Loss in Different Languages
Discover 'Loss' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Loss is a universal human experience that transcends language and culture. It signifies the absence of something or someone that was once present in our lives. The significance of loss varies from the minor, such as losing a possession, to the major, like losing a loved one or a job. Culturally, loss is often explored in literature, music, and art as a way to process grief and heal. Understanding the translation of loss in different languages can provide insight into how other cultures conceptualize and cope with this experience.
For instance, the German word for loss, Verlust, carries a similar meaning to its English counterpart but also implies a sense of abandonment. In contrast, the Russian word for loss, потеря (poterya), has a softer connotation, emphasizing the idea of a temporary separation rather than a permanent absence. Meanwhile, in Japanese, the word for loss, 損失 (songi), is often used in a business context to describe financial or material losses.
Below, you'll find a list of translations of the word 'loss' in various languages, shedding light on the diverse ways that different cultures express this complex human emotion.
Loss
Loss in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | verlies | ||
| The Afrikaans word "verlies" is derived from the Dutch word "verlies", which means "loss" or "defeat." | |||
| Amharic | ኪሳራ | ||
| "ኪሳራ" also refers to someone who experiences great difficulty, hardship, or misfortune. | |||
| Hausa | asara | ||
| The word is also used to refer to a type of sacrifice given to a deity and to an animal skin used for the sacrifice. | |||
| Igbo | mfu | ||
| Although its primary meaning is "loss" in Igbo, "mfu" can also refer to the process of losing something or the object lost. | |||
| Malagasy | very | ||
| The Malagasy word "very" also means "thing" or "being". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kutaya | ||
| The word "kutaya" can also mean "to hide" or "to be lost" in Nyanja (Chichewa). | |||
| Shona | kurasikirwa | ||
| The word 'kurasikirwa' in Shona can also mean 'to be forgotten' or 'to be neglected'. | |||
| Somali | khasaaro | ||
| Somali "khasaaro" also means "depletion," "destruction," or "consumption," deriving from the root "-kh-s-" or "-kha-s-" found in Arabic. | |||
| Sesotho | tahlehelo | ||
| Tahlehelo derives from "lahleha" or "lahlengoa" which mean "get lost" or "drift". | |||
| Swahili | hasara | ||
| "Hasara" (loss) can also refer to the process of subtraction in mathematics. | |||
| Xhosa | ilahleko | ||
| Ilahleko, the Xhosa word for 'loss,' is etymologically linked to the word 'hlaba,' which means 'to hit or strike' | |||
| Yoruba | ipadanu | ||
| The word "ipadanu" in Yoruba can also refer to a state of confusion or disarray. | |||
| Zulu | ukulahlekelwa | ||
| The Zulu word 'ukulahlekelwa' also signifies the loss of a loved one or a traumatic event. | |||
| Bambara | bɔnɛ | ||
| Ewe | nububu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | igihombo | ||
| Lingala | kobungisa | ||
| Luganda | okufirwa | ||
| Sepedi | tahlegelo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɛka | ||
Loss in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | خسارة | ||
| The word "خسارة" (loss) can also mean "regret" or "damage". | |||
| Hebrew | הֶפסֵד | ||
| The Hebrew word "הֶפסֵד" (hesped) not only means "loss," but also "eulogy," "defeat," and "damage." | |||
| Pashto | زیان | ||
| The word "زیان" also refers to "damage, detriment, or harm". | |||
| Arabic | خسارة | ||
| The word "خسارة" (loss) can also mean "regret" or "damage". | |||
Loss in Western European Languages
| Albanian | humbje | ||
| The word "humbje" also means "waste" or "sacrifice" in Albanian. | |||
| Basque | galera | ||
| The word "galera" can also mean "prison ship" in Spanish, deriving from the word "galea" (galley). | |||
| Catalan | pèrdua | ||
| The Catalan word "pèrdua" derives from "perdere" which means "undoing" in classical Latin. | |||
| Croatian | gubitak | ||
| Gubitak also means `guilt' or `fault' in archaic Croatian usage. | |||
