Laugh in Different Languages
Discover 'Laugh' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Laugh
Afrikaans lag | ||
Albanian qesh | ||
Amharic ሳቅ | ||
Arabic يضحك | ||
Armenian ծիծաղել | ||
Assamese হাঁহি | ||
Aymara laruña | ||
Azerbaijani gülmək | ||
Bambara ka yɛlɛ | ||
Basque barre egin | ||
Belarusian смяяцца | ||
Bengali হাসি | ||
Bhojpuri हँसल | ||
Bosnian smijati se | ||
Bulgarian смейте се | ||
Catalan riu | ||
Cebuano katawa | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 笑 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 笑 | ||
Corsican ride | ||
Croatian smijeh | ||
Czech smích | ||
Danish grine | ||
Dhivehi ހުނުން | ||
Dogri हास्सा | ||
Dutch lach | ||
English laugh | ||
Esperanto ridu | ||
Estonian naerma | ||
Ewe ko nu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) tumawa | ||
Finnish nauraa | ||
French rire | ||
Frisian laitsje | ||
Galician rir | ||
Georgian სიცილი | ||
German lachen | ||
Greek γέλιο | ||
Guarani puka | ||
Gujarati હસવું | ||
Haitian Creole ri | ||
Hausa dariya | ||
Hawaiian ʻakaʻaka | ||
Hebrew לִצְחוֹק | ||
Hindi हसना | ||
Hmong luag | ||
Hungarian nevetés | ||
Icelandic hlátur | ||
Igbo chia ochi | ||
Ilocano agkatawa | ||
Indonesian tertawa | ||
Irish gáire | ||
Italian ridere | ||
Japanese 笑い | ||
Javanese ngguyu | ||
Kannada ನಗು | ||
Kazakh күлу | ||
Khmer សើច | ||
Kinyarwanda aseka | ||
Konkani हांसो | ||
Korean 웃음 | ||
Krio laf | ||
Kurdish ken | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێکەنین | ||
Kyrgyz күлүү | ||
Lao ຫົວເລາະ | ||
Latin risu | ||
Latvian smieties | ||
Lingala koseka | ||
Lithuanian juoktis | ||
Luganda okuseka | ||
Luxembourgish laachen | ||
Macedonian се смее | ||
Maithili हंसी | ||
Malagasy ihomehezana | ||
Malay ketawa | ||
Malayalam ചിരിക്കുക | ||
Maltese tidħaq | ||
Maori katakata | ||
Marathi हसणे | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯅꯣꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo nui | ||
Mongolian инээх | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရယ်တယ် | ||
Nepali हाँसो | ||
Norwegian latter | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kuseka | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହସିବା | ||
Oromo kolfuu | ||
Pashto خندل | ||
Persian خنده | ||
Polish śmiech | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) rir | ||
Punjabi ਹਾਸਾ | ||
Quechua asiy | ||
Romanian a rade | ||
Russian смех | ||
Samoan ata | ||
Sanskrit हासः | ||
Scots Gaelic gàireachdainn | ||
Sepedi sega | ||
Serbian смех | ||
Sesotho tsheha | ||
Shona seka | ||
Sindhi کلڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සිනාසෙන්න | ||
Slovak smiať sa | ||
Slovenian smeh | ||
Somali qosol | ||
Spanish risa | ||
Sundanese seuri | ||
Swahili cheka | ||
Swedish skratt | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) tawanan | ||
Tajik хандидан | ||
Tamil சிரிக்கவும் | ||
Tatar көлү | ||
Telugu నవ్వు | ||
Thai หัวเราะ | ||
Tigrinya ሰሓቅ | ||
Tsonga hleka | ||
Turkish gülmek | ||
Turkmen gül | ||
Twi (Akan) sere | ||
Ukrainian сміятися | ||
Urdu ہنسنا | ||
Uyghur كۈلۈش | ||
Uzbek kulmoq | ||
Vietnamese cười | ||
Welsh chwerthin | ||
Xhosa hleka | ||
Yiddish לאכן | ||
Yoruba rerin | ||
Zulu hleka |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | In Afrikaans, the word "lag" has a secondary meaning of "to be successful". |
| Albanian | "Qesh" also refers to a type of Albanian dance. |
| Amharic | The word |
| Arabic | The Arabic verb يضحك (yaḍḥak) also means "to make laugh" or "to smile", and its literal meaning is "to show the teeth."} |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "ծիծաղել" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷek-, meaning "to cry out or make a noise" |
| Azerbaijani | The word "gülmək" in Azerbaijani is derived from the Proto-Turkic root *gül-, meaning "to shine" or "to smile". |
| Basque | The word for "laugh" in Basque, "barre egin," can also mean "to make fun of someone" or "to mock." |
| Belarusian | Смяяцца also means "to mock", cognate with Russian смеяться |
| Bengali | The word 'হাসি' ('laugh') in Bengali also refers to 'smile', 'joy', 'mirth', or 'glee'. |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, the word "smijati se" can also mean "to smile" or "to be amused". |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "смейте се" not only means "laugh" but is also used to express sarcasm. |
| Catalan | "Rire" in French, "ridere" in Italian and "reír" in Spanish all come from the Latin word "rīdēre", which means "to laugh". "Riu" in Catalan is a dialectal variant deriving from the same Latin root, but its use is limited to informal or regional contexts. |
