Medicine in Different Languages
Discover 'Medicine' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Medicine
Afrikaans medisyne | ||
Albanian bar | ||
Amharic መድሃኒት | ||
Arabic الدواء | ||
Armenian դեղ | ||
Assamese দৰৱ | ||
Aymara qulla | ||
Azerbaijani dərman | ||
Bambara fura | ||
Basque medikuntza | ||
Belarusian лекі | ||
Bengali ওষুধ | ||
Bhojpuri दवाई | ||
Bosnian lijek | ||
Bulgarian лекарство | ||
Catalan medicament | ||
Cebuano tambal | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 药物 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 藥物 | ||
Corsican midicina | ||
Croatian lijek | ||
Czech lék | ||
Danish medicin | ||
Dhivehi ބޭސް | ||
Dogri दुआई | ||
Dutch geneesmiddel | ||
English medicine | ||
Esperanto medikamento | ||
Estonian ravim | ||
Ewe atike | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) gamot | ||
Finnish lääke | ||
French médicament | ||
Frisian medisinen | ||
Galician medicina | ||
Georgian წამალი | ||
German medizin | ||
Greek φάρμακο | ||
Guarani pohanokuaa | ||
Gujarati દવા | ||
Haitian Creole remèd | ||
Hausa magani | ||
Hawaiian lāʻau lapaʻau | ||
Hebrew תרופה | ||
Hindi दवा | ||
Hmong tshuaj kho mob | ||
Hungarian gyógyszer | ||
Icelandic lyf | ||
Igbo ọgwụ | ||
Ilocano medisina | ||
Indonesian obat | ||
Irish cógas | ||
Italian medicinale | ||
Japanese 薬 | ||
Javanese obat | ||
Kannada ಔಷಧಿ | ||
Kazakh дәрі | ||
Khmer ថ្នាំ | ||
Kinyarwanda ubuvuzi | ||
Konkani वखद | ||
Korean 약 | ||
Krio mɛrɛsin | ||
Kurdish derman | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) دەرمان | ||
Kyrgyz дары | ||
Lao ຢາ | ||
Latin medicamentum | ||
Latvian medicīna | ||
Lingala nkisi ya monganga | ||
Lithuanian vaistas | ||
Luganda eddagala | ||
Luxembourgish medizin | ||
Macedonian лек | ||
Maithili दवाइ | ||
Malagasy fanafody | ||
Malay ubat | ||
Malayalam മരുന്ന് | ||
Maltese mediċina | ||
Maori rongoa | ||
Marathi औषध | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯍꯤꯗꯥꯛ ꯂꯥꯡꯊꯛ | ||
Mizo damdawi | ||
Mongolian эм | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဆေးဝါး | ||
Nepali औषधी | ||
Norwegian medisin | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mankhwala | ||
Odia (Oriya) medicine ଷଧ | ||
Oromo qoricha | ||
Pashto دارو | ||
Persian دارو | ||
Polish medycyna | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) remédio | ||
Punjabi ਦਵਾਈ | ||
Quechua hanpi | ||
Romanian medicament | ||
Russian лекарство | ||
Samoan vailaʻau | ||
Sanskrit चिकित्सा | ||
Scots Gaelic leigheas | ||
Sepedi sehlare | ||
Serbian лек | ||
Sesotho moriana | ||
Shona mushonga | ||
Sindhi دوا | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ඖෂධය | ||
Slovak liek | ||
Slovenian zdravilo | ||
Somali daawo | ||
Spanish medicamento | ||
Sundanese landong | ||
Swahili dawa | ||
Swedish medicin | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) gamot | ||
Tajik дорувори | ||
Tamil மருந்து | ||
Tatar медицина | ||
Telugu మందు | ||
Thai ยา | ||
Tigrinya መድሓኒት | ||
Tsonga murhi | ||
Turkish ilaç | ||
Turkmen lukmançylyk | ||
Twi (Akan) aduro | ||
Ukrainian ліки | ||
Urdu دوائی | ||
Uyghur medicine | ||
Uzbek dori | ||
Vietnamese thuốc | ||
Welsh meddygaeth | ||
Xhosa iyeza | ||
Yiddish מעדיצין | ||
Yoruba òògùn | ||
Zulu umuthi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "medisyne" originates from the Middle Dutch word "medicijne" and ultimately derives from the Latin "medicina", meaning "the art of healing". |
| Albanian | Bar, the term for "medicine" in Albanian, is thought to be of Illyrian origin, related to the Slavic "barati" (to take) and "brah" (brotherhood), as it was often shared and used to strengthen communal bonds. |
| Arabic | The word "الدواء" can also mean "the cure" or "the remedy" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | "Դեղ" (medicine) in Armenian also refers to a herbal potion, or a healing plant, or the healing effect of something, and may come from Proto-Armenian "diš" (root "di-," to drink), also referring to the act of taking medicine. |
| Azerbaijani | "Dərman" is of Indo-Iranian origin and is a cognate to Sanskrit "dharmán" (religion, religious duty, law, justice) and Persian "darmān" (remedy, cure, treatment). |