| Danish | tab | ||
| The Danish word "tab" may also refer to a loss in a game or competition. | |||
| Dutch | verlies | ||
| Dutch word "verlies" also means "dungeon" and originates from the Latin word "labyrinthos". | |||
| English | loss | ||
| "Loss" shares an origin with "lose," which originates from Old English "losian," meaning "to perish," and is related to the Old Norse "losa," meaning "to ruin or perish." | |||
| French | perte | ||
| The word "perte" derives from "perdere," the Latin word for "destroy" or "ruin," and also means the "action of perishing". | |||
| Frisian | ferlies | ||
| The Frisian word 'ferlies' can also refer to the act of losing something or the state of being lost. | |||
| Galician | perda | ||
| The Galician word "perda" can also mean to waste or squander something, derived from the Latin "perdere". | |||
| German | verlust | ||
| The German word Verlust is related to the verb 'verlieren' (to lose), which in turn is derived from the Proto-Germanic root *wurziz, meaning 'to become aware of something'. | |||
| Icelandic | tap | ||
| In Icelandic, "tap" can also refer to a slight depression or hollow in the ground, such as a footprint or hoofprint. | |||
| Irish | caillteanas | ||
| The word "caillteanas" can also refer to "destruction" or "wilderness". | |||
| Italian | perdita | ||
| In Italian, "perdita" also means "ruin" or "destruction", and it derives from the Latin word "perdere", meaning "to lose" or "to destroy". | |||
| Luxembourgish | verloscht | ||
| In Luxembourgish, "Verloscht" can also refer to the waning of the moon or the fading of light. | |||
| Maltese | telf | ||
| The word "telf" can also refer to something that has fallen off or been knocked over, such as a glass or plate. | |||
| Norwegian | tap | ||
| "Tap" in Norwegian also refers to a small cask for holding fluids or the spigot of such a cask | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | perda | ||
| Perda was a medieval Iberian weight and unit of volume, with different values depending on the material measured. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | call | ||
| "Call" in Scots Gaelic can also refer to a wood or grove, or a hazel tree. | |||
| Spanish | pérdida | ||
| The word "pérdida" in Spanish also means "waste", "ruin", or "destruction". | |||
| Swedish | förlust | ||
| The Swedish word 'förlust' can trace its roots back to Old Norse 'forlust', which shares the same meaning and also bears the connotation of 'destruction'. | |||
| Welsh | colled | ||
| The Welsh word "colled" can also mean "defeat" or "disgrace," reflecting its original meaning as "a beating" or "a blow." | |||
Loss in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | страта | ||
| The word "страта" in Belarusian can also refer to a stratum or layer. | |||
| Bosnian | gubitak | ||
| Bosnian word 'gubitak' is thought to derive from the Proto-Slavic '*gubiti', meaning 'to destroy'. | |||
| Bulgarian | загуба | ||
| "Загуба" is also a Russian and Ukrainian word that can mean "destruction", "ruin", or "waste". In some contexts, it can also refer to "death" or "perdition". | |||
| Czech | ztráta | ||
| The word "ztráta" can also mean "destruction" or "ruin". | |||
| Estonian | kaotus | ||
| The Estonian word "kaotus" is a cognate of the Finnish word "kato" and the Hungarian word "kár", and shares a root with the Proto-Finno-Ugric word "*kaδV-, meaning "to lose" or "to perish." | |||
| Finnish | tappio | ||
| The Finnish word "tappio" has roots in Estonian, where it means "to strike" or "to beat." | |||
| Hungarian | veszteség | ||
| Veszteség can also be translated as 'defeat', 'deprivation' or 'destruction'. | |||
| Latvian | zaudējums | ||
| Latvian "zaudējums" comes from the verb "zaudēt" or "to lose" in modern Latvian. However, some linguists speculate that the word may originally have derived from the Latvian "zūd", meaning "to disappear", due to the overlap in meaning. | |||
| Lithuanian | nuostoliai | ||
| Lithuanian "nuostoliai" is of Proto-Indo-European origin, meaning "disgrace" or "shame". | |||
| Macedonian | загуба | ||
