as well. |
| Catalan | In some geographical locations, the term "llac" is also synonymous with a smaller water body known as a "pond". |
| Cebuano | Linaw comes from Malay **linau** which also means 'lake' or 'sea' and comes from Sanskrit **lindu** which means 'marshland'. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character "湖" can also refer to the "Hugu" region in China, or to the "Hugu" ethnic group of China. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 湖's etymology is related to the shape of the lake, which is like a mouth with water flowing in. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word 'lavu' derives from the Italian word 'lago', meaning 'lake', and is also used to refer to a type of temporary shelter used by shepherds in Corsica. |
| Croatian | The word 'jezero' is an Indo-European root that means 'to flow' or 'to flood'. |
| Czech | In Czech, "jezero" means "lake" in the physical geographical sense, while "rybník" designates a smaller, artificial water body used for fish farming or recreation. |
| Danish | "Sø" is the Danish word for "lake" but also denotes a small, round, marshy pond. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "meer" is derived from the Old Germanic word "mari", meaning "sea", and can also refer to a large body of water that is not a sea. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "lago" comes from Italian, where it derives from the Latin word "lacus". In many languages, it also refers to a lagoon, as well as other bodies of water, such as gulfs, bays and straits. |
| Estonian | "Järv" may also refer to a wolverine in Estonian, derived from the Uralic word *jārwi. |
| Finnish | "Järvi" is also used in place names for bays like Pärnu, Lohja, and Kokemäki. |
| French | In toponymy, "Lac" often refers to a small body of water, swamp, or marshland, not necessarily a lake. |
| Frisian | The word "mar" in Frisian is also used in the context of a marshy or low-lying area. |
| Galician | Galician "lago" (lake) derives from the Latin "lacus" (lake, reservoir, pond, or puddle) and is cognate with Spanish "lago" (lake) and Portuguese "lago" (lake, lagoon, or swamp). |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "ტბა" (lake) is thought to derive from an Old Caucasian root meaning "water" or "flood." |
| German | The German word "See" is not only a noun for a lake, but also a verb that means "to see" or "to look at". |
| Greek | Ancient Greek 'limnē' (stagnant body of water), Latin 'limus' (mud), Lithuanian 'liūnas' (pool, swamp). |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, "lak" can mean either "milk" or "lake". |
| Hausa | "Tabki" is also used to refer to a temporary body of water that forms during the rainy season. |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, the word "loko" can also refer to a fishpond, a place for cultivation in a wetland area, or a container. |
| Hebrew | The name אֲגַם originally means a |
| Hindi | The word "झील" ('lake') is derived from Sanskrit 'jhal,' meaning 'depression' or 'hollow,' and has cognates in other Indo-Aryan languages, such as Bengali 'jhul' and Gujarati 'jhil'. |
| Hmong | Pas dej is a Hmong word that originally meant 'a space filled with water' and could refer to a lake, pond, or stream. |
| Hungarian | In addition to its primary meaning as 'lake', 'tó' can also refer to specific bodies of water, e.g. 'Fertő tó' (Lake Fertő), or to the accumulation of water in low-lying areas, e.g. 'tócsa' (puddle). |
| Icelandic | The word "vatn" is an Old Norse word and has a cognate in the Old English word "wæter", which means "water". |
| Igbo | The word "ọdọ" can also mean "river" or "stream" in Igbo, depending on the context. |
| Indonesian | "Danau" is borrowed from Sanskrit "danava", meaning "water". In Javanese, it also means "swamp" or "pond". |
| Irish | Loch originates from the Proto-Celtic root "*lak-o-", meaning "marshy place" or "lake." |
| Italian | The word "lago" also refers to a lagoon, a stretch of water separated from the sea by a sand dune. |
| Japanese | The character for 'lake' in Japanese (湖) is also used in the word 'country' (国), suggesting a historical connection to the idea of a lake as a source of life and settlement. |
| Javanese | Tlaga (lake) may also refer to the central area of a rice paddy or a collection of water that fills a depression in the ground. |
| Kannada | The word "ಸರೋವರ" is derived from the Sanskrit word "सरः" meaning "water" or "a pool". |
| Kazakh | The word "көл" in Kazakh can also refer to a "puddle" or an "inlet on a river used to water cattle." |
| Khmer | "បឹង" also refers to a type of water container, similar to a vat or a tub. |
| Korean | The word "호수" originates from the Sino-Korean word "湖水", which also means "lake water". In modern Korean, it can also refer to a "reservoir" or "pond". |
| Kurdish | The word 'gol' in Kurdish also means 'flower' and is used in place names and poetry. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "көл" (lake) is also used to refer to large bodies of water, such as the Caspian Sea, even though "көл" etymologically means "small body of water" in Turkic. |
| Latin | In Latin, 'lacus' not only refers to 'lake' but also indicates a cistern or pool of water, providing a reservoir for household use or religious rituals. |
| Latvian | The word "ezers" in Latvian is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂es- "water". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "ežeras" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*h₁éǵʰros" meaning "fish". |
| Luxembourgish | Séi's etymology is related to 'sea' and its Germanic root 'Saiw', which means 'standing water' or 'pool'. |
| Macedonian | The word "езеро" in Macedonian also refers to a small natural deposit of water that forms in the ground after heavy rains, usually in clay areas. |
| Malagasy | FARIHY derives from Arabic and also means "ocean". |
