Matter in Different Languages
Discover 'Matter' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Matter
Afrikaans saak | ||
Albanian çështje | ||
Amharic ጉዳይ | ||
Arabic شيء | ||
Armenian նշանակություն | ||
Assamese বিষয় | ||
Aymara apayaniña | ||
Azerbaijani maddə | ||
Bambara ko | ||
Basque axola | ||
Belarusian матэрыя | ||
Bengali বিষয় | ||
Bhojpuri मामला | ||
Bosnian stvar | ||
Bulgarian материя | ||
Catalan importa | ||
Cebuano butang | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 物 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 物 | ||
Corsican materia | ||
Croatian materija | ||
Czech hmota | ||
Danish stof | ||
Dhivehi މައްސަލަ | ||
Dogri मुद्दा | ||
Dutch er toe doen | ||
English matter | ||
Esperanto gravas | ||
Estonian asja | ||
Ewe nu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) bagay | ||
Finnish asia | ||
French matière | ||
Frisian saak | ||
Galician materia | ||
Georgian მატერია | ||
German angelegenheit | ||
Greek ύλη | ||
Guarani mba'e | ||
Gujarati બાબત | ||
Haitian Creole matyè | ||
Hausa al'amari | ||
Hawaiian mea | ||
Hebrew חוֹמֶר | ||
Hindi मामला | ||
Hmong teeb meem | ||
Hungarian ügy | ||
Icelandic efni | ||
Igbo okwu | ||
Ilocano banag | ||
Indonesian masalah | ||
Irish ábhar | ||
Italian importa | ||
Japanese 案件 | ||
Javanese prekara | ||
Kannada ಮ್ಯಾಟರ್ | ||
Kazakh зат | ||
Khmer បញ្ហា | ||
Kinyarwanda ikibazo | ||
Konkani फरक पडप | ||
Korean 문제 | ||
Krio tin | ||
Kurdish mesele | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) بابەت | ||
Kyrgyz зат | ||
Lao ເລື່ອງ | ||
Latin materia | ||
Latvian jautājums | ||
Lingala likambo | ||
Lithuanian reikalas | ||
Luganda okugasa | ||
Luxembourgish matière | ||
Macedonian материја | ||
Maithili मामला | ||
Malagasy zavatra izany | ||
Malay perkara | ||
Malayalam കാര്യം | ||
Maltese kwistjoni | ||
Maori mea | ||
Marathi बाब | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯍꯤꯔꯝ | ||
Mizo thu | ||
Mongolian асуудал | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကိစ္စ | ||
Nepali कुरा | ||
Norwegian saken | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) nkhani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ବିଷୟ | ||
Oromo wanta | ||
Pashto ماد | ||
Persian موضوع | ||
Polish materia | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) importam | ||
Punjabi ਮਾਮਲਾ | ||
Quechua rimana | ||
Romanian contează | ||
Russian иметь значение | ||
Samoan mataupu | ||
Sanskrit विषयः | ||
Scots Gaelic chùis | ||
Sepedi taba | ||
Serbian материја | ||
Sesotho taba | ||
Shona nyaya | ||
Sindhi معاملو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) පදාර්ථය | ||
Slovak na čom záleží | ||
Slovenian zadeve | ||
Somali arrinta | ||
Spanish importar | ||
Sundanese masalah | ||
Swahili jambo | ||
Swedish materia | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) bagay | ||
Tajik масъала | ||
Tamil விஷயம் | ||
Tatar материя | ||
Telugu పదార్థం | ||
Thai เรื่อง | ||
Tigrinya ነገር | ||
Tsonga mhaka | ||
Turkish önemli olmak | ||
Turkmen mesele | ||
Twi (Akan) asɛm | ||
Ukrainian матерія | ||
Urdu معاملہ | ||
Uyghur matter | ||
Uzbek materiya | ||
Vietnamese vấn đề | ||
Welsh o bwys | ||
Xhosa umba | ||
Yiddish ענין | ||
Yoruba ọrọ | ||
Zulu ndaba |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Albanian | Çështje derives from Latin 'quaestio', also the source of the word 'question' and 'quest'. |
| Amharic | "ጉዳይ" in Amharic also means "business" or "an issue that needs attention," and it shares the same root with the word "ገደ" (to kill) and "ገድ" (the act of killing), suggesting a connection between "matter" and "violence." |
| Arabic | In Arabic, "شيء" can also refer to "something" or "anything" in a general sense. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "maddə" also means "article" in the context of a law, decree, or treaty. |
| Basque | The Basque word "axola" can refer to either matter or a flaw. |
| Bengali | The word বিষয় can also mean subject, theme, or topic in various contexts. |
| Bosnian | Stvar is a noun that can also mean a thing, object, property, business, event, or affair. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "материя" also has the alternate meaning of "cloth", derived from the Latin word "materia". |
| Catalan | Catalan "importa" derives from the Latin "importare" , meaning "to be of consequence" or "to be relevant". |
| Cebuano | The word "butang" in Cebuano also refers to cargo or goods on a ship, as well as the contents of a pot or container. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The simplified Chinese character '物' (wù) can also refer to things or objects. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In ancient Chinese philosophy, "物" also refers to the "phenomenal world" as contrasted with the "noumenal world". |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "materia" also means "pus" and "yellow-greenish secretion of the eyes". |
| Croatian | The word "materija" comes from Greek "matereia", meaning "mother" or "source". |
| Czech | The term "hmota" also carries the meanings "substance," "stuff" or "material." |
| Danish | The word "stof" is a contraction of the words "stöv" and "tov", meaning "dust" and "stuff" respectively, and is related to the English word "stuff". |
