North in Different Languages
Discover 'North' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
North
Afrikaans noord | ||
Albanian në veri | ||
Amharic ሰሜን | ||
Arabic شمال | ||
Armenian հյուսիս | ||
Assamese উত্তৰদিশ | ||
Aymara alaya | ||
Azerbaijani şimal | ||
Bambara saheli | ||
Basque iparraldea | ||
Belarusian поўнач | ||
Bengali উত্তর | ||
Bhojpuri उत्तर | ||
Bosnian sjever | ||
Bulgarian север | ||
Catalan al nord | ||
Cebuano amihanan | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 北 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 北 | ||
Corsican nordu | ||
Croatian sjeverno | ||
Czech severní | ||
Danish nord | ||
Dhivehi އުތުރު | ||
Dogri पच्छम | ||
Dutch noorden | ||
English north | ||
Esperanto norde | ||
Estonian põhjas | ||
Ewe dziehe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) hilaga | ||
Finnish pohjoinen | ||
French nord | ||
Frisian noard | ||
Galician norte | ||
Georgian ჩრდილოეთი | ||
German norden | ||
Greek βόρειος | ||
Guarani yvatévo | ||
Gujarati ઉત્તર | ||
Haitian Creole nò | ||
Hausa arewa | ||
Hawaiian ke akau | ||
Hebrew צָפוֹן | ||
Hindi उत्तर | ||
Hmong sab qaum teb | ||
Hungarian északi | ||
Icelandic norður | ||
Igbo ugwu | ||
Ilocano amianan | ||
Indonesian utara | ||
Irish ó thuaidh | ||
Italian nord | ||
Japanese 北 | ||
Javanese lor | ||
Kannada ಉತ್ತರ | ||
Kazakh солтүстік | ||
Khmer ខាងជើង | ||
Kinyarwanda ruguru | ||
Konkani उत्तर | ||
Korean 북쪽 | ||
Krio nɔt | ||
Kurdish bakûr | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) باکور | ||
Kyrgyz түндүк | ||
Lao ພາກ ເໜືອ | ||
Latin north | ||
Latvian uz ziemeļiem | ||
Lingala norde | ||
Lithuanian šiaurė | ||
Luganda amambuka | ||
Luxembourgish norden | ||
Macedonian север | ||
Maithili उत्तर दिस | ||
Malagasy avaratra | ||
Malay utara | ||
Malayalam വടക്ക് | ||
Maltese it-tramuntana | ||
Maori raki | ||
Marathi उत्तर | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯑꯋꯥꯡ | ||
Mizo hmar | ||
Mongolian хойд | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မြောက်ဘက် | ||
Nepali उत्तर | ||
Norwegian nord | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kumpoto | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଉତ୍ତର | ||
Oromo kaaba | ||
Pashto شمال | ||
Persian شمال | ||
Polish północ | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) norte | ||
Punjabi ਉੱਤਰ | ||
Quechua chincha | ||
Romanian nord | ||
Russian север | ||
Samoan matu | ||
Sanskrit उत्तर | ||
Scots Gaelic tuath | ||
Sepedi leboa | ||
Serbian север | ||
Sesotho leboea | ||
Shona mawodzanyemba | ||
Sindhi اتر | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) උතුරු | ||
Slovak sever | ||
Slovenian sever | ||
Somali waqooyi | ||
Spanish norte | ||
Sundanese kalér | ||
Swahili kaskazini | ||
Swedish norr | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) hilaga | ||
Tajik шимол | ||
Tamil வடக்கு | ||
Tatar төньяк | ||
Telugu ఉత్తరం | ||
Thai ทิศเหนือ | ||
Tigrinya ሰሜን | ||
Tsonga n'walungu | ||
Turkish kuzeyinde | ||
Turkmen demirgazyk | ||
Twi (Akan) atifi | ||
Ukrainian північ | ||
Urdu شمال | ||
Uyghur شىمال | ||
Uzbek shimoliy | ||
Vietnamese bắc | ||
Welsh gogledd | ||
Xhosa mantla | ||
Yiddish צאָפן | ||
Yoruba ariwa | ||
Zulu enyakatho |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "noord" also means "up" in Afrikaans, derived from the Old English word "norð" meaning "north". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "në veri" (north) is likely derived from the Proto-Albanian *wori, meaning "the place where the sun rises". |
| Amharic | The word "ሰሜን" can also mean "the right-hand side" or "the east" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | The word "شمال" (north) in Arabic also means "the left hand" or "the left side". |
| Armenian | The word "հյուսիս" can also mean "the Arctic" or "the northern regions" in Armenian. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "şimal" also means "left" in Azerbaijani, which aligns with the traditional Islamic orientation of north being on the left. |
| Basque | The word "iparraldea" also means "the other side" in Basque, referring to the French Basque Country, which is located on the north side of the Pyrenees mountains. |
| Belarusian | The word "поўнач" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "polьnoky", which means "midnight" or "the time of the full moon". |
| Bengali | "উত্তর" also means "answer" in Bengali, a relic of the days when students were taught while facing north. |
| Bosnian | The word "sjever" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*sěverъ", which also means "left". |
| Bulgarian | The word "север" shares the same root with the words "severe" and "serious". |