| Basque | The word medikuntza (medicine) comes from the Latin “medicīna” (healing). |
| Belarusian | Belarusian word "лекі" also means "remedies" or "cures". |
| Bengali | "ওষুধ" literally means “the thing by which (যাহা দ্বারা) one obtains a desirable condition (ওষ = a good condition) such as the relief of a disease or promotion of overall health and well-being." |
| Bosnian | The word 'lijek' in Bosnian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'lěkъ', which also means 'remedy' or 'cure'. |
| Bulgarian | The word "лекарство" comes from the Proto-Slavic root *lěkъ, which also means "remedy," "cure," or "poison." |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "medicament" can also refer to a specific type of medication, such as a pill or injection. |
| Cebuano | The word "tambal" in Cebuano also refers to a patch or repair, reflecting its original meaning as a poultice applied to wounds. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In traditional Chinese medicine, 药物 can also refer to herbal remedies or other natural substances used for healing. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 藥 (yào) in the word "藥物" (medicine) is composed of the radical 艹 (grass) and the character 酉 (wine), suggesting its origins in herbal remedies and the use of liquor as a medicine. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "midicina" comes from the Latin word "medicina" meaning "healing art". |
| Croatian | The word 'lijek' (medicine) in Croatian originally referred to a healing potion or charm. |
| Czech | In Czech, the term 'lék' derives from an old Slavic root meaning 'to cure' and can also refer to the act of healing. |
| Danish | The Danish word "medicin" comes from the Latin word "medicus," meaning "physician" or "healer." |
| Dutch | An alternate meaning of "geneesmiddel" in Dutch is "healing agent". |
| Esperanto | In Esperanto, |
| Estonian | The word "ravim" is a loanword from Finnish, where it originally meant "ointment" or "balm". |
| Finnish | The word lääke is derived from läätti, which means 'patch' or 'plaster', indicating its original use as a topical remedy. |
| French | The word « médicament » etymologically means « what heals » and can also refer to magic potions. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "medisinen" is derived from Latin "medicamen" and can also mean "poison" or "treatment". |
| Galician | In Galician, "medicina" also refers to magic and witchcraft. |
| Georgian | The word "წამალი" in Georgian is cognate with "θάνατος" in Greek, both meaning "death". |
| German | The German word "Medizin" can refer to either medical science or the actual medications used to treat illnesses. |
| Greek | The word φάρμακο also carries the connotation of "poison" or "drug", reflecting its historical association with the practice of healing and poisoning |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "દવા" (medicine) can also refer to a drug, a cure, or a remedy. |
| Haitian Creole | "Remède" comes from the French word "remède" which means remedy, medicine; cure. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word for "medicine", "magani", also means "potion" or "remedy". |
| Hawaiian | The term 'lāʻau lapaʻau' may also refer to the practice of herbal medicine in Hawaiian tradition. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "תרופה" (medicine) comes from the root word "רפא" (to heal) and can also mean "remedy" or "cure". |
| Hindi | The word 'दवा' (medicine) in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word 'दिव्य' (divine), signifying its healing properties. |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, the word "gyógyszer" is also used figuratively to refer to something that provides relief or solution to a problem or difficulty. |
| Icelandic | In Old Norse, "lyf" also referred to magical potions, spells, or anything used to heal or protect against harm. |
| Igbo | Ọgwụ is also a title given to the village's oldest male (or sometimes oldest female) in Igbo culture who acts as the local spiritual leader and keeper of knowledge and tradition. |