| Cebuano | "Katawa" is also a term used to describe a person with a physical disability. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 笑 in Chinese can also mean “a smile” or a “joke”. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The etymology of 笑, meaning “laugh,” can be traced back to a character that depicts a person with an open mouth and a large belly, suggesting laughter and joy. |
| Corsican | "Ride" can also mean "to ridicule" or "to mock" in Corsican. |
| Croatian | "Smijeh" comes from the Proto-Slavic *směxъ, also meaning "ridicule". |
| Czech | The word "smích" also means "scorn" in Czech. |
| Danish | The Danish word "grine" can also mean "to sneer" or "to make a face". |
| Dutch | In addition to its primary meaning of "laugh," "lach" in Dutch can also refer to a layer of ice or snow. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "ridu" comes from the Latin word "ridere", which also means "to laugh" and is the root of the English word "ridicule". |
| Estonian | The Estonian word "naerma" also means 'to snort' in the context of animals. |
| Finnish | The word 'nauraa' is derived from Proto-Uralic *nawra- or *nawra- meaning 'to joke' or 'to tease'. |
| French | "Rire" can also mean "smile" or figuratively "make fun of" in French. |
| Frisian | The word "laitsje" can also mean "to grin" or "to smile". |
| Galician | The Galician word "rir" is derived from the Latin verb "ridere" and is also used in Occitan and Catalan. |
| Georgian | The term also signifies laughter as a social gesture and can indicate happiness, surprise, amusement, sarcasm, irony, or hostility. |
| German | The German word "Lachen" is derived from the Old High German word "lahhan" and is related to the English word "laughter". |
| Greek | Cognate with English 'glee' (Middle English 'gle'), and 'gloat' (Middle English 'gloten') |
| Gujarati | In Sanskrit, the word 'हस' ('has') means to 'sport, wanton, play' and was extended to include 'laughter'. |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word 'ri' is derived from the French word 'rire', which also means 'to laugh' or 'to smile'. |
| Hausa | In Hausa, "dariya" can also mean "foolishness" or "madness". |
| Hawaiian | 'Aka'aka' is also a term for a type of tree in the acacia family that is native to Polynesia. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "לִצְחוֹק" can also mean "to mock" or "to make fun of". |
| Hindi | The Hindi word "हसना" can also mean "to smile" or "to be happy". |
| Hmong | In addition to meaning "laugh," "luag" can also mean "happy," "joking," or "smile" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "nevetés" also means "amusement" or "entertainment." |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "hlátur" derives from an Indo-European root that also means "to shine" or "to gleam". |
| Igbo | The word 'chia ochi' in Igbo is also used to describe the act of 'showing one's teeth,' as in a smile or grin. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word "tertawa" has roots in Sanskrit, and can also refer to smiling or chuckling. |
| Irish | The word 'gáire' can also mean 'shout' or 'cry'. |
| Italian | "Ridere" is related to the Latin verb "ridere" which means "to open one's mouth wide". |
| Japanese | 笑い (warai) can also refer to a type of Buddhist performance art, a humorous anecdote, or a joke. |
| Javanese | The Javanese word “ngguyu” can also mean “smile”, but it is used more frequently to describe the act of laughing aloud. |
| Kannada | ನಗು is derived from the Dravidian root *nak-*, which also means 'to smile' or 'to make fun of' |
| Kazakh | The word "күлу" also means "to smile" and "to make somebody laugh" in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | The word "សើច" can also refer to the sound of breathing or the bubbling of water. |
| Korean | The word "웃음" (laugh) is also used as a general term for "amusement" or "entertainment". |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, the word "ken" not only means "to laugh" but also "to be happy". |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "күлүү" can also refer to the sparkling of stars or the twinkling of eyes. |
| Lao | ຫົວເລາະ can also refer to the action of mocking or teasing someone or describing something as ridiculous or absurd. |
| Latin | Latin "risus" can also mean "smile" or "a laughing face". |
| Latvian | Latvian "smieties" is related to German "schmunzeln" "to smile" and English "smerk" "to smile with smug satisfaction." |
| Lithuanian | Cognate to the Latin "iocus", meaning "joke". |
| Luxembourgish | In Old High German, "lachen" meant "to make noise, to talk, to babble." |