| Catalan | In 1881, the word “al nord” was employed to denote the side of the compass that was opposite to the south. |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "amihanan" can also refer to a cold, gentle wind that blows from the northeast, especially during the dry season. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character "北" originally meant "a back." It's related to "背" (bèi), meaning back, and the original character for "north" was a person with their back to the sun. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 北 (north) can also mean "back," "behind," or "avoid." |
| Corsican | In Corsican, the word "nordu" is also used figuratively to mean "strong" or "brave". |
| Croatian | The word 'sjeverno' derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁sker- ('left'), as the north was traditionally considered to be the direction to the left of the rising sun. |
| Czech | The word "severní" is derived from the Old Slavic word "severъ", meaning "left" or "cold". |
| Danish | The word “nord” in Danish is cognate to the English word “north” and is also used to mean “above” in Danish topographic contexts. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "noorden" is cognate with the English word "north", both deriving from the Proto-Germanic word *northaz. |
| Esperanto | "Norde" is related to the Norse word "norr" and the Old English word "norð". |
| Estonian | In addition to the cardinal direction, "põhjas" can also mean "at the end", "finished", or "exhausted" in Estonian. |
| Finnish | The word pohjoinen comes from the Proto-Germanic word *norþa-, meaning |
| French | The French word "Nord" originates from the Latin word "septentriōn-," meaning "seven stars," likely referring to the seven stars composing the Big Dipper. |
| Frisian | In Frisian, "Noard" also means "up" or "higher ground", reflecting the region's geography. |
| German | The word "Norden" is derived from the Old High German word "nord" (north), which is related to the English word "north" and the Latin word "septentrio" (north). |
| Greek | In ancient Greek, "Βόρειος" could also mean "of or pertaining to mountains". |
| Gujarati | The word 'ઉત્તર' can also mean 'answer' or 'reply' in Gujarati, similar to its Sanskrit origin. |
| Haitian Creole | "Nò" also means "that" in Haitian Creole. |
| Hausa | The word "arewa" also connotes "heaven" or "paradise" in Hausa. |
| Hawaiian | The word "ke Akau" can also mean "the forehead" or "the highest point" in Hawaiian. |
| Hebrew | צָפוֹן can mean both "north" and "hidden" because both senses derive from the Hebrew root ספן, "to be hidden, withdrawn, obscured." |
| Hindi | The Sanskrit root |
| Hmong | The word "sab qaum teb" literally means "the place where the water flows down" in Hmong. |
| Hungarian | Az „északi” szó az „észre” (=észlelés, ész) gyöktől származik, a szó eredeti jelentése „ami az ész irányában van.” |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "norður" is also used to refer to the "left side" when facing east. |
| Igbo | "Ugwu" in Igbo can also mean "hill" or "mountain", reflecting the association between elevated terrain and the northern direction. |
| Indonesian | "Utara" also refers to "heaven" as it is located above "langit" which is the equivalent of "sky" |
| Irish | The Irish word for 'north' also means 'left hand'—a convention borrowed from maritime tradition. |
| Italian | In Italian, the word "nord" also has connotations of coldness, harshness, and remoteness. |
| Japanese | The word "北" (kita) can also mean "the Emperor," "the government," or "the capital." |
| Javanese | In Old Javanese "Lor" also meant "above", but not in the sense of altitude but rather of social rank or age. |
| Kannada | The word 'ಉತ್ತರ' can also refer to an answer or response, as in the phrase 'prashnottara' (question-answer). |
| Kazakh | The word “солтүстік” (“north”) in Kazakh is derived from the word “сол” (“left”), as the north was considered to be on the left side when facing east. |
| Khmer | The word "ខាងជើង" (north) also means "the direction of the wind" in Khmer. |
| Korean | "북쪽" refers to the direction north, but it also means "back" or "the person behind" in a hierarchical context. |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish dialects, bakûr can also refer to the 'right' side or direction, as opposed to 'left' (çep). |
| Kyrgyz | The word "түндүк" also means "right-hand side" in Kyrgyz, and is related to the word "түн", meaning "night". |
| Latin | "North" derives from an ancient Germanic word meaning "left-hand". |
| Latvian | The word "uz ziemeļiem" also means "from the north" and "on the north side". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "Šiaurė" for "north" is cognate with the Old Norse term "skeytr" and the Sanskrit word "cyuta," meaning "swift." |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "Norden" could be derived from the Latin word "septentrionem" meaning "the seven stars", but it might also be related to the Germanic word "Nord" meaning "the place of darkness." |
