Left in Different Languages
Discover 'Left' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'left' carries significant meaning and cultural importance across the globe. Derived from the Old English 'lyft' meaning weak or idle, 'left' has come to represent a sense of direction, choice, and even political affiliation. In many Western cultures, being 'left-handed' was once viewed as a sign of the devil, while in modern times, it's simply a unique aspect of one's identity.
Moreover, the word 'left' has fascinating historical contexts. In ancient Greece, the left side was associated with the goddess Athena and symbolized wisdom and skill. Meanwhile, in Hinduism, the left side is often associated with the divine feminine and creativity.
Understanding the translation of 'left' in different languages can provide insight into these cultural nuances and broaden your perspective on the world. Here are a few examples:
- French: gauche
- Spanish: izquierdo
- German: links
- Mandarin: 左 (zuǒ)
- Japanese: 左 (hidari)
Left
Left in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | links | ||
| The word "links" in Afrikaans has different etymological and alternate meanings, including "sinister" and "awkward". | |||
| Amharic | ግራ | ||
| Alternate meanings of "ግራ" include "west" and "direction facing west." | |||
| Hausa | hagu | ||
| The Hausa word for "left" is also used in some dialects to mean "south." | |||
| Igbo | ekpe | ||
| In addition, "Èkpè" also literally means "the thing that is left" or "the last thing" in Igbo. | |||
| Malagasy | anka | ||
| "Anka" also means "to write" and "to be different". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kumanzere | ||
| The word "kumanzere" is a compound of the root "manzere" (south) and the prefix "ku-" (to), indicating the direction "to the south". | |||
| Shona | ruboshwe | ||
| The word 'ruboshwe' can also refer to the west or the direction of the setting sun. | |||
| Somali | bidix | ||
| The word "bidix" in Somali means "left", but can also refer to the north or the west. | |||
| Sesotho | ka ho le letšehali | ||
| The word "ka ho le letšehali" (left) can also mean "the opposite direction of right" or "the western direction". | |||
| Swahili | kushoto | ||
| In Swahili, "kushoto" also means on the west side of something. | |||
| Xhosa | khohlo | ||
| The Xhosa word "khohlo" may also refer to being "weak" or "foolish." | |||
| Yoruba | osi | ||
| 'Òsí' also means the 'foot' and it is from this usage that the word derived its figurative usage. | |||
| Zulu | kwesokunxele | ||
| The word "kwesokunxele" in Zulu also means "the side of the heart" and "the side of the body where the heart is". | |||
| Bambara | numan | ||
| Ewe | mia me | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ibumoso | ||
| Lingala | loboko ya mwasi | ||
| Luganda | kkono | ||
| Sepedi | nngele | ||
| Twi (Akan) | benkum | ||
Left in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | اليسار | ||
| "اليسار" (the left) comes from the Quranic "yusra" (ease, good fortune), which could describe the ease left-handed people had in battles fought right-handedly. | |||
| Hebrew | שמאלה | ||
| The word 'שמאלה' in Hebrew also means 'to the weak side' | |||
| Pashto | کی | ||
| The Pashto word "کی" (kai) can also refer to the cardinal direction west, or the location of something behind someone. | |||
| Arabic | اليسار | ||
| "اليسار" (the left) comes from the Quranic "yusra" (ease, good fortune), which could describe the ease left-handed people had in battles fought right-handedly. | |||
Left in Western European Languages
| Albanian | u largua | ||
| The word "u largua" originally meant "the outside" or "the open" in Proto-Albanian. | |||
| Basque | ezkerretara | ||
| "Ezkerretara" (left) comes from "ezker" (left-hand side), and "-tara" (direction towards). | |||
| Catalan | a l'esquerra | ||
| "A l'esquerra" literally means "the left-hand side" but is also used to refer to the political left. | |||
| Croatian | lijevo | ||
| The word "lijevo" also means "beautiful" or "pretty" in Croatian. | |||
