Murder in Different Languages
Discover 'Murder' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Murder
Afrikaans moord | ||
Albanian vrasje | ||
Amharic ግድያ | ||
Arabic قتل | ||
Armenian սպանություն | ||
Assamese হত্যা | ||
Aymara jiwayaña | ||
Azerbaijani qətl | ||
Bambara mɔgɔfaga | ||
Basque hilketa | ||
Belarusian забойства | ||
Bengali খুন | ||
Bhojpuri हत्या के घटना के बारे में बतावल गईल | ||
Bosnian ubistvo | ||
Bulgarian убийство | ||
Catalan assassinat | ||
Cebuano pagpatay | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 谋杀 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 謀殺 | ||
Corsican assassiniu | ||
Croatian ubiti | ||
Czech vražda | ||
Danish mord | ||
Dhivehi މަރުގެ މައްސަލައެވެ | ||
Dogri हत्या करना | ||
Dutch moord | ||
English murder | ||
Esperanto murdo | ||
Estonian mõrv | ||
Ewe amewuwu | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pagpatay | ||
Finnish murhata | ||
French meurtre | ||
Frisian moard | ||
Galician asasinato | ||
Georgian მკვლელობა | ||
German mord | ||
Greek δολοφονία | ||
Guarani jejuka rehegua | ||
Gujarati હત્યા | ||
Haitian Creole touye moun | ||
Hausa kisan kai | ||
Hawaiian pepehi kanaka | ||
Hebrew רֶצַח | ||
Hindi हत्या | ||
Hmong tua neeg | ||
Hungarian gyilkosság | ||
Icelandic morð | ||
Igbo igbu mmadu | ||
Ilocano pammapatay | ||
Indonesian pembunuhan | ||
Irish dúnmharú | ||
Italian omicidio | ||
Japanese 殺人 | ||
Javanese rajapati | ||
Kannada ಕೊಲೆ | ||
Kazakh кісі өлтіру | ||
Khmer ឃាតកម្ម | ||
Kinyarwanda ubwicanyi | ||
Konkani खून करप | ||
Korean 살인 | ||
Krio kil pɔsin | ||
Kurdish kûştin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) کوشتن | ||
Kyrgyz киши өлтүрүү | ||
Lao ຄາດຕະ ກຳ | ||
Latin occidendum | ||
Latvian slepkavība | ||
Lingala koboma bato | ||
Lithuanian nužudymas | ||
Luganda ettemu | ||
Luxembourgish ermuert | ||
Macedonian убиство | ||
Maithili हत्या | ||
Malagasy vonoan-olona | ||
Malay pembunuhan | ||
Malayalam കൊലപാതകം | ||
Maltese qtil | ||
Maori kohuru | ||
Marathi खून | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯈꯨꯅꯥꯏꯒꯤ ꯊꯧꯗꯣꯛ꯫ | ||
Mizo tualthah a ni | ||
Mongolian аллага | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) လူသတ်မှု | ||
Nepali हत्या | ||
Norwegian mord | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kupha | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହତ୍ୟା | ||
Oromo ajjeechaa | ||
Pashto وژنه | ||
Persian قتل | ||
Polish morderstwo | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) assassinato | ||
Punjabi ਕਤਲ | ||
Quechua wañuchiy | ||
Romanian crimă | ||
Russian убийство | ||
Samoan fasioti tagata | ||
Sanskrit वधः | ||
Scots Gaelic murt | ||
Sepedi polao ya polao | ||
Serbian убиство | ||
Sesotho polao | ||
Shona umhondi | ||
Sindhi قتل | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) මිනීමැරුම | ||
Slovak vražda | ||
Slovenian umor | ||
Somali dil | ||
Spanish asesinato | ||
Sundanese rajapati | ||
Swahili mauaji | ||
Swedish mörda | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) pagpatay | ||
Tajik куштор | ||
Tamil கொலை | ||
Tatar үтерү | ||
Telugu హత్య | ||
Thai ฆาตกรรม | ||
Tigrinya ቅትለት | ||
Tsonga ku dlaya | ||
Turkish cinayet | ||
Turkmen adam öldürmek | ||
Twi (Akan) awudisɛm | ||
Ukrainian вбивство | ||
Urdu قتل | ||
Uyghur قاتىل | ||
Uzbek qotillik | ||
Vietnamese giết người | ||
Welsh llofruddiaeth | ||
Xhosa ukubulala | ||
Yiddish מאָרד | ||
Yoruba ipaniyan | ||
Zulu ukubulala |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "moord" has the same origin as the English word "murder", both derived from the Proto-Germanic word *murþrą, meaning "secret killing". |
| Albanian | The word "vrasje" in Albanian is derived from the Slavic word "vražda", meaning "enmity" or "hatred". |
| Amharic | The word "ግድያ" (murder) can also refer to "slaughter" or "killing". |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "قتل" can also refer to "execution" or "manslaughter." |
| Azerbaijani | The word "qətl" in Azerbaijani also has a secondary meaning of "manslaughter", which refers to the unlawful killing of a person without malice aforethought. |
