Nobody in Different Languages
Discover 'Nobody' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'nobody' is a common English term used to describe the absence of any person or the idea of insignificance. But did you know that this simple word has fascinating translations in different languages, shedding light on cultural perspectives and linguistic nuances?
For instance, in Spanish, 'nobody' is 'ningún/a' while in French, it's 'personne'. These translations offer a glimpse into how other cultures express the concept of nothingness or insignificance, adding depth to our understanding of language and culture.
Moreover, exploring the translations of 'nobody' can be an exciting journey into historical contexts too. For example, in Ancient Greek, 'nobody' was 'ουδείς' (oudeís), which was used in Homer's epics to denote a character who was literally 'no one', often with supernatural connotations.
So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a cultural explorer, or just someone curious about the world around you, delving into the translations of 'nobody' promises to be an enlightening experience.
Nobody
Nobody in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | niemand nie | ||
| "Niemand nie" is a double negative in Afrikaans, meaning "absolutely nobody". | |||
| Amharic | ማንም የለም | ||
| Hausa | ba kowa | ||
| "Ba kowa" in Hausa literally means "not anybody," highlighting the idea of exclusion or absence. | |||
| Igbo | ọ dịghị onye | ||
| 'Ọ dịghị onye' in Igbo literally means 'there is no person', but it also suggests a sense of insignificance or nonexistence. | |||
| Malagasy | tsy misy olona | ||
| Tsy misy olona, or "nobody" in Malagasy, can also mean "there is no one" or "it doesn't exist." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | palibe aliyense | ||
| Palibe aliyense can also refer to an individual that is not important or has no significance | |||
| Shona | hapana munhu | ||
| The Shona word "hapana munhu" can also mean "there is no one" or "it is deserted". | |||
| Somali | qofna | ||
| The word "qofna" can also be used to refer to an absent person, an unknown person, or an unspecified group of people. | |||
| Sesotho | ha ho motho | ||
| The word "ha ho motho" has several meanings in Sesotho, including "nobody," "there is nobody," and the idiomatic "there is something happening." | |||
| Swahili | hakuna mtu | ||
| The Swahili word "hakuna mtu" comes from the Arabic phrase "haakuna mattaa", which means "there is not anything". | |||
| Xhosa | akukho mntu | ||
| Akukho mntu also means "there is not" or something is "unavailable." | |||
| Yoruba | ko si eniti o | ||
| The term "ko si eniti o" also means "there is no one that is not" in Yoruba language, implying that everyone is special. | |||
| Zulu | akekho | ||
| The Zulu word "akekho" has a double etymology, meaning both "there is none" and "without a chief". | |||
| Bambara | mɔgɔ si | ||
| Ewe | ame aɖeke o | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ntawe | ||
| Lingala | moto moko te | ||
| Luganda | tewali muntu | ||
| Sepedi | ga go motho | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɛnyɛ obiara | ||
Nobody in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | لا أحد | ||
| The word "لا أحد" is derived from the words "لا" (no), "أحد" (one). It also means "no one" and "not even one." | |||
| Hebrew | אף אחד | ||
| "אף אחד" (nobody) literally means "no nose" in Hebrew, and is cognate with Arabic "انف" (nose). | |||
| Pashto | هیڅ نه | ||
| هیڅ نه can also be used to emphasize the negative, meaning "absolutely nothing". | |||
| Arabic | لا أحد | ||
| The word "لا أحد" is derived from the words "لا" (no), "أحد" (one). It also means "no one" and "not even one." | |||
Nobody in Western European Languages
| Albanian | askush | ||
| The Albanian word "askush" is thought to have originated from Latin "nescius", meaning "ignorant" or "unknown". | |||
| Basque | inor ez | ||