| Danish | venstre | ||
| In Danish, "venstre" can also be used colloquially to refer to the left-wing political spectrum. | |||
| Dutch | links | ||
| In Dutch, "links" means "left," but in some contexts it can also mean "connected" or "related." | |||
| English | left | ||
| The word 'left' originates from the Old English word 'lyft', meaning 'weak' or 'useless', as the left hand was traditionally considered to be less dominant in most cultures. | |||
| French | la gauche | ||
| The French word "la gauche" traces its origins to "gauche" meaning "clumsy" or "awkward" in Old French. | |||
| Frisian | links | ||
| In Saterland Frisian, "links" can mean "left" in the sense of "unskillful, awkward, or not clever." | |||
| Galician | á esquerda | ||
| The Galician word "á esquerda" also means "wrong" or "incorrect". | |||
| German | links | ||
| In the 18th century, the meaning of "links" was also "right", and only became "left" later. | |||
| Icelandic | vinstri | ||
| "Vinstri" (left) comes from the Old Norse "vinstra," meaning "the direction toward which something is twisted." Similarly "hægri" (right) derives from "hægri," meaning "the proper or correct". | |||
| Irish | ar chlé | ||
| The Irish word "ar chlé" is cognate with the Latin word "clavis" (key), suggesting a shared root meaning "to close" or "to lock." | |||
| Italian | sinistra | ||
| "Sinistra" (left) also means "bad" or "unlucky" in Italian, due to historical superstition. | |||
| Luxembourgish | lénks | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "lénks" may be derived from the French "gauche," meaning "left," or the Old High German "lenken," meaning "to lead" or "to turn." | |||
| Maltese | xellug | ||
| Xellug, besides meaning "left", is etymologically linked to the word "sheel", meaning "to withdraw". | |||
| Norwegian | venstre | ||
| In Norwegian, the word "venstre" can also refer to the left-wing political party, Venstre. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | esquerda | ||
| The word "esquerda" comes from the Latin word "sinistra," which means "left" and also "unfavorable" or "evil." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | clì | ||
| The word "clì" can also mean "awkward" or "unlucky" in Scots Gaelic. | |||
| Spanish | izquierda | ||
| "Izquierda" comes from the Arabic word "al-yasar" (left), while "derecha" (right) comes from the Latin word "directus" (straight). | |||
| Swedish | vänster | ||
| In Swedish, "vänster" not only means "left", but also "clumsy" or "awkward." | |||
| Welsh | chwith | ||
| Curiously, both "chwith/chwithau" and "de" were used to denote left in medieval Welsh. | |||
Left in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | злева | ||
| In the Mozyr dialect, "злева" is used both for "left" in space and for "sinister" in morality. | |||
| Bosnian | lijevo | ||
| In Croatian, the word "lijevo" means both "left" and "beautiful". | |||
| Bulgarian | наляво | ||
| The Bulgarian word "наляво" (left) also means "to the wrong side," "to the bad side," and "to the wrong way." | |||
| Czech | vlevo, odjet | ||
| The word `vlevo` also means `from the left` | |||
| Estonian | vasakule | ||
| In Estonian, "vasakule" has additional meanings: "incorrectly" and "wrongly". | |||
| Finnish | vasemmalle | ||
| The Finnish word "vasemmalle" originates from the Proto-Uralic root *vośem, meaning "morning" or "east", and still has the archaic meaning of "eastward" or "northward" in Karelian. | |||
| Hungarian | bal | ||
| "Bal" can also refer to the Hungarian word for "ball", derived from the Latin "ballare" (to dance). | |||
| Latvian | pa kreisi | ||
| The Latvian word “pa kreisi” has a literal equivalent of “along the circle”, which refers to movement counterclockwise. | |||
| Lithuanian | paliko | ||
| The word "paliko" in Lithuanian also means "stayed" or "remained". | |||
| Macedonian | лево | ||
| "Лево" in Macedonian also means "lion" and "easy" and comes from the Proto-Slavic word "lěvъ", meaning "lion". | |||
| Polish | lewo | ||
| The Polish word "lewo" comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*leywo-" meaning "curve". | |||