| Dutch | The word "er toe doen" (matter) in Dutch has the alternate meaning of "to be successful". |
| Esperanto | Gravas is derived from the Russian word grava, which means "dirt" or "mud". It is also used in Esperanto to refer to the substance that makes up a body or object. |
| Estonian | The word "asja" is also used in Estonian to refer to business, a task, or an issue, which are derived from its original meaning of "cause" or "reason". |
| Finnish | The word "asia" in Finnish is also used in a more specific sense to refer to a type of organic material found in peatlands and bogs. |
| French | "Matière" originally referred to the essence or substance of something, rather than the physical substance it refers to today, with this latter meaning only being adopted in the mid-16th century. |
| Frisian | The word "saak" can also refer to a legal case or a cause. |
| Galician | In Galician, "materia" also means "subject", a meaning it inherited from Latin and which is shared with various other languages such as French, Italian, and German. |
| Georgian | მატერია (materia) is a Georgian word borrowed from Latin, also used to mean "cloth" or "stuff". |
| German | In the 17th century, "Angelegenheit" also referred to the concept of "concern," reflecting its root in "angel" meaning "worry." |
| Greek | "Ύλη" is also used to refer to a "forest" or "woodland" in Greek. |
| Gujarati | "બાબત" can also refer to "affair" or "thing (as a subject of thought)." |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'matyè' in Haitian Creole can also mean 'material' or 'substance'. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "al'amari" can also mean "problem", "affair" or "issue". |
| Hawaiian | Mea can also mean 'belongings', 'property', or 'goods' in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | The word 'חוֹמֶר' can also refer to a physical substance or material. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'मामला' is semantically similar to the French word 'matière', both meaning 'material' in their most general sense, but also used to refer to a specific instance or matter under consideration. |
| Hmong | "Teeb meem" is a compound word meaning "matter," but "meem" alone refers to "solid matter" or "rock." |
| Hungarian | The word "ügy" can also mean "case", "business", or "affair". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "efni" can refer to either "matter" or "substance" in English. |
| Igbo | The word “okwu” also means “a case” or “a problem” in the Igbo language. |
| Indonesian | mas'alah was originally an Arabic word meaning 'question' or 'affair'. |
| Irish | The Irish word "ábhar" initially meant "fetters, reins," only later acquiring the meaning of "matter" |
| Italian | The Italian word "importa" originates from the Latin phrase "importare," meaning "to carry in" or "to bring into." |
| Japanese | The word "案件" (matter) is derived from the Chinese characters "案" (table) and "件" (matter), meaning "an issue or matter that is being handled or considered". |
| Javanese | The word "prekara" in Javanese can also mean "affair" or "business". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಮ್ಯಾಟರ್" (matter) is derived from the English word "matter" and also means "an important issue or concern" |
| Kazakh | The word "зат" in Kazakh can also mean "body" or "the main thing". |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "បញ្ហា" can also refer to a question, or a problem with a solution yet to be found. |
| Korean | The word "문제" also means "problem" in Korean, reflecting the interconnectedness of matter and its potential to cause difficulties. |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "mesele" comes from the Arabic word "masʼalah", meaning "question, issue" |
| Kyrgyz | The word "зат" can also mean "thing, object, phenomenon, essence, substance". |
| Lao | The Lao word "ເລື່ອງ" (matter) originally meant "substance" or "material," but now also refers to "affair" or "business." |
| Latin | In Latin "materia" can also mean wood, timber, lumber, material for building, etc., and is the origin of words like "material" and "matrix". |
| Latvian | The word "jautājums" also means "question" in Latvian, showing its relation to the concept of "subject matter" in English. |
| Lithuanian | The word "reikalas" in Lithuanian also means "business" or "affair". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Matière" also means "subject" in school contexts, with related meanings like "course" or "discipline" |
| Macedonian | The word "материја" also means "fabric" or "material" in Macedonian. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "zavatra izany" also means "something" or "anything." |
| Malay | "Perkara" is derived from the Sanskrit word "prakara" and also means "affair" or "case". |
| Malayalam | The word "കാര്യം" also means "affair" or "business" in Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "kwistjoni" (matter, substance) is ultimately derived from the Latin word "questio" (question). |
| Maori | "Mea" also means "thing," "property," "subject" or "affair". |
