Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'make' is a small but powerful verb, holding great significance in many languages and cultures around the world. It represents the creation and production of something new, and its implications are far-reaching, from the tangible (building a house, crafting a piece of furniture) to the intangible (forming a relationship, establishing a belief).
Throughout history, the concept of making has been a cornerstone of human civilization, driving innovation, and progress. From the ancient Egyptians who 'made' monumental structures like the pyramids, to the modern-day makers who 'make' groundbreaking advancements in technology and science, the ability to create is a fundamental aspect of what makes us human.
Understanding the translation of 'make' in different languages can open up a world of cultural insights and connections. For example, in Spanish, 'make' is 'hacer', while in German, it's 'machen'. In French, 'make' is 'faire', and in Japanese, it's 'tsukuru'.
So whether you're a language enthusiast, a cultural explorer, or simply curious about the world around you, exploring the many translations of 'make' is a fascinating journey into the heart of human creativity and connection.
Afrikaans | maak | ||
"Maak" can also mean "mate" or "partner", and is derived from the Dutch "maken", meaning to do or produce something. | |||
Amharic | ያድርጉ | ||
The word ያድርጉ "make" also means "create" and "produce". | |||
Hausa | yi | ||
The Hausa word "yi" can also mean "to become," "to happen," "to be," or "to do." | |||
Igbo | -eme ka | ||
The Igbo verb "-eme ka" can also mean to 'become' or 'transform' depending on context. | |||
Malagasy | manao | ||
Malagasy 'manao' derives from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *maŋa(w), the word for 'do, make, create' in other Malayo-Polynesian languages. | |||
Nyanja (Chichewa) | pangani | ||
In Chichewa, the word 'pangani' can also refer to the act of preparing food, specifically the cooking process. | |||
Shona | gadzira | ||
In Shona, the word 'gadzira' also has the meanings 'form', 'shape', 'create' and 'bring forth'. | |||
Somali | samee | ||
The word "samee" in Somali can also mean "create" or "form". | |||
Sesotho | etsa | ||
The word "etsa" can also mean "to create", "to build", or "to produce" in Sesotho. | |||
Swahili | fanya | ||
The word "fanya" is derived from the Arabic word "fannaa" which means "to destroy" or "to pass away." | |||
Xhosa | yenza | ||
The word 'yenza' in Xhosa also signifies 'fashion,' 'forge,' and 'construct,' emphasizing the creative aspect of making. | |||
Yoruba | ṣe | ||
"Ṣe" (make) is also sometimes used to mean "do", "perform", or "accomplish" in Yoruba. | |||
Zulu | yenza | ||
"Yenza" also means "to do" or "to perform" in Zulu. | |||
Bambara | keli | ||
Ewe | wɔ | ||
Kinyarwanda | gukora | ||
Lingala | kosala | ||
Luganda | okukola | ||
Sepedi | dira | ||
Twi (Akan) | yɛ | ||
Arabic | يصنع | ||
In Classical Arabic, "يصنع" can also mean "to earn" or "to acquire". | |||
Hebrew | עשה | ||
The verb "עשה" ("make") in Hebrew can also mean "to do", "to create", or "to perform". | |||
Pashto | جوړول | ||
The word "جوړول" also means "to create" or "to establish" in Pashto. | |||
Arabic | يصنع | ||
In Classical Arabic, "يصنع" can also mean "to earn" or "to acquire". |
Albanian | bëj | ||
The word "bëj" is also used to mean "to become" or "to do" | |||
Basque | egin | ||
The word 'egin' has other related terms like 'egite' (action), 'egilea' (author) and 'egingo' (will be done). | |||
Catalan | fer | ||
"Fer" is also the verb "to do" and "to be" in Catalan. | |||
Croatian | napraviti | ||
The word "napraviti" derives from an old Slavic root meaning "to repair" or "to fix". | |||
Danish | lave | ||
The verb form of 'lave' is used for 'letting' (a liquid) rather than making | |||
Dutch | maken | ||
The Dutch word "maken" is cognate with the English word "make" and shares its Indo-European root *maǵ- ("to make, to form"). | |||
English | make | ||
The word “make” derives from Old English “macian,” meaning “to compose,” “to put together,” or “to cause to become.” | |||
French | faire | ||
In 12th century Old French, "faire" was the word most commonly used with the sense of "to cause to become." | |||
Frisian | meitsje | ||
The word "meitsje" in Frisian can also mean "to create" or "to form". | |||
Galician | facer | ||
In Galician, "facer" can also mean "to say" or "to do". | |||
German | machen | ||