| Romanian | stânga | ||
| The Romanian word "stânga" not only means "left" but also "wrong side" or "unfair". | |||
| Russian | осталось | ||
| The Russian verb "остаться" ("to remain") can also have the meaning of "to be left behind" or "to survive". | |||
| Serbian | лево | ||
| The word "лево" also comes from the Proto-Slavic word "lěvъ", meaning "lion," as lions were historically associated with the left side due to their heart being located on that side. | |||
| Slovak | vľavo | ||
| Vľavo is a cognate word of several Slavic languages meaning "left," it also appears in "vľavo" which means "on the left." | |||
| Slovenian | levo | ||
| In Slovenian, “levo” means “left” in space or “left-leaning” in politics, whereas in Latin, it means “to lift up”. | |||
| Ukrainian | ліворуч | ||
| The word "ліворуч" in Ukrainian derives from an Old Slavic stem "levъ", from the Proto-Indo-European "ley-" (to lie down). | |||
Left in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বাম | ||
| The word "বাম" can also mean "red" or "Marxist" in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | ડાબી | ||
| Gujarati word "ડાબી" derives from Sanskrit "dakṣina" meaning "south", as left is the direction towards the south in Sanskrit | |||
| Hindi | बाएं | ||
| The word "बाएं" can also refer to the left-hand side, the side of the body that is opposite the right-hand side. | |||
| Kannada | ಎಡ | ||
| ಎಡ is also a name of a Kannada writer. | |||
| Malayalam | ഇടത്തെ | ||
| The Malayalam word "ഇടത്തെ" can also be used to refer to something that is inferior or defective. | |||
| Marathi | डावीकडे | ||
| "डावीकडे" (left) derives from the Sanskrit word "davi," meaning "right side of the body," and thus originally meant "right hand side." | |||
| Nepali | बाँया | ||
| The Nepali word 'बाँया' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'वाम' meaning 'bad' or 'inferior' and is also related to the Latin word 'sinister', which means 'left-handed' or 'unlucky'. | |||
| Punjabi | ਖੱਬੇ | ||
| The word "ਖੱਬੇ" in Punjabi can also refer to the direction of the sun's setting. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වමට | ||
| වමට is the Sinhalese equivalent of the Sanskrit word वाम (vāma), which means 'not right' or 'perverse'. | |||
| Tamil | இடது | ||
| The word 'இடது' ('left') in Tamil has multiple meanings, including 'direction to the left', 'opposite of right', and 'something that is not straight or regular'. | |||
| Telugu | ఎడమ | ||
| In classical Telugu literature, "ఎడమ" also means "opposite direction" or "opposite side". | |||
| Urdu | بائیں | ||
| Urdu word "بائیں" (left) likely derives from the Sanskrit word "वाम" (vāma), with similar meanings. | |||
Left in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 剩下 | ||
| 剩下 is an abbreviation of the verb "留下来" which means "to remain". 剩下 now usually means "to be left". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 剩下 | ||
| The word "剩下" can also mean "remaining" or "leftovers" when referring to food or objects. | |||
| Japanese | 左 | ||
| The character 左 (sa) is also used as a verb meaning "to leave" or "to depart". However, it is more commonly used to mean "to be left-handed" or "to be on the left side of the body." | |||
| Korean | 왼쪽 | ||
| "왼쪽" originally meant "west," and in some dialects, also means "north." | |||
| Mongolian | зүүн | ||
| The word "зүүн" ("left") is also used in Mongolian to describe the east or northeast direction, as opposed to "баруун" ("right"), which refers to the west and southwest. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကျန်ခဲ့တယ် | ||
Left in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kiri | ||
| Kiri may also refer to a type of wood often used for musical instruments in Indonesia. | |||
| Javanese | kiwa | ||
| It was a borrowing from Proto-Austronesian *kiwa(ŋ), perhaps via Old Malaccan Malay as it differs considerably from the Proto-Malayic equivalent *kʰawaŋ which is preserved by Malay kiri. It is not to be confused with Indonesian kiri, which may have been a reborrowing from Javanese. | |||