| The Basque word "inor ez" ("nobody") appears with the same meaning in medieval texts but with a totally different spelling: "enhor ez". | |||
| Catalan | ningú | ||
| The word "ningú" derives from the Latin "ne unus quidem", meaning "not even one." | |||
| Croatian | nitko | ||
| The Croatian word "nitko" shares its etymology with the Slavic word "nikъ", meaning both "no one" and "every man". | |||
| Danish | ingen | ||
| The word "ingen" can also mean "not a single one" or "none". | |||
| Dutch | niemand | ||
| The word 'niemand' is derived from the Middle Dutch word 'niemen', which means 'no one' or 'nothing'. | |||
| English | nobody | ||
| The word "nobody" is derived from the Middle English phrase "not body," meaning literally "no one of any significance." | |||
| French | personne | ||
| The word "personne" traces its origins to the Latin "persona," meaning "mask" or "character" in a theatrical performance. | |||
| Frisian | nimmen | ||
| The word ‘nimmen’ can be traced back to the Old Frisian term ‘niemenne’, originating from the Proto-Germanic word ‘neman’, ultimately deriving from the Proto-Indo-European root ‘ne-’, meaning ‘not’. In modern Frisian, the word can also signify ‘none’. | |||
| Galician | ninguén | ||
| "Ninguén" may also mean "no one" or "not one" in Galician. | |||
| German | niemand | ||
| The word "Niemand" comes from Middle High German "niemen" meaning "no one". "Niemand" also means "an unknown person" or "a nobody". | |||
| Icelandic | enginn | ||
| The Icelandic word "enginn" may derive from an Old Norse phrase meaning "not one" or "none at all." | |||
| Irish | aon duine | ||
| Aon duine ('nobody') may have derived from Middle Irish aen-duine ('one person'). | |||
| Italian | nessuno | ||
| Derived ultimately from Latin "nemo" meaning "not a man" (i.e., "nobody"), "nessuno" also retains an archaic use meaning "no one person" (i.e., "everybody"). | |||
| Luxembourgish | keen | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "keen" has the same origin as the German "keinerlei" meaning "no kind", "kein" meaning "no one". | |||
| Maltese | ħadd | ||
| The word "ħadd" is cognate with Arabic "ḥādd" (edge) and can also refer to a boundary or a limit. | |||
| Norwegian | ingen | ||
| The Norwegian word "ingen" (nobody) derives from the combination of "ne" (not) and "ein" (one), as nobody is not someone. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | ninguém | ||
| "Ninguém" derives from the archaic pronoun "nen", used in old Portuguese for inanimate beings and animals. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | duine | ||
| The word "duine" in Scots Gaelic also means "person" or "man" and is cognate with the Irish word "duine." | |||
| Spanish | nadie | ||
| The Spanish word "nadie" derives from Latin "natus" and "dies", but is cognate with English "natal", "nativity" and French "naître". | |||
| Swedish | ingen | ||
| An alternative Swedish synonym of "ingen" is "ingenjälp," meaning "no help." Another synonym is "ingenstans," meaning "nowhere." | |||
| Welsh | neb | ||
| In some areas of Wales, particularly Carmarthenshire, 'neb' is pronounced similarly to 'new' meaning 'one' which can create confusion. | |||
Nobody in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | ніхто | ||
| In Belarusian, "ніхто" also refers to an evil or mischievous mythical creature that can take many animal guises to trick people. | |||
| Bosnian | niko | ||
| The word "niko" also means "the son of Nikola". | |||
| Bulgarian | никой | ||
| The Bulgarian word "Никой" is related to Serbian and Croatian "nikakav" and "nikakav" in Macedonian and Montenegrin, all having the meaning of "non-essential" and related words in Russian, Czech and other Slavic languages. | |||
| Czech | nikdo | ||
| The word "nikdo" in Czech is composed of the negating prefix "ni" with the indefinite form "kdo" meaning "who", thus originally referring to an indeterminate person. | |||
| Estonian | mitte keegi | ||
| "Mitte keegi" translates as "nobody" but literally means "not anyone". | |||
| Finnish | kukaan | ||