| Basque | The Basque word "hilketa" is a compound of "hil" (death) and "keta" (action), and is synonymous with "hiltze" (death), "hilkor" (mortal), "hilzorz" (dying), and "hilgarri" (deadly). |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "забойства" originally meant "the act of killing an animal" but has since come to mean "murder". |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "খুন" (khun) has roots in Persian, with an alternate meaning of "blood". |
| Bosnian | The word 'ubistvo' ultimately comes from Old Slavonic 'ubiti', 'to strike, kill'. |
| Bulgarian | 'Убийство' ultimately derives from Proto-Slavic *ubijstvo, from *ubiti ('to kill'), which is cognate with Old English 'ofslēan' |
| Catalan | Assassinat can also refer to an assassination attempt that failed, in which case it becomes a noun. |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "pagpatay" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root word *patek, which also means "to kill" or "to destroy". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character '谋' in '谋杀' originally meant 'plan', and the character '杀' meant 'kill'. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The Chinese word for "murder", "谋杀", has an alternate meaning of "to plan or plot." |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "assassiniu" can also refer to a violent dispute or a conspiracy. |
| Croatian | In Serbo-Croatian, 'ubiti' can also mean 'to kill' or 'to finish'. Alternatively, in archaic Russian, it meant 'to beat'. |
| Czech | The word "vražda" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *vьratiti, meaning "to return", and is related to the words "vrátit" (to return) and "vražedný" (murderous). |
| Danish | Mord is of Proto-Indo-European origin, sharing a root with the English word 'murder'. |
| Dutch | In the Dutch language, 'moord' (murder) has a specific connotation of a deliberate and premeditated killing, as opposed to 'doodslag' (manslaughter), which implies a less severe degree of intent or negligence. |
| Esperanto | The word "murdo" in Esperanto is a cognate of the Latin "mors" (death) and the English "murder", with the same root meaning of "killing". |
| Estonian | The word "mõrv" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*murhē", which also means "death" or "slaughter". |
| Finnish | The word 'murhata' in Finnish is derived from the word 'murha', which means 'murder' and is ultimately derived from the Proto-Finnic word 'murha' meaning 'kill'. |
| French | "Meurtre" derives from a Latin noun, "mors, mortis," meaning "death," and came to refer specifically to premeditated killing as distinguished from other forms of "mort". |
| Frisian | The word 'moard' may derive from an earlier Germanic root meaning 'sorrow', or from the Dutch 'moord' (murder), which has a similar root to 'mort' (death) in French. |
| Galician | Asasinato also refers to an act to obtain an office, dignity or pre-eminence by treacherous or illicit means. |
| German | In German, the word "Mord" also has the connotation of "violent killing" or "homicide", and can be used to describe intentional or unintentional acts resulting in the death of another person. |
| Greek | The Greek word "δολοφονία" (murder) comes from the root "δολο-," meaning "fraud" or "deception", and "φόνος," meaning "killing". |
| Gujarati | The word "હત્યા" (hatya) derives from the Sanskrit word "hat" meaning "to kill". |
| Haitian Creole | Alternate name for the Haitian crime of "assassination" |
| Hausa | The term 'kisan kai' is closely linked to the concepts of 'elimination' and 'termination', underscoring its graver connotation as an act of 'murder'. |
| Hawaiian | "Pepehi kanaka" has the alternate meaning of "civil war" and is sometimes used in that sense to describe the violent political struggles in Hawaiian history. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word רֶצַח (retsach) "murder" also means "willful destruction" and can be traced to the verb רָצַץ (ratsats) "to break" or "to shatter". |