The German word "machen" can also mean "to behave" or "to do", and is cognate with the English word "make". | |||
Icelandic | gera | ||
Gera is derived from the Proto-Norse verb “gerwa”, meaning “to do or make”. | |||
Irish | déan | ||
The Irish word 'Déan' can also mean 'do', 'perform', 'execute', 'accomplish' or 'finish'. | |||
Italian | rendere | ||
The Italian word "rendere" derives from the Latin verb "reddere", meaning "to give back" or "to restore". | |||
Luxembourgish | maachen | ||
The etymology of "maachen" in Luxembourgish may be linked to "machen" in German and "maken" in Dutch, both meaning "to make". | |||
Maltese | jagħmlu | ||
The word "jagħmlu" in Maltese can also mean "to do" or "to perform". | |||
Norwegian | gjøre | ||
The Norwegian word "gjøre" can also mean "to do" or "to perform". | |||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | faço | ||
In some regions of Portugal, "faço" can also mean "face". | |||
Scots Gaelic | dèan | ||
The Scots Gaelic word "dèan" (make) is homophonous with "déan" (deign), possibly an indication of a relationship to the French word "daigner." | |||
Spanish | hacer | ||
The verb "hacer" comes from the Latin "facere," meaning "to do," and is also related to the English word "fact." | |||
Swedish | göra | ||
"Göra" is related to the German word "machen", the English word "make", and the French word "faire". | |||
Welsh | creu | ||
"Creu" can also mean "to create" or "to generate" in Welsh. |
Belarusian | зрабіць | ||
The word зрабіць is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word сътворити, meaning "to create" or "to bring into being". | |||
Bosnian | napraviti | ||
Napraviti is a verb that is used to express the action of creating or producing something new | |||
Bulgarian | направи | ||
Bulgarian "направи" can mean "to do" or "to cause to happen". | |||
Czech | udělat | ||
The word "udělat" has its roots in Old Czech: "u" (away) and "děti" (doing), meaning literally "doing away" or "putting away." | |||
Estonian | tegema | ||
Tegema is derived from a Proto-Finnic root *tekem, meaning 'to do, work, produce'. Its cognates are found in Finnish (tehdä), Karelian (tegiä), Veps (tegdä) and Livonian (tõkkõ). | |||
Finnish | tehdä | ||
The word "tehdä" is derived from the Proto-Finnic verb *tek-, meaning "to do" or "to make", and is cognate with "do" in English and "tun" in Swedish. | |||
Hungarian | készítsen | ||
A készít ige eredetileg 'előkészületet' jelentett, például 'készítsen elő valamit az utazásra' | |||
Latvian | veidot | ||
The Latvian word "veidot" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European word "*weidh-", meaning "to grow". | |||
Lithuanian | padaryti | ||
The verb "padaryti" in Lithuanian also has the meanings "to become", "to happen", and "to cause". | |||
Macedonian | направи | ||
There is also the verb "направити", which means "to cause to become". | |||
Polish | robić | ||
As a verb, "robić" can also mean "to work" or "to do" in Polish. | |||
Romanian | face | ||
The Romanian word "față" (face) can also mean "front" or "side". | |||
Russian | сделать | ||
Сделать can also mean to accomplish, complete, or achieve a goal | |||
Serbian | направити | ||
In Bulgarian, a cognate word "направи" means "to fix, to improve a defect or damage something". | |||
Slovak | urobiť | ||
The word "urobiť" in Slovak can also mean "to happen" or "to take place". | |||
Slovenian | naredite | ||
The Slovenian word naredite derives from a Proto-Slavic verb *oręti, which also meant to plow, till, cultivate. | |||
Ukrainian | зробити | ||
Зробити's root "роб" denotes action and effort |
Bengali | করা | ||
In Bengali, "করা" (kara) not only means "to make" but also "to do," "to perform," or "to cause something to happen." | |||
Gujarati | બનાવો | ||
Hindi | बनाना | ||
बनाना is the infinitive form of the verb whose stem is बना-. It literally means 'to shape' or 'to form'. | |||
Kannada | ಮಾಡಿ | ||
The word 'ಮಾಡಿ' ('make') can also mean 'to perform' or 'to do'. | |||
Malayalam | ഉണ്ടാക്കുക | ||
Marathi | बनवा | ||
The word "बनवा" in Marathi also means "to get something made" or "to have something made" | |||
Nepali | बनाउनु | ||
The verb 'बनाउनु' is a cognate of the Sanskrit term 'vinna', meaning 'to build, construct, or create'. | |||
Punjabi | ਬਣਾਉਣ | ||
The verb "ਬਣਾਉਣ" comes from the Sanskrit word "√kṛ" which means "to do, make, create, form, bring about". | |||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සාදන්න | ||
The word "සාදන්න" (make) in Sinhala also refers to the creation of music. | |||
Tamil | செய்ய | ||
