Mistake in Different Languages
Discover 'Mistake' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Mistakes are a natural part of the human experience, a valuable opportunity for growth and learning. They transcend cultural boundaries and are recognized in all languages as an essential aspect of life. The word 'mistake' holds significance across various disciplines, including psychology, education, and business, where acknowledging and learning from errors is crucial for success.
Throughout history, mistakes have played a pivotal role in shaping our world. For instance, the invention of penicillin, one of the most significant medical breakthroughs, was a result of a mistake in a bacteriology experiment by Alexander Fleming. This demonstrates that mistakes can lead to groundbreaking discoveries and innovations.
Understanding the translation of 'mistake' in different languages can provide unique cultural insights and foster global empathy. Here are a few examples:
- Spanish: 'error'
- French: 'faute'
- German: 'fehler'
- Mandarin: '错误 (cuòwù)'
- Japanese: 'mistake (ミステイク)'
Mistake
Mistake in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | fout | ||
| The Afrikaans word "fout" is cognate with the Dutch, Norwegian and German word "fout", all of which mean "wrong" or "incorrect". | |||
| Amharic | ስህተት | ||
| The word "ስህተት" can also mean "error" or "fault" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | kuskure | ||
| The word "kuskure" can also mean "carelessness" or "negligence" in Hausa. | |||
| Igbo | ndudue | ||
| The word "ndudue" in Igbo can also mean "ignorance" or "error". | |||
| Malagasy | fahadisoana | ||
| Originating from the Malay "Salah," this word can refer to errors in speech, mistakes in behavior, and incorrect assumptions, along with an error in grammar, judgment, or action. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kulakwitsa | ||
| The word "kulakwitsa" in Nyanja signifies "mistake" and also "to misunderstand, to misread, or to mishear something." | |||
| Shona | kukanganisa | ||
| The word "kukanganisa" in Shona has Bantu roots and is related to the word "kukanganwa," meaning "to forget" or "to make a mistake. | |||
| Somali | qalad | ||
| "Qalad" can also mean "difference" or "disagreement" in various contexts. | |||
| Sesotho | phoso | ||
| Sesotho 'phoso' derives from the verb 'hoposa' meaning 'to err' or 'to deviate from the right path'. | |||
| Swahili | kosa | ||
| The word "kosa" can also refer to a "fault" or "defect" in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | impazamo | ||
| The word "impazamo" has a second meaning: "a chance to learn and grow" | |||
| Yoruba | aṣiṣe | ||
| "Aṣiṣe" also means "fate" or "destiny" in Yoruba and this reflects the Yoruba belief that mistakes are often preordained. | |||
| Zulu | iphutha | ||
| In Zulu, "iphutha" can also mean "fault" or "error" and is derived from the verb "phutha" meaning "to miss" or "to err." | |||
| Bambara | hàkɛ | ||
| Ewe | vodada | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ikosa | ||
| Lingala | libunga | ||
| Luganda | ensobi | ||
| Sepedi | phošo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | mfomsoɔ | ||
Mistake in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | خطأ | ||
| "خطأ" derives from the root word "خطو" meaning "step" or "move", signifying an erroneous move or departure from the right path. | |||
| Hebrew | טעות | ||
| The word "טעות" in modern Hebrew is derived from the Aramaic word "טעותא" and means "error" or "mistake," while in Biblical Hebrew, it was used to refer to "wandering" or "going astray." | |||
| Pashto | خطا | ||
| In Pashto, "خطا" also means "sin" or "error". | |||
| Arabic | خطأ | ||
| "خطأ" derives from the root word "خطو" meaning "step" or "move", signifying an erroneous move or departure from the right path. | |||
Mistake in Western European Languages
| Albanian | gabim | ||
| "Gabim" comes from the Arabic word "ghabn", meaning "error" or "fraud", and it also has a secondary meaning of "harm" or "injury". | |||
| Basque | akatsa | ||