| Hindi | "हत्या" can also mean "a loud outcry or sound" which is its older meaning from 2200–2000 BC in Prakrit. |
| Hmong | In the Hmong language, "tua neeg" can also refer to a type of divination practice, a person's life or fate, and the act of casting a curse or spell. |
| Hungarian | "Gyilkosság" comes from the Slavic word "jilko", meaning "to sting", and originally referred to a sudden, violent attack resulting in death. |
| Icelandic | It's etymologically related to the Icelandic concept of "mǫrðr", which can mean either a legal killing or a secret one. |
| Igbo | In Igbo, 'igbu mmadu' also means the ritualistic killing of humans for their body parts, typically during times of war or conflict. |
| Indonesian | The word "pembunuhan" is derived from the Javanese word "bunuh", meaning "to kill" or "to murder". |
| Italian | "Omicidio" derives from the Latin "homicidium", meaning "killing of a man". |
| Japanese | The Japanese word "殺人" (satsu-jin) literally translates to "killing person" and can refer to both intentional and unintentional killings, unlike "murder" in English. |
| Javanese | The word "rajapati" in Javanese also means "to take a life" or "to end one's life". |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಕೊಲೆ" (murder) derives from the verb "ಕೊಲ್ಲು" (to kill), ultimately tracing back to the Proto-Dravidian root *kol- meaning "to kill, murder". |
| Kazakh | The word "кісі өлтіру" can also refer to manslaughter or homicide, depending on the context. |
| Khmer | ฆาตกรรม (ฆาต+กรรม) 'การทำกรรมแก่ชีวิต (การฆ่า)' มาจากสันสกฤต "ฆาต" 'การฆ่า' + "กรรม" 'การทำ' |
| Korean | The Korean word 살인 (murder) is thought to have originated from the Sino-Korean word 殺害 (murder), which in turn is derived from the Chinese character 殺 (to kill). |
| Kurdish | The word “kûştin” in Kurdish is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰew- (“to kill, strike”), and is related to the Persian word “koštan” and the Sanskrit word “ghātayati”. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "киши өлтүрүү" does not have any notable alternate meanings or etymological curiosities in Kyrgyz. |
| Latin | The word "occidendum" in Latin can also mean "the act of killing". |
| Latvian | The word 'slepkavība' in Latvian is derived from the Old Prussian word 'sleep' meaning 'blind' and 'kav' meaning 'strike', hence 'to strike blindly'. |
| Lithuanian | The word "nužudymas" is derived from the Old Prussian word "naujodim", which means "to kill". |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "ermuert" derives from the Old High German "irmorden," meaning "to destroy with malice." |
| Macedonian | The word "убиство" is derived from the Slavic root "ubiti", meaning "to kill". |
| Malagasy | The word "vonoan-olona" is a compound word composed of "vono" (to kill) and "olona" (person) |
| Malay | The Indonesian word "pembunuhan" is derived from the Malay word "bunuh" meaning "to kill", and the prefix "pe" which denotes an action or process. |
| Maltese | The word "qtil" in Maltese is derived from the Arabic word "qatl", which means "killing" or "slaughter". |
| Maori | The Maori word "kohuru" also refers to a type of shark and the act of killing or sacrificing a person. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "खून" can also mean "blood" or "rage". |
| Mongolian | The word "аллага" can also mean "butchery" or "slaughter". |
| Nepali | The word "हत्या" is derived from the Sanskrit word "हत+", meaning "to kill or destroy". |
| Norwegian | Mord in Norwegian is derived from Old Norse morð, which meant 'crime' and was not restricted to killing humans. |
| Pashto | The word 'وژنه' is also used in the metaphorical sense of 'killing a plan or project'. |
| Persian | Etymology: Arabic loanword, from the root Q-T-L, meaning "to kill, slay, or execute." |
| Polish | The word "morderstwo" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "mordŭ", meaning "violent death" or "slaughter." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word for "murder" comes from the Arabic word "hashish", likely because assassins were often users of the drug during training. |