| "Kukaan" can mean "anyone" in interrogatives and "no one" in negatives. | |||
| Hungarian | senki | ||
| "Senki" is originally a compound word, composed of the pronoun "se" (himself/herself) and the archaic negative "-ki" (not). Nowadays it is used for the third person (like in "senki nincs otthon" (nobody is home)) or as a general indefinite pronoun. | |||
| Latvian | neviens | ||
| The Latvian word "neviens" (nobody) shares a root with the word "nieki" (nothing). | |||
| Lithuanian | niekas | ||
| The word "niekas" in Lithuanian is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*ne" meaning "not" and "*kʷi" meaning "who". | |||
| Macedonian | никој | ||
| Etymology-wise a cognate of Greek "οὐδείς" (oudeis), meaning "not one". | |||
| Polish | nikt | ||
| The word "nikt" is derived from the Slavic word "nikъ", meaning "not one". | |||
| Romanian | nimeni | ||
| The Romanian word "nimeni" is a contraction of the phrase "nici un om" meaning "not a single person" | |||
| Russian | никто | ||
| The Russian word "никто" (nobody) is derived from the Old Church Slavonic "никъто" (no one), which in turn is derived from the Proto-Slavic "nikyjьto" (not-somebody). | |||
| Serbian | нико | ||
| 'Нико' is a Serbo-Croatian word which can mean both 'nobody' and 'someone' | |||
| Slovak | nikto | ||
| Nikto is a diminutive of the Slovak name Nikodém (Nicodemus). | |||
| Slovenian | nihče | ||
| In the 15th century, “nihče” meant 'no one' but also 'each one'. | |||
| Ukrainian | ніхто | ||
| The Ukrainian word "ніхто" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *nekʷ-, meaning "not one". | |||
Nobody in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কেউ না | ||
| The word "কেউ না" can also mean "no one" or "anyone" in Bengali, depending on the context. | |||
| Gujarati | કોઈ નહી | ||
| The Gujarati word "કોઈ નહી" (ko-i na-hi) literally means "no one", but it can also be used to express feelings of disappointment or resignation. | |||
| Hindi | कोई भी नहीं | ||
| In English, the word "nobody" means "not anybody." In Hindi, the word "कोई भी नहीं" ("koi bhi nahin") literally means "not even anybody." | |||
| Kannada | ಯಾರೂ | ||
| "ಯಾರೂ" is also used as the name of an ancient Indian philosopher. | |||
| Malayalam | ആരും | ||
| "ആരും" is derived from the Tamil word "ஆர்" meaning "who", indicating a lack of specific individuals. | |||
| Marathi | कोणीही नाही | ||
| Nepali | कुनै हैन | ||
| The term "कुनै हैन" is derived from "कोहि" (who) and "छैन" (not), implying the complete absence of any individual. | |||
| Punjabi | ਕੋਈ ਨਹੀਂ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කවුරුවත් නැහැ | ||
| Tamil | யாரும் இல்லை | ||
| Telugu | ఎవరూ | ||
| The word "ఎవరూ" can also be used to refer to inanimate things or abstract concepts implying a lack thereof. | |||
| Urdu | کوئی نہیں | ||
Nobody in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 没有人 | ||
| In Chinese, "没有人" can also mean "an insignificant person" or "a nobody". | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 沒有人 | ||
| The character "沒" means "not" while "有人" means "anybody", so "沒有人" literally means "not anybody". | |||
| Japanese | 誰も | ||
| In addition to meaning "nobody," the word "誰も" can also mean "everyone" in Japanese, due to the negative prefix "な" indicating an unexpected or surprising situation. | |||
| Korean | 아무도 | ||
| "아무도" can mean both "anybody" and "nobody" in Korean because it literally means "the other extreme". In "아무", "아" means "this extreme" and "무" means "the other extreme". | |||
| Mongolian | хэн ч биш | ||
| "Хэн ч биш" phrase in Mongolian is derived from the word "хүний" (human) and means "no human" or "none". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဘယ်သူမှ | ||
Nobody in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | tak seorangpun | ||
| The word "tak seorangpun" is derived from the Javanese and Sundanese languages, and originally meant "not one person". | |||
| Javanese | ora ana wong | ||