| Khmer | ឆ្វេង | ||
| In Khmer, "ឆ្វេង" also means "east" and "to the left side of someone who is facing the south." | |||
| Lao | ຊ້າຍ | ||
| ຊ້າຍ (left) is also used to refer to the west or the direction of the setting sun. | |||
| Malay | dibiarkan | ||
| The Malay word "dibiarkan" also means "allowed" and derives from the Old Javanese term "biar" which means "to let". | |||
| Thai | ซ้าย | ||
| "ซ้าย" also refers to a person's underprivileged side (e.g. the weaker of one's two arms). | |||
| Vietnamese | trái | ||
| The word 'trái' can also refer to a situation in which someone opposes or contradicts another and is often used to describe a relationship that is not reciprocal. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | umalis | ||
Left in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | sol | ||
| Sol is also used as a name for the left-hand side of something, such as a road or a river. | |||
| Kazakh | сол | ||
| "Сол" also means "side" or "direction" in Kazakh and is of Turkic origin. | |||
| Kyrgyz | сол | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "сол" also means "northern" as the left side of a yurt is considered to face north. | |||
| Tajik | чап | ||
| The word "чап" in Tajik can also refer to the western or northern direction. | |||
| Turkmen | çep | ||
| Uzbek | chap | ||
| In Uzbek, the word "chap" can also refer to the side of a mountain or river. | |||
| Uyghur | left | ||
Left in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hema | ||
| In the Hawaiian language, "hema" is also used as a verb meaning "to turn left" or as a noun meaning "the left side of the body"} | |||
| Maori | maui | ||
| In Maori, "maui" can also refer to a type of shark, or the name of a mythical demigod who fished up the North Island of New Zealand. | |||
| Samoan | taumatau | ||
| Taumatau also means 'to go to the left' and 'left as in the direction' in Samoan. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | umalis na | ||
| "Alis" means "go" or "remove" in many Southeast Asian languages, including Tagalog and Indonesian. | |||
Left in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | ch'iqa | ||
| Guarani | asu | ||
Left in International Languages
| Esperanto | maldekstre | ||
| The word "maldekstre" (left) in Esperanto derives from the Latin word "malus" (bad) and "dexter" (right), signifying the opposite of "right". | |||
| Latin | sinistram | ||
| In ecclesiastical Latin, 'sinistram' retains its Roman meaning of 'left' in the liturgical expression 'ad sinistram' (on the left), but in popular usage, it takes on pejorative connotations of 'unlucky' or 'unfavorable'. | |||
Left in Others Languages
| Greek | αριστερά | ||
| The word 'αριστερά' ('left') in Greek is derived from the Greek word 'άριστος' ('best') and originally meant 'the side of honor'. | |||
| Hmong | sab laug | ||
| The Hmong word "sab laug" also means "a hand used for eating." | |||
| Kurdish | çep | ||
| The word "çep" in Kurdish also means "bad" or "evil." | |||
| Turkish | ayrıldı | ||
| The word "ayrıldı" can also mean "separated" or "parted ways" in Turkish. | |||
| Xhosa | khohlo | ||
| The Xhosa word "khohlo" may also refer to being "weak" or "foolish." | |||
| Yiddish | לינקס | ||
| The Yiddish word "לינקס" also means "lynx" in reference to the animal. | |||
| Zulu | kwesokunxele | ||
| The word "kwesokunxele" in Zulu also means "the side of the heart" and "the side of the body where the heart is". | |||
| Assamese | বাওঁ | ||
| Aymara | ch'iqa | ||
| Bhojpuri | छोड़ देलन | ||
| Dhivehi | ވާތް | ||
| Dogri | छड्डो | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | umalis | ||
| Guarani | asu | ||
| Ilocano | kannigid | ||
| Krio | dɔn go | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | چەپ | ||
| Maithili | बामा | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯂꯦꯝꯍꯧꯕ | ||
| Mizo | kalsan | ||
| Oromo | bitaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବାମ | ||
| Quechua | lluqi | ||
| Sanskrit | वामः | ||
| Tatar | сулда | ||
| Tigrinya | ፀጋም | ||
| Tsonga | ximatsi | ||