| The word "akatsa" comes from the verb "akatu" meaning "to fail" or "to be wrong". | |||
| Catalan | errada | ||
| The word "errada" in Catalan derives from the Latin word "errata", which means "list of errors" or "mistake". | |||
| Croatian | pogreška | ||
| The word 'pogreška' in Croatian also means 'flaw' or 'defect'. | |||
| Danish | fejl | ||
| The Danish word "fejl" derives from the Old Norse word "fall", with related cognates in many other Indo-European languages. | |||
| Dutch | vergissing | ||
| Vergissing is derived from the verb 'vergissen', which can also mean 'to be mistaken' or 'to make a mistake'. | |||
| English | mistake | ||
| The word 'mistake' derives from the Old Norse word 'mistaka', meaning 'to lose one's way' or 'to go astray'. | |||
| French | erreur | ||
| The French word 'erreur' originates from the Latin word 'errare', meaning 'to wander' or 'to go astray. | |||
| Frisian | flater | ||
| Flater is also the Frisian word for "flat" and is cognate with "flat" in English and "plat" in Dutch, all sharing a root with "plane" and its derivatives. | |||
| Galician | erro | ||
| In Galician, "erro" can also mean "itinerary" or "path", akin to the French "erre". | |||
| German | fehler | ||
| Fehler is a German word that has the same root as the English word "failure" and also means "fault" or "defect." | |||
| Icelandic | mistök | ||
| Mistök is a cognate of the Old English word "mistacan" and the Modern German word "misslingen". | |||
| Irish | botún | ||
| The word 'botún' also means 'profit' in Old Irish, suggesting a complex history of its semantic development. | |||
| Italian | sbaglio | ||
| "Sbaglio" is derived from the Lombard word "sbagliare" which means "to go out of the way" | |||
| Luxembourgish | feeler | ||
| In Luxembourgish, "Feeler" can also refer to a "mistake" or "blunder". | |||
| Maltese | żball | ||
| The word "żball" in Maltese originates from the Arabic word "ghلط" (ghalat), meaning "error" or "mistake". | |||
| Norwegian | feil | ||
| "Feil" can also mean "failure" or "fault" in Norwegian. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | erro | ||
| The word "erro" comes from the Latin word "errare", meaning "to wander" or "to go astray."} | |||
| Scots Gaelic | mearachd | ||
| The Scots Gaelic word "mearachd" has its roots in Old Gaelic and is related to the Irish word "mearachas", both meaning "error" or "mistake." | |||
| Spanish | error | ||
| In Spanish, "error" can also refer to an "omission" or a "lack of precision". | |||
| Swedish | misstag | ||
| The Swedish word "misstag" originates from the Middle Low German word "misstake", meaning "misstep" or "wrong action". | |||
| Welsh | camgymeriad | ||
| The word "camgymeriad" can also refer to a "wrong step" or "misdeed". | |||
Mistake in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | памылка | ||
| Памылка ultimately derives from the Proto-Slavic *pamlъka 'blunder'. An alternative meaning of the word is 'disgrace'. | |||
| Bosnian | greška | ||
| The word "greška" in Bosnian also means "sin". | |||
| Bulgarian | грешка | ||
| The word is also related to the word "грях" which means "sin" and shares a similar etymology to "griek" in Dutch and "грех" in Russian, indicating the moral connotation of the word. | |||
| Czech | chyba | ||
| The Czech word "chyba" is derived from the German word "Fehler", which also means "mistake". | |||
| Estonian | viga | ||
| The word "viga" originally meant "fault", but it was later extended to include "mistake". | |||
| Finnish | virhe | ||
| The word "virhe" originally meant "error" or "shortcoming" in Finnish. | |||
| Hungarian | hiba | ||
| "Hiba" (meaning "mistake") comes from the Turkish "hata", also meaning "mistake", which in turn comes from the Arabic "khata'" (meaning "error"). | |||
| Latvian | kļūda | ||
| The word "kļūda" in Latvian is thought to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*kleud-", which also gave rise to the English word "clot". | |||
| Lithuanian | klaida | ||
| The Lithuanian word "klaida" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *kley-, meaning to lean or bend. | |||