| Malay | "Tasik" also means "ocean" or "sea" in several Indonesian languages |
| Malayalam | The term തടാകം (lake) may also refer to a place of water scarcity during drought or a large well with stone steps |
| Maltese | In Maltese, "lag" can also mean "pitfall" or "trap" in a figurative sense. |
| Maori | The word "roto" can also refer to a swamp, lagoon, or any body of water. |
| Marathi | The word "लेक" (lake) is also used in Marathi to refer to a child or someone younger, and is often used as a term of endearment |
| Mongolian | "нуур" (lake) may also refer to a "wide expanse of water, such as a sea or ocean" |
| Nepali | "ताल" (lake) likely originates from Sanskrit and shares a connection to terms for plains, surfaces, and the sole of the foot. |
| Norwegian | The word "innsjø" originates from the Old Norse word "insi", meaning "inner sea". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'nyanja' also means 'great water body' in Nyanja, a language spoken in several countries in southeastern Africa. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "جهيل" can also refer to a pond, pool, lagoon or marsh |
| Persian | "دریاچه" in Persian shares its root with "دریا" (sea), reflecting the interconnectedness of water bodies in Persian culture. |
| Polish | "Jezioro" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *ozero, which also meant "pool," "pond" or "swamp". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "lago" comes from the Latin word "lacus", which also means "lake". |
| Punjabi | The word 'ਝੀਲ' can also refer to an enclosure or a place where water collects. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "lac" also means "paint" or "varnish" and derives from the Sanskrit word "laksha" meaning "lac resin" |
| Russian | The Russian word "озеро" (lake) is possibly related to the Indo-European root *eǵʰros, meaning "water" or "wet". |
| Samoan | In Samoan, the word “vaituloto” shares its root with the word “loto”, which means “innermost”, indicating the lake’s sacred status as the heart of the village. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic word 'loch' not only means 'lake', but it can also refer to a sea inlet or narrow bay. |
| Serbian | Although језеро means "lake" in Serbian, it originally referred to a large puddle or swamp, and its root "zer" is probably related to the word "earth". |
| Sesotho | In Lesotho, the word 'letšeng' also refers to marshy, often grass-lined areas of land. |
| Shona | In Shona, the word "dziva" can also refer to a pond, lagoon, or even a swimming pool. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "ن" (lake) shares a root with the Sanskrit word "नीर" (water), indicating its deep connection to aquatic environments. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word 'විල' ('lake') in Sinhala can also mean a 'puddle', 'pool', or 'pond', indicating a range of water bodies of varying sizes. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "jazero" can also be found in Polish and means a weir, a dam, or an area where water is stored. |
| Slovenian | The word 'jezero' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'ozero', which originally meant 'a place where water collects'. |
| Somali | The word "haro" can also refer to a large body of water, such as a sea or ocean. |
| Spanish | "Lago" comes from the same word stem as the Latin word "locus" and the Irish word "loch." |
| Sundanese | In addition to meaning "lake", "danau" is also used to refer to a large body of water such as a sea or ocean. |
| Swahili | The word Ziwa, meaning 'lake' in Swahili, originates from the Bantu word 'zi', which refers to 'a body of water', and the Swahili suffix '-wa', indicating 'a place where something is located'. |
| Swedish | The word "sjö" has the same origin as the Indo-European root for "sea," seen in English "sea" and German "See." |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word 'lawa' may also refer to 'a large body of standing water, other than a river or sea'. |
| Tajik | The word "кӯл" is also used to refer to a swamp or marsh. |
| Tamil | In Tamil, the word 'ஏரி' can also refer to an area of low-lying land containing water or a large pond, often associated with ancient temples. |
| Telugu | The Sanskrit word "sara" means "flowing"; as a Telugu word, "సరస్సు" can also mean a reservoir, which flows in and out |
| Thai | The word "ทะเลสาบ" can also refer to a lagoon or a reservoir, and it is derived from the Sanskrit word "talasara", meaning "water body". |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "göl" not only means "lake", but also originates from the ancient Turkic word "köl" meaning "depression" and "hollow." |
| Ukrainian | "Озеро" is of Proto-Slavic origin, and is cognate with the Polish "jezioro" and the Slovenian "jezero", both meaning "lake". |
| Urdu | "جھیل" is the Urdu word for lake, derived from the Sanskrit words "jhal" and "jhillika." |
| Uzbek | "Ko'l" in Uzbek may also refer to a pond or reservoir, and is cognate with the word "kol" in other Turkic languages, such as Turkish, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz. |
| Vietnamese | The Vietnamese word "hồ nước" can also refer to a pond or reservoir. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "llyn" shares roots with the Latin word "lacus," both meaning "lake or pool of water." |
| Xhosa | The word "ichibi" is thought to have originated from the Proto-Bantu term "*-hibi" or "*dibi". |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "טייך" can also refer to a pond, a river, or a puddle. |
| Yoruba | The word "adagun" also means "river" in Yoruba, and is related to the word "agbo", meaning "water". |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'ichibi' can also mean 'to be quiet' or 'to be still'. |
| English | In addition to its primary meaning as a large body of water, "lake" can also refer to a pool of molten rock beneath a volcano's surface. |