| Indonesian | "Obat" is thought to have originated from the Sanskrit word "udbhid" meaning "plant". |
| Irish | The word "cógas" in Irish is related to the word "cos" meaning "foot" and originally referred to a salve applied to the feet. |
| Italian | The word "medicinale" can also refer to a plant or substance used for healing purposes. |
| Japanese | The word 薬 originally applied only to Chinese herbal medicine and was later borrowed to refer to imported European medicines and then modern medicine as a whole. |
| Javanese | 'Obat' also means 'to heal' in Javanese, which makes sense given its use as a medicine |
| Kannada | The word 'ಔಷಧಿ' (medicine) in Kannada derives from the Sanskrit word 'औषधी' meaning 'herb' or 'plant used for healing'. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "дәрі" (dəri) also refers to treatment, cure or remedy, as well as "ointment" in Kyrgyz and other Turkic languages. |
| Khmer | The term ថ្នាំ can also refer to a specific type of traditional Khmer herbal treatment consisting of plant materials boiled or steeped in alcohol. |
| Korean | 약 (“medicine”) is sometimes used to colloquially refer to a person’s “weak point”. |
| Kurdish | In some Kurdish dialects, the word can also refer to poison. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "дары" can also refer to "gifts" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | The Lao word for medicine, “ຢາ” (yaa), comes from the Old Lao word “ຍາ” (ya), meaning “to give”, reflecting that medicines are traditionally given to the sick. |
| Latin | The word 'medicamentum' in Latin encompasses not only 'medicine' but also 'a remedy' or 'a healing potion'. |
| Latvian | The word "medicīna" originates from the Latin word "medicina", meaning "the art of healing", and shares a common root with "medicare" and "medication." |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "vaistas" is etymologically connected to the Sanskrit word "ved" and the Latin word "videre", both containing the notion of knowledge, which reflects the ancient understanding of medicine as a field based on study and observation. |
| Luxembourgish | "Medizin" has the same meaning in German and Luxembourgish |
| Macedonian | The word "лек" also means "remedy" or "cure" in Macedonian. |
| Malagasy | The word "fanafody" in Malagasy is derived from the Arabic word "dawa'" meaning "cure" or "remedy". |
| Malay | The word "ubat" is also used in Malay to refer to a type of traditional medicine or herbal remedy. |
| Malayalam | "മരുന്ന്" is a loanword from Sanskrit and originally meant "poison" or "venom". |
| Maltese | The word 'mediċina' is derived from the Latin word 'medicina', which means 'the science or practice of diagnosing, treating, or preventing illness'. |
| Maori | "Rongoa" is also the name of a god who is said to have brought healing to the world |
| Marathi | The word औषध is an amalgamation of the Sanskrit words "ओष" (herb) and "ध" (to give), hence meaning "to give herbs". |
| Mongolian | "Эм" means medicine in Mongolian but it can also be understood as "something valuable." |
| Nepali | The term 'औषधी' (medicine) stems from the Vedic Sanskrit term ‘oSadhi,’ referring to plants or herbs with medicinal properties. |
| Norwegian | The word "medisin" in Norwegian can also refer to veterinary medicine and healing arts. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "mankhwala" is also used to refer to a traditional healer or a shaman. |
| Pashto | The word "دارو" can also mean "herb" or "poison" in Pashto. |
| Persian | In Persian, the word "دارو" ("medicine") originally referred to a tree and is related to the Sanskrit word "دارو" meaning "wood". |
| Polish | The word "Medycyna" in Polish comes from the Latin word "medicina" and also refers to the field of medicine in general. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "remédio" in Portuguese comes from the Latin word "remedium", meaning "cure" or "relief". |
| Punjabi | The word can also mean a 'recipe' or 'instruction' in the context of cooking or other activities. |