| Macedonian | грешка | ||
| In medieval Macedonian, "грешка" meant "sin" but in modern Macedonian it only means "mistake". | |||
| Polish | błąd | ||
| "Błąd" derives from Proto-Slavic *blodъ "error, deviation, fault" and possibly related to Polish "błądzić" "to wander". | |||
| Romanian | greşeală | ||
| The word "greşeală" comes from the Slavic word "grěhъ" meaning both "sin" and "mistake". | |||
| Russian | ошибка | ||
| The Russian word "ошибка" can also refer to a "deviation", "error" or "divergence". | |||
| Serbian | грешка | ||
| The word "greška" in Serbian can also mean a "fault" or a "flaw". | |||
| Slovak | omyl | ||
| The word "omyl" in Slovak comes from the Proto-Slavic word *omyliti, meaning "to deceive" or "to lead astray. | |||
| Slovenian | napaka | ||
| In Slovene, the word "napaka" can also mean "lapse" or "failure". | |||
| Ukrainian | помилка | ||
| The word "помилка" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "polmiti," meaning "to err" or "to make a mistake." | |||
Mistake in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ভুল | ||
| The term 'ভুল' not only means 'mistake' but is used also for 'forget' and 'error'. | |||
| Gujarati | ભૂલ | ||
| The Gujarati word 'ભૂલ' ('mistake') originates from the Sanskrit word 'bhūli' which means 'forgetfulness' or 'slip of memory'. | |||
| Hindi | ग़लती | ||
| The word "ग़लती" is also used to describe a fault or defect in a material object. | |||
| Kannada | ತಪ್ಪು | ||
| The Kannada word "ತಪ್ಪು" can also refer to a fault or defect in an object, or to a flaw in one's character. | |||
| Malayalam | തെറ്റ് | ||
| The Malayalam word 'തെറ്റ്' (t̠eṟṟ) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'त्रुटि' (truti), meaning 'slip' or 'error', also cognate with the English word 'error'. | |||
| Marathi | चूक | ||
| The word "चूक" (mistake) in Marathi can also refer to "negligence" or "omission". | |||
| Nepali | गल्ती | ||
| The Nepali word "गल्ती" derives from Sanskrit "घृष्टि," which initially meant "error, confusion," and later "crime," then "sin." | |||
| Punjabi | ਗਲਤੀ | ||
| The word "ਗਲਤੀ" in Punjabi shares its roots with the Sanskrit word "गलति" (galati), meaning "error" or "fault". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වැරැද්ද | ||
| "වැරැද්ද" can also be used to indicate an error or fault in a machine or system. | |||
| Tamil | தவறு | ||
| "தவறு" (mistake) is derived from the root "தவிர" meaning "to avoid". The word originally meant "omission" or "neglect" but has since come to mean "mistake" in modern Tamil. | |||
| Telugu | పొరపాటు | ||
| The word "పొరపాటు" (porapatu) in Telugu is derived from the Sanskrit word "प्रमाद" (pramāda), which means "carelessness, negligence, or overconfidence". | |||
| Urdu | غلطی | ||
| Urdu word "غلطی" is derived from the Arabic word "غلط" and also means "erroneous," "false," or "defective." | |||
Mistake in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 错误 | ||
| The Chinese word "错误" also means "something wrong or improper" and is composed of the characters "错" (wrong) and "误" (mistake or error), indicating a broader sense of deviation or incorrectness. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 錯誤 | ||
| 「錯誤」的詞源來自拉丁語「errare」，意指「流浪」、「迷失方向」或「犯錯」。 | |||
| Japanese | 間違い | ||
| In Japanese, the term "間違い" can also refer to a "wrong answer" or a "mistaken idea." | |||
| Korean | 잘못 | ||
| The word "잘못" can also mean "incorrectly" or "unfairly". | |||
| Mongolian | алдаа | ||
| The word "алдаа" can also refer to a "defect" or an "imperfection". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | အမှား | ||
| Although အမှား normally means "mistake", it can also mean "miscarriage." It has similar etymology to the English word "error". | |||
Mistake in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kesalahan | ||
| "Kesalahan" can also mean "deficit" or "bad manners" in Indonesian. | |||
| Javanese | kesalahan | ||
| The word 'kesalahan' in Javanese has an alternate meaning of 'fate' or 'destiny'. | |||
| Khmer | កំហុស | ||