| Macedonian | The Macedonian word "се смее" can also mean "to mock" or "to ridicule". |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "ihomehezana" also means "to mock" or "to tease". |
| Malay | The Malay word "ketawa" is cognate with the Javanese "ketiwi" and the Sundanese "kecapi", suggesting a common Austronesian root for the term. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word |
| Maori | The Maori word "katakata" can also refer to jokes, humour or a sense of humour. |
| Marathi | The word "हसणे" (Hasne) is derived from the Sanskrit word "हसि" (Hasi), meaning "to smile" or "to make a pleased sound". It can also refer to the act of expressing amusement or joy. |
| Mongolian | 'Инээх' also means 'to breathe' and derives from the Altaic root *in-/*inǝ-/*ine- which appears in many languages such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish. |
| Nepali | "हाँसो" is related to the Sanskrit root "हस," which also means "to laugh. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "latter" can also mean "to search" or "to look for". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "kuseka" in Nyanja can also mean "to be happy" or "to have fun." |
| Pashto | In Pashto, "خندل" also has the secondary meaning of "to smile" or "to show teeth". |
| Persian | The Persian word "خنده" (khende) can also mean "a joke" or "a smile". |
| Polish | The Polish word "śmiech" can also refer to a type of mushroom. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Rir" (to laugh) comes from the Latin "ridere," which also means "to smile" or "to grin." |
| Punjabi | The word "ਹਾਸਾ" (laugh) is also used to refer to a witty or humorous remark in Punjabi. |
| Romanian | In Romanian, 'a rade' means 'to laugh', but it also has a secondary meaning of 'to shave' or 'to scrape'. |
| Russian | "Смех" in Russian can also refer to a mocking expression or sarcasm. |
| Samoan | "Ata" is also a noun meaning "dawn". |
| Serbian | The word "смех" in Serbian is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *směk-, meaning "to smile". |
| Sesotho | Sesotho word "tsheha" can also refer to a plant that is used in medicine, similar to "sage" in English. |
| Shona | The word "seka" can also mean "to ridicule" or "to mock" in Shona. |
| Sindhi | In Sindhi, the word "کلڻ" also refers to "make noise" or "to cry" in certain contexts. |
| Slovak | "Smiať sa" also means "to dare" and may be related to the word "smiet'", which means "garbage" or "trash" |
| Slovenian | The word "smeh" can also mean "ridicule" or "mockery" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | The Somali word "qosol" is related to the Amharic word "qosol", meaning "song". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, ``risa'' (derived from Latin ``risus'') is commonly used to mean chuckle, laughter, or giggle |
| Sundanese | The word "seuri" in Sundanese also means "to smile" or "to grin". |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "Cheka" is also used as a slang term to refer to the act of gossiping or spreading rumors. |
| Swedish | Skratt, meaning 'to laugh', comes from the Old English 'scræcan' which signifies to make a loud noise. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "tawanan" can also refer to a place of laughter or amusement. |
| Tajik | The word "хандидан" also means "to smile" in Tajik. |
| Telugu | "నవ్వు" (laugh) is also used as a noun to mean "laughter". |
| Thai | "หัว" (hua) means "head" and "เราะ" (rao) means "to laugh". |
| Turkish | 'Gülmek' also means 'to bloom' in Turkish, hence its association with the beauty of a flower. |
| Ukrainian | The word "сміятися" also means "to smile" in Ukrainian. |
| Urdu | The word "ہنسنا" (laugh) is derived from the Sanskrit word "हंस" (swan), which was used to describe the graceful and melodious sound of a swan's call. |
| Uzbek | The word "kulmoq" can also mean "to be joyful" or "to express amusement" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | The word "cười" also means "to smile" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | A chwerthin' ('to laugh') comes fr a root in *k(w)er- with sense 'bend, crook'. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "hleka" also means "to be satisfied". |
| Yiddish | "לאכן" comes from Middle High German "lachen", itself from Proto-West Germanic "*hlahhan". |
| Yoruba | Rerin is also a Yoruba term for laughter. |
| Zulu | The word 'hleka' originates from the Proto-Bantu verb *kɛka, and also has the meaning 'look' in Zulu. |
| English | The word "laugh" is derived from the Middle English word "laggen", which itself comes from the Old Norse word "hlakka". |