| Punjabi | The word 'ਕਤਲ' is derived from the Arabic word 'قتل', which means 'to kill'. |
| Romanian | The word "crimă" also means "sin" or "crime" in Romanian. |
| Russian | The word "убийство" can also mean "homicide" or "killing". |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "fasioti tagata" literally means "break a person in two." |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word 'murt' also refers to a 'deed' or 'action', reflecting its derivation from the Latin 'mors' ('death') via Old French. |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "убиство" (murder) literally means "killing death". |
| Sesotho | The word 'polao' may also refer to a type of traditional porridge in the context of Sesotho cuisine |
| Shona | The Shona word "umhondi" can also refer to a type of traditional court where disputes were resolved. |
| Sindhi | قتل's use as a noun means destruction, while as a verb means to ruin, to destroy, or to kill. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In Sri Lankan legal and bureaucratic usage, the phrase means the intentional or negligent killing of another individual without justifiable cause. |
| Slovak | The word "vražda" also has the archaic meaning of "feud" or "hostility". |
| Slovenian | The word "umor" in Slovenian can also mean "mind", "thought" or "humour". |
| Somali | Somali "dil" comes from the Arabic term "dil" meaning "to deceive". |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "asesinato" specifically refers to murder for hire or with malicious intent. |
| Sundanese | The word "rajapati" also means "a king" in Sundanese, highlighting the power imbalance often present in murder cases. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "mauaji" is derived from the Arabic word "mawt", meaning "death" or "killing", and is also closely related to the word "muaji", meaning "killer". |
| Swedish | In Swedish, "mörda" derives from Old Norse "myrðra", meaning both "to murder" and "to hide someone's honor". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Filipino word "pagpatay" is also translated to "homicide" in English. |
| Tajik | The word "куштор" may also refer to "killer" or "slaughterer." |
| Tamil | The word "கொலை" (kolaik) in Tamil may also refer to the act of cutting or killing a snake or a demon. |
| Telugu | హత్య (hatya) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'han', meaning 'to kill', and it can also refer to 'destruction' or 'slaughter'. |
| Thai | "ฆาตกรรม" can also mean "to destroy" or "to kill completely" in Thai, and it is derived from the Sanskrit word "ghāta", meaning "killing" or "destruction." |
| Turkish | Cinayet, which means "murder" in Turkish, derives from the Arabic word "janaya", meaning "to commit a crime". |
| Ukrainian | In Old Church Slavonic, |
| Urdu | The word "قتل" (murder) in Urdu is derived from the Arabic word "قتل" (killing), which also means "death" or "fate". Additionally, it can refer to the act of "killing" in a more general sense, such as the killing of an animal. |
| Uzbek | "Qotillik" has a distinct meaning in Uzbek compared to murder, referring to the intentional killing of a person out of revenge. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "llofruddiaeth" has also been used to mean "robbery" and "slaughter" in the past. |
| Xhosa | The word ‘ukubulala’ has its roots in the word ‘bulala’ meaning ‘kill’ in many other Bantu languages. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "מאָרד" (mord) is derived from the Old High German word "mord" meaning "death" or "killing". |
| Yoruba | Ipaniyan's original meaning relates to an ambush or unexpected attack. |
| Zulu | "Ukubulala" also means "to put something out of the way" or "to get rid of something" in Zulu. |
| English | The word "murder" is derived from the Old English word "morð," meaning "secret killing" or "treacherous death". |