| The word កំហុស can also be broken down into "កំ" meaning "hand" and "ហុស" meaning "to move incorrectly," thus implying a physical mistake. | |||
| Lao | ຜິດພາດ | ||
| "ຜິດພາດ" can also refer to a mistake or error in conduct or behavior. | |||
| Malay | kesilapan | ||
| "Kesilapan" derives from Sanskrit "kṣiti" meaning "earth" or "ground," implying a lapse or fall from grace. | |||
| Thai | ความผิดพลาด | ||
| The Thai word "ความผิดพลาด" comes from two root words: "ผิด" meaning "wrong" or "incorrect", and "พลาด" meaning "to miss" or "to fail". | |||
| Vietnamese | sai lầm | ||
| "Sai lầm" literally means "to do wrongly" as "sai" means "wrong" and "lầm" means "to do". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkakamali | ||
Mistake in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | səhv | ||
| "Səhv" is a Persian-origin word that can also mean "bad habit" or "defect" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | қателік | ||
| "Қателік" also means "defect" or "error" in the context of technical issues. | |||
| Kyrgyz | ката | ||
| "Ката" (mistake) also can mean "layer" or "row". It comes from the word "катуу" (firm). So you can say: катуу жаткан ката (a mistake I made while lying firmly or on purpose; also means 'an obvious mistake'). | |||
| Tajik | хато | ||
| The word "хато" can also mean "error" or "fault". | |||
| Turkmen | ýalňyşlyk | ||
| Uzbek | xato | ||
| "Xato" also means "a bad habit" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | خاتالىق | ||
Mistake in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kuhi hewa | ||
| The word 'kuhi hewa' is a compound of two words: 'kuhi,' meaning 'to miss the mark or deviate from the right path,' and 'hewa,' meaning 'crime, wrong, or fault.' | |||
| Maori | hape | ||
| The word "hape" also means "to err" or "to be led astray" in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | mea sese | ||
| Mea sese is also used to refer to something that is done wrongly or incorrectly. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | pagkakamali | ||
Mistake in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | pantjaña | ||
| Guarani | jejavy | ||
Mistake in International Languages
| Esperanto | eraro | ||
| The Esperanto word "eraro" derives from the Latin "errare", meaning "to wander". | |||
| Latin | errat | ||
| The Latin word "errat" also means "wanders": the "e" expresses the notion of movement away, and "errare" derives from the same root as "extra" or "exile". | |||
Mistake in Others Languages
| Greek | λάθος | ||
| The word "λάθος" is derived from the Ancient Greek word "λαθεῖν," meaning "to escape notice" or "to be concealed. | |||
| Hmong | ua yuam kev | ||
| The Hmong word "ua yuam kev" literally translates to "fall from the path", emphasizing the idea of deviation from the correct course. | |||
| Kurdish | şaşî | ||
| The term "şaşî" also carries the meanings of "defect" and "disorder". | |||
| Turkish | hata | ||
| Hata is derived from the Persian word 'khata' which also means 'mistake', 'error' but has the additional meaning of 'mark', 'spot' | |||
| Xhosa | impazamo | ||
| The word "impazamo" has a second meaning: "a chance to learn and grow" | |||
| Yiddish | גרייז | ||
| Etymology of 'גרייז' (Yiddish): from German 'Greis' ('gray') via Polish 'gryz' ('badly dyed') with a change of meaning to 'mistake'. | |||
| Zulu | iphutha | ||
| In Zulu, "iphutha" can also mean "fault" or "error" and is derived from the verb "phutha" meaning "to miss" or "to err." | |||
| Assamese | ভুল | ||
| Aymara | pantjaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | गलती | ||
| Dhivehi | ކުށް | ||
| Dogri | गलती | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | pagkakamali | ||
| Guarani | jejavy | ||
| Ilocano | biddut | ||
| Krio | mistek | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هەڵە | ||
| Maithili | गलती | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯑꯁꯣꯏꯕ | ||
| Mizo | tihsual | ||
| Oromo | dogoggora | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଭୁଲ | ||
| Quechua | pantay | ||
| Sanskrit | त्रुटि | ||
| Tatar | хата | ||
| Tigrinya | ጌጋ | ||
| Tsonga | xihoxo | ||