| Marathi | The Sanskrit word 'bābha' (meaning 'existence') is the root of the Marathi word 'bāb'. 'Bābha' is also the root of the Hindi word 'bhav' (meaning 'emotion'), which is likely related to 'bāb' due to the common theme of existence and being. |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "асуудал" derives from the verb "асуух" (to ask) and signifies an issue or concern. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "ကိစ္စ" derives from Pali and initially had the connotation of an event or incident. |
| Nepali | The word "कुरा" can also refer to a "thing", "affair", or "topic of conversation" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word for 'matter', "saken", can also refer to a case, an issue, or a cause. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Nyanja, "nkhani" also means "speech" or a "report". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word ماد (mād) originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *meh₂-, |
| Persian | In Persian, "موضوع" also means "subject", "topic", "theme", or "content". |
| Polish | "Materia" in Polish not only means physical matter, but also has a legal meaning referring to proceedings of a case in court. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "importam" in Portuguese can also mean "they import" or "they care". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਮਾਮਲਾ" (matter) is also used in Punjabi to refer to a legal case or issue. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "contează" has a secondary meaning as an imperative form of the verb "a conta", meaning "to count". |
| Russian | In Russian, "иметь значение" can also mean "to have an opinion" or "to be significant" |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "mataupu" can also refer to issues, topics, or substances. |
| Scots Gaelic | "Chuis" derives from the Old Gaelic "cúis" and has alternate meanings including "cause", "subject matter" and "affair". |
| Serbian | The word "материја" also means substance |
| Sesotho | The word taba can mean 'body' or 'the human body' in Sesotho. |
| Shona | Nyaya (matter) is also a verb that means 'to sue' or 'to accuse' in Shona. |
| Sindhi | The word "معاملو" is also used to refer to "a piece of news", "an affair", "a business" or "an occupation" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "පදාර්ථය" is also used to refer to "substance", "material" and "entity" in addition to "matter". |
| Slovak | The Slovak phrase "na čom záleží" can be literally translated to English as "on what depends", and is used instead of "what matters" |
| Slovenian | The word 'zadeve' also means 'affairs' or 'concerns' in Slovenian. |
| Somali | The word "arrinta" in Somali shares the same etymology with "arrin" in Old Somali, which meant "cause, reason" |
| Spanish | The word "importar" in Spanish also means "to introduce" or "to bring in", and derives from the Latin "importare", meaning "to carry in". |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "masalah" can also mean "affairs" or "issues" in a more general sense, extending beyond its primary definition as "matter".} |
| Swahili | In addition to its primary meaning of "matter," "jambo" can also refer to "issue" or a "topic of discussion" in Swahili. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word materia is a cognate of English material and originally referred to 'pus', which is also the current meaning in Norwegian and Danish. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "bagay" also means "thing" or "object" in Tagalog. |
| Tajik | The term "масъала" can also mean "question, problem, issue, affair, task, duty, responsibility, or business." |
| Telugu | The word 'పదార్థం' can also refer to the physical world or a specific substance, such as gold or wood. |
| Thai | "เรื่อง" (matter) derives from the Pali/Sanskrit word "vrittam", also meaning "circular" or "narrative" in Thai. |
| Turkish | The Turkish phrase "Önemli olmak" derives from the noun "Önem" (importance), denoting the idea of gaining significance or becoming noteworthy. |
| Ukrainian | The word "матерія" in Ukrainian is also related to "motherhood", possibly because childbirth was viewed as a creation of matter and life. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "materiya" also refers to "cloth" or "fabric". |
| Vietnamese | "Vấn đề" also means "the issue" or "the problem" in Vietnamese, but it does not have the same meaning as "matter" in English. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "o bwys" is derived from the Proto-Celtic "*matī-, *matē-," meaning "substance, matter," and is related to the Sanskrit word "mātrā," meaning "matter, substance, measure." |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "umba" also means "the world," "a place," or "a region." |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "ענין" ("matter") also means "purpose" or "business". |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'ndaba' also denotes 'counsel' or 'conversation', indicating the communal nature of decision-making. |
| English | Matter, from Old French matière, derives from the Latin word 'materia', meaning substance, material, or timber. |