| The Javanese phrase "ora ana wong" (literally "there is no person") also carries the connotation of "insignificant" or "of no account." | |||
| Khmer | គ្មាននរណាម្នាក់ | ||
| Lao | ບໍ່ມີໃຜ | ||
| Malay | tiada siapa | ||
| 'Tiada siapa' is a conjunction of 'tiada' ('no') and 'siapa' ('who'), thus literally meaning 'nobody'. | |||
| Thai | ไม่มีใคร | ||
| The word "ไม่มีใคร" can also be used to mean "not anyone" or "no one". | |||
| Vietnamese | không ai | ||
| The word "không ai" literally means "not who" which refers to "no human" and therefore means "nobody" when translated into English. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | walang tao | ||
Nobody in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | heç kim | ||
| "Heç kim" in Azerbaijani comes from the Persian word "hiç kimse", which literally means "not anyone". | |||
| Kazakh | ешкім | ||
| "Ешкім" in Kazakh is cognate with the Turkish "es", meaning "companion". | |||
| Kyrgyz | эч ким | ||
| Эч ким originated from the root “эч” (“nothing”) and has a negative connotation. | |||
| Tajik | ҳеҷ кас | ||
| The Tajik word "ҳеҷ кас" ("nobody") stems from the Persian word "هیچکس" ("nobody"), which means "no one". | |||
| Turkmen | hiç kim | ||
| Uzbek | hech kim | ||
| In modern Uzbek, "hech kim" derives from "hech" (nothing) and "kim" (who), originally meaning "not anyone or anything". | |||
| Uyghur | ھېچكىم | ||
Nobody in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻaʻohe kanaka | ||
| ʻAʻohe kanaka can be used as a humble way to refer to oneself or one's group, in contrast to the more formal ʻaʻohe mea (nothing). | |||
| Maori | tangata | ||
| The word "tangata" in Maori can also mean "other" or "outsider". | |||
| Samoan | leai seisi | ||
| The word "leai seisi" can also be used to mean "no one in particular" or "no one important." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | walang tao | ||
| "Walang tao" also means "there is nothing" in some instances. | |||
Nobody in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | ni khiti | ||
| Guarani | avave | ||
Nobody in International Languages
| Esperanto | neniu | ||
| The Esperanto word "neniu" derives from the Latin word "ne unus", meaning "not one". | |||
| Latin | neminem | ||
| As well as the meaning "nobody", "neminem" also can be translated as "no one," "not anyone," or "none". | |||
Nobody in Others Languages
| Greek | κανείς | ||
| The Greek word "κανείς" derives from the phrase "ουδέ εις," meaning "not even one," and is cognate with the Latin "nemo." | |||
| Hmong | tsis muaj leej twg | ||
| The Hmong word "tsis muaj leej twg" can also refer to a mythical creature that lives in the forest and is said to be invisible to humans. | |||
| Kurdish | nekes | ||
| The word "nekes" in Kurdish is a cognate of the Persian word "nakes" meaning "useless or worthless thing" and the Sanskrit word "nakis" meaning "deficient or lacking" | |||
| Turkish | kimse | ||
| The word "kimse" comes from the phrase "kimse yok," meaning "there is no one." | |||
| Xhosa | akukho mntu | ||
| Akukho mntu also means "there is not" or something is "unavailable." | |||
| Yiddish | קיינער | ||
| In Yiddish culture, "קיינער" also refers to spirits that protect against evil | |||
| Zulu | akekho | ||
| The Zulu word "akekho" has a double etymology, meaning both "there is none" and "without a chief". | |||
| Assamese | কোনো নহয় | ||
| Aymara | ni khiti | ||
| Bhojpuri | केहू ना | ||
| Dhivehi | އެއްވެސް މީހެއްނޫން | ||
| Dogri | कोई नेईं | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | walang tao | ||
| Guarani | avave | ||
| Ilocano | saan a siasinoman | ||
| Krio | nɔbɔdi | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هیچ کەسێک | ||
| Maithili | कोनो नहि | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯀꯅꯥ ꯅꯠꯇꯕ | ||
| Mizo | tumah | ||
| Oromo | namni tokkollee | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କେହି ନୁହ | ||
| Quechua | mana pipas | ||
| Sanskrit | अविदितम् | ||
| Tatar | беркем дә | ||
| Tigrinya | ዋላ ሓደ | ||
| Tsonga | ku hava | ||