| In a derogatory sense, the word "загуба" can refer to the loss of a person's dignity or honour. | |||
| Polish | utrata | ||
| The word "utrata" is derived from the Old Polish word "utracić", which means "to lose" or "to be deprived of". | |||
| Romanian | pierderi | ||
| The word "pierderi" is derived from the Latin word "perdere," meaning "to destroy" or "to waste". | |||
| Russian | потеря | ||
| The word "потеря" is a cognate of the English word "perdition", both derived from the Latin word "perdere" meaning "to destroy, ruin, or bring to nothing." | |||
| Serbian | губитак | ||
| The word 'губитак' ('loss' in Serbian) also relates to the verb 'gubeti' ('to lose'), which derives from the Proto-Slavic word 'gubiti', meaning 'to destroy' or 'to ruin'. | |||
| Slovak | strata | ||
| The plural form of 'strata' ('straty') can also mean 'expenses'. | |||
| Slovenian | izguba | ||
| The term can also mean "perdition" or "damnation". | |||
| Ukrainian | втрата | ||
| Втрата is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *vъtьrata, meaning 'what has been lost'. | |||
Loss in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ক্ষতি | ||
| The word "ক্ষতি" derives from the Sanskrit word "क्षति", meaning "injury" or "destruction". | |||
| Gujarati | નુકસાન | ||
| The Gujarati word "નુકસાન" (nūkasan) derives from the Sanskrit word "निक्षिप्र" (nikṣipra), meaning "fast", "quick", or "suddenly", and is related to the Hindi word "नुकसान" (nukasaan), also meaning "loss". | |||
| Hindi | हानि | ||
| हानि ('loss') comes from the Sanskrit root 'han' meaning 'to strike' or 'to kill', and can also mean 'destruction' or 'injury'. | |||
| Kannada | ನಷ್ಟ | ||
| The term 'ನಷ್ಟ' originated as a combination of 'ನಸ' and 'ತ', and also holds alternate meanings such as decay or corruption. | |||
| Malayalam | നഷ്ടം | ||
| The Malayalam word 'നഷ്ടം' ("loss") originates from the Sanskrit word 'नष्ट' ("destroyed") and also carries the connotation of "separation". | |||
| Marathi | तोटा | ||
| The word "तोटा" also means a "parrot" in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | घाटा | ||
| The word "घाटा" can also mean a deficit in Nepali. | |||
| Punjabi | ਨੁਕਸਾਨ | ||
| The word "ਨੁਕਸਾਨ" in Punjabi derives from the Sanskrit word "nuksana," which means "destruction" or "damage." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අලාභය | ||
| The word අලාභය (alābha) in Sinhala is derived from the Sanskrit word 'alabha,' which means 'not having' or 'deprivation'. | |||
| Tamil | இழப்பு | ||
| இழப்பு also refers to a sense of separation, detachment, absence of something essential, harm caused by neglect, or loss of face. | |||
| Telugu | నష్టం | ||
| The word "నష్టం" in Telugu can also mean "defeat" or "ruin." | |||
| Urdu | نقصان | ||
| In Persian, "naqsān" means "defect, deficiency, harm, damage, disadvantage, or reduction". | |||
Loss in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 失利 | ||
| 失利 is a Chinese word composed of two characters, 失 (to lose) and 利 (benefit). It means "to suffer a loss" or "to be defeated". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 失利 | ||
| "失利" is derived from "失" (losing) and "利" (profit), meaning "losing an advantage or benefit". | |||
| Japanese | 損失 | ||
| The word "損失" also conveys the sense of "ruin" or "destruction," as seen in the phrase "家屋の損失" (destruction of a house). | |||
| Korean | 손실 | ||
| The Korean word "손실" (son-sil) can also refer to the act of damaging or destroying something. | |||
| Mongolian | алдагдал | ||
| The word "алдагдал" can in addition to meaning "loss" also reference "waste". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဆုံးရှုံးမှု | ||
Loss in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kerugian | ||
| In Indonesian, "kerugian" can also refer to "regret", derived from the root "rugi", meaning "to lose" or "to be deprived of". | |||
| Javanese | kapitunan | ||
| In Old Javanese, Kapitunan referred to the loss of social standing, but it later acquired the meaning of 'loss' in the general sense. | |||
| Khmer | ការបាត់បង់ | ||
| The word "ការបាត់បង់" in Khmer literally translates to "a departure", as if something has separated itself from its rightful place. | |||