The verb "செய்ய" can also mean "to perform" or "to conduct" a task. | |||
Telugu | తయారు | ||
తయారు means "to get ready" in Telugu and comes from the roots త (ta), meaning "to heat", and యారు (yaaru), meaning "to prepare". | |||
Urdu | بنائیں | ||
The word "بنائیں" has Indo-Aryan roots, and in addition to its primary meaning of "make," it can also be used figuratively to "compose" or "compile." |
Chinese (Simplified) | 使 | ||
The Chinese character "使" also means "use" or "send (someone to do something)". | |||
Chinese (Traditional) | 使 | ||
In addition to its primary meaning of "make," 使 ("shǐ") can also mean "to cause," "to order," or "to use" | |||
Japanese | 作る | ||
The word "作る" (tsukuru) can also mean "to compose" or "to create". | |||
Korean | 하다 | ||
'하다' originally meant 'to be born' or 'to grow', and this meaning is still found in certain expressions. | |||
Mongolian | хийх | ||
"Хийх" also means "to do" or "to perform". | |||
Myanmar (Burmese) | လုပ် | ||
The Burmese-Myanmar word လုပ် can also mean "perform," "act," "do," "operate," or "work." |
Indonesian | membuat | ||
The Indonesian word "membuat" is cognate with the Malay "membuat", which originally meant "to work on" or "to carry out". | |||
Javanese | gawe | ||
The word 'gawe' in Javanese can also mean 'work' or 'occupation'. | |||
Khmer | ធ្វើឱ្យ | ||
The Khmer word ធ្វើឱ្យ "make" derives from Sanskrit and also means "to cause". | |||
Lao | ເຮັດໃຫ້ | ||
Malay | membuat | ||
Membuat also means 'to establish' or 'to create' in Malay, derived from the Proto-Austronesian root *buaq, meaning 'to give birth to,' or 'to produce.' | |||
Thai | ทำ | ||
The word "ทำ" can also mean "to do", "to perform", or "to create", and is often used in compound words to indicate the action being performed. | |||
Vietnamese | làm | ||
"Làm" also means to complete, to do, to act, to work, to create, or to cause. | |||
Filipino (Tagalog) | gumawa | ||
Azerbaijani | etmək | ||
The word "etmək" in Azerbaijani also means "to do" or "to act". | |||
Kazakh | жасау | ||
The word "жасау" can also mean "to create" or "to produce". | |||
Kyrgyz | жасоо | ||
"Жасоо" can also mean "to create" or "to compose". | |||
Tajik | кунад | ||
The word "кунад" also means "to become" or "to turn into". | |||
Turkmen | ýasamak | ||
Uzbek | qilish | ||
In some contexts, "qilish" can mean "to play" or "to hold an event" in Uzbek. | |||
Uyghur | ياساش | ||
Hawaiian | hana | ||
The word "hana" in Hawaiian has another meaning, "work" or "occupation." | |||
Maori | hanga | ||
The Maori word "hanga" can also refer to preparing or cooking food, as well as constructing or building something. | |||
Samoan | fai | ||
The word "fai" in Samoan can also mean "do" or "happen". | |||
Tagalog (Filipino) | gumawa | ||
The word "gumawa" in Tagalog also means "to create," "to produce," or "to construct." |
Aymara | luraña | ||
Guarani | japo | ||
Esperanto | fari | ||
In Old Polish, "fari" meant "to make" or "to create". | |||
Latin | facere | ||
While facere commonly means "make" in Latin, its origin is from the Proto-Indo-European root "dhe-," meaning "put, place." |
Greek | φτιαχνω, κανω | ||
The word "φτιάχνω" also means "to make something right" or "to fix something". | |||
Hmong | ua | ||
The word 'ua' also means 'to create' or 'to produce'. | |||
Kurdish | kirin | ||
In Kurdish, the word “kirin” can also refer to the act of “creating” or “constructing” something, indicating a broader sense of production beyond just making an object. | |||
Turkish | yapmak | ||
Yapmak also means "to do" as well as "to make" in Turkish. | |||
Xhosa | yenza | ||
The word 'yenza' in Xhosa also signifies 'fashion,' 'forge,' and 'construct,' emphasizing the creative aspect of making. | |||
Yiddish | מאַכן | ||
In Yiddish, "מאַכן" can also refer to the concept of "becoming," as in the phrase "ער מאַכט זיך גרייט," meaning "He is getting ready." | |||
Zulu | yenza | ||
"Yenza" also means "to do" or "to perform" in Zulu. | |||
Assamese | নিৰ্মাণ কৰা | ||
Aymara | luraña | ||
Bhojpuri | बनावल | ||
Dhivehi | ހެދުން | ||
Dogri | घाट | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) | gumawa | ||
Guarani | japo | ||
Ilocano | agaramid | ||
Krio | mek | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) | دروستکردن | ||
Maithili | बनाउ | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯁꯦꯝꯕ | ||
Mizo | siam | ||
Oromo | hojjedhu | ||
Odia (Oriya) | ତିଆରି କର | | ||
Quechua | ruway | ||
Sanskrit | निर्मीयताम् | ||
Tatar | ясарга | ||
Tigrinya | ስራሕ | ||
Tsonga | endla | ||