| Romanian | "Medicament" comes from the Latin verb *medicare* meaning "to heal" and is related to the words "medical", "doctor" and "remedy". |
| Russian | The word "лекарство" derives from the Old Church Slavonic "лѣкъ", meaning "remedy", "cure", and is related to "лечить" (to cure). |
| Samoan | The word 'vailaʻau' can also refer to herbs, drugs, or any substance used for healing or medical purposes in Samoan culture. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Gaelic "leigheas" derives from the PIE root "legh", meaning "to lay". |
| Serbian | The word "лек" also means "cure" or "remedy" in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | The word "moriana" is also used to refer to a potion or a traditional cure. |
| Shona | Mushonga in Shona also means 'poison', indicating the fine line between treatment and harm in traditional medicine. |
| Sindhi | The word "دوا" also means "a dose" and "a potion" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "ඖෂධය" can also refer to "a charm or spell". |
| Slovak | The word liek also means a "cure" or "remedy", and is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *lēkъ, meaning "healing" or "medicine". |
| Slovenian | The word "zdravilo" also means "health" or "well-being" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | Somali's "Daawo" also means advice or suggestion. |
| Spanish | The word "medicamento" comes from the Latin "medicamentum", which means "a remedy". In Spanish, "medicamento" can mean any kind of medicine or drug, including prescription and nonprescription medications, as well as traditional and natural remedies. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "landong" has several alternate meanings, including "a traditional Sundanese dance" and "a type of traditional Sundanese song". |
| Swahili | "Dawa" also means "potion" or "love potion" in Swahili. |
| Swedish | "Medicin" in Swedish can also be used to refer to a type of medical treatment, such as a therapy or procedure. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Gamot" originally referred to a spell or incantation to cure illnesses, and later came to mean any form of remedy, including herbs and potions. |
| Tajik | The word "дорувори" in Tajik comes from the Persian word "دارو" (dārū), meaning "remedy" or "medicine". |
| Tamil | "Marundu" is also the Tamil word for "tree" and "herb," the latter being the source of many traditional medicines. |
| Telugu | The word "మందు" in Telugu can also mean "intoxication" or "alcohol", derived from the Sanskrit word "mada". |
| Thai | The Thai word "ยา" can refer to many different things, including plants, drugs, and knowledge. |
| Turkish | İlaç, meaning "medicine" in Turkish, originally stems from the Arabic word "ilaj" meaning "cure" or "treatment". |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "ліки" (medicine) has an alternate meaning of "fate" or "destiny". |
| Urdu | دوائی can also refer to a charm or spell cast or recited over a potion. |
| Uzbek | The word 'Dori' in Uzbek is derived from the Persian word 'Dārū', which means 'tree' or 'wood', and was originally used to refer to medicinal plants or herbs. |
| Vietnamese | Thuốc' is derived from the Chinese character '藥', meaning 'herb' or 'drug', and can also refer to 'spell' or 'magic' in Vietnamese slang. |
| Welsh | The word "meddygaeth" in Welsh derives from the Old Welsh word "meddyg," meaning "physician," and ultimately comes from the Proto-Celtic root "*med-," meaning "to heal." |
| Xhosa | The word 'iyeza' has alternate meanings in the context of Xhosa culture and healing beliefs, such as being associated with ancestral knowledge and spiritual power. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "מעדיצין" (meditsin) also means "pharmaceuticals" and comes from the Latin "medicina" via German "Medizin". |
| Yoruba | The word "òògùn" also means "charm" or "amulet" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | "Umuthi" (medicine) is derived from a word "umutho" (a charm) |
| English | The word 'medicine' derives from the Latin 'medicina', meaning 'art of healing' and also 'drug'. |