| Lao | ການສູນເສຍ | ||
| The word ວານະຘຫຍ ("loss") in Lao is used to mean both a material or non-material loss. | |||
| Malay | kerugian | ||
| The word "kerugian" in Malay has different nuances depending on context, it can mean either "loss" or "damage" | |||
| Thai | ขาดทุน | ||
| "ขาดทุน": Originally meant "to have a broken limb" as the opposite of "ทุน" "capital", which meant limbs. | |||
| Vietnamese | thua | ||
| The word "thua" can also refer to "to obey" or "to submit to" in Vietnamese. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkawala | ||
Loss in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | zərər | ||
| "Zərər" can also refer to damage, expenses, losses of livestock, or loss of time, energy, etc. | |||
| Kazakh | шығын | ||
| The word "шығын" (loss) in Kazakh also refers to expenses, costs, and sacrifices. | |||
| Kyrgyz | жоготуу | ||
| The word "жоготуу" (loss) in Kyrgyz is derived from the verb "жоготуу" (to burn), reflecting the concept of irreplaceable loss associated with fire. | |||
| Tajik | талафот | ||
| The word "талафот" also means "damage" or "destruction" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | ýitgi | ||
| Uzbek | yo'qotish | ||
| In Uzbek, "yo'qotish" also means "destruction". | |||
| Uyghur | زىيان | ||
Loss in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | poho | ||
| "Poho" can also mean "forgotten" or "gone away". | |||
| Maori | ngaronga | ||
| Ngaronga can also mean 'destruction' or 'extinction' in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | leiloa | ||
| In Samoan, the word "leiloa" can also refer to a "defeat" or "something lost or destroyed". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pagkawala | ||
| The word "pagkawala" comes from the root word "wala," which means "nothing," and the prefix "pag-, | |||
Loss in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | chhaqhata | ||
| Guarani | po'ẽ | ||
Loss in International Languages
| Esperanto | perdo | ||
| The Esperanto word "perdo" also means "ruin" or "destruction". | |||
| Latin | damnum | ||
| Damnum also derives from 'domare' (to tame, subdue) which suggests the concept of loss or harm as being something tamed, controlled or reduced. | |||
Loss in Others Languages
| Greek | απώλεια | ||
| "Απώλεια" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*peh₂-", meaning "to protect, guard, keep safe," giving rise to words such as "άπορος" (impassable), "απόκρυφος" (hidden), "απαγόρευτος" (prohibited), "επιδιορθώνω" (to fix), and "πρόνοια" (forethought). | |||
| Hmong | poob | ||
| The word "poob" in Hmong can also mean "to be lacking," "to be insufficient," or "to be short of something." | |||
| Kurdish | winda | ||
| The word 'winda' has ancient Kurdish roots and is believed to originate from the word 'winden' in the Old Iranian language, meaning 'to separate'. | |||
| Turkish | kayıp | ||
| "Kayıp" in Turkish can also mean "missing" or "abducted". | |||
| Xhosa | ilahleko | ||
| Ilahleko, the Xhosa word for 'loss,' is etymologically linked to the word 'hlaba,' which means 'to hit or strike' | |||
| Yiddish | אָנווער | ||
| The word "אָנווער" (loss) is derived from the Hebrew word "אוֹנֵן" (loss). In addition to its literal meaning, "אָנווער" can also refer to a personal or financial setback or disappointment. | |||
| Zulu | ukulahlekelwa | ||
| The Zulu word 'ukulahlekelwa' also signifies the loss of a loved one or a traumatic event. | |||
| Assamese | ক্ষতি | ||
| Aymara | chhaqhata | ||
| Bhojpuri | नुकसान | ||
| Dhivehi | ގެއްލުން | ||
| Dogri | नकसान | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkawala | ||
| Guarani | po'ẽ | ||
| Ilocano | pannakapukaw | ||
| Krio | lɔs | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | لەدەستدان | ||
| Maithili | हानि | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯥꯡꯖꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hloh | ||
| Oromo | kisaaraa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କ୍ଷତି | ||
| Quechua | chinkasqa | ||
| Sanskrit | हानि | ||
| Tatar | югалту | ||
| Tigrinya | ምስኣን | ||
| Tsonga | lahlekeriwa | ||