| Macedonian | The word "север" is also used to describe the constellation Ursa Minor. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "AVARATRA" meaning "north" originally meant "where the sun rises" and then "east". |
| Malay | The Malay word 'utara' is cognate with the Sanskrit word 'uttara', meaning 'later' or 'higher'. |
| Malayalam | The word "വടക്ക്" also means "cow's udder" and is derived from the Sanskrit word "उत्तरा" (uttara), which means "northern". |
| Maltese | The word "it-tramuntana" is derived from the Arabic word "at-taramuntāna", which means "the path of the sun". |
| Maori | Raki derives from the Proto-Polynesian noun *laŋi, meaning "sky" in most Polynesian languages, as well as "heaven" or "deity" in some instances. |
| Marathi | The word "उत्तर" can also refer to an answer, a reply, or a solution. |
| Mongolian | The word "хойд" also means "male" or "husband" in Mongolian. |
| Nepali | The word "उत्तर" can also mean "answer" or "solution" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | While 'nord' is Norwegian for 'north,' 'norr' refers to an old, revered direction associated with the supernatural. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word Kumpoto is also used to describe a very large number. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "شمال" ("north") is also used to refer to the direction of the winter sun. |
| Persian | The Persian word "شمال" (north) derives from the Old Persian "šamā" (cold), indicating the cold north wind. |
| Polish | The Polish word "północ" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*polьno" (field), and it originally referred to the direction where the sun shines at noon. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "norte" comes from the Latin word "septentriones", which referred to the seven brightest stars in the constellation Ursa Major, also known as the Big Dipper. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਉੱਤਰ" in Punjabi has multiple meanings, including "answer" and "solution". |
| Romanian | The word "nord" in Romanian comes from the Latin word "nordicus," which means "northern." In the past, the word "nord" was sometimes used only for a northerly course of a ship. |
| Russian | The word "север" also refers to the cold and harsh climate, or to the Arctic. |
| Samoan | In addition to the cardinal direction, "matu" also means "up" and "above" in the spatial sense, and "earlier" and "first" in the temporal sense. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "Tuath" in Scots Gaelic also means "people" or "nation" and is cognate with Welsh "tuath", Breton "tud", and Irish "tuath". |
| Serbian | "Север" in Serbian comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*sěverъ", which possibly means "left" or "shadow side", but might also be related to the words for "cold" or "frost". |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word “leboea” directly translates to “north” in English but can also refer to the left hand. |
| Shona | The literal meaning of the word "mawodzanyemba" is "coming from the north", or "from the direction the sun rises from" in Shona. |
| Sindhi | In astrology, "اتر" is the sign of Cancer. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word “උතුරු” means “a place where the Sun rises” in Sanskrit. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "sever" can also mean "cold" or "harsh". |
| Slovenian | The word "sever" can also mean "cold" or "strict" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | The word "waqooyi" is derived from the Arabic word "waqa," meaning "to fall," and refers to the direction from which the sun falls, or sets. |
| Spanish | "Norte" is related to the Latin word "aquilo," which meant "wind," and to the Greek word "boreas," which referred to the north wind. |
| Sundanese | The word "kalér" in Sundanese can also refer to the direction "northwest" or the position "in front" of something. |
| Swahili | "Kaskazini" is derived from the Arabic word "qibla," which means "the direction of prayer" and specifically points to Mecca. |
| Swedish | The word "norr" in Swedish can also mean "higher" or "upper" in relation to a river or stream. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word “hilaga” for “north” may come from the Sanskrit word “himalaya,” meaning “abode of snow.” |
| Tajik | The word "шимол" comes from the Persian word "شمال" which means "the direction of the sun". |
| Tamil | The Tamil word "வடக்கு" can also refer to the top of the mountain. |
| Telugu | ఉత్తరం (north) comes from 'ud' meaning 'to rise' as the Sun rises in the north. |
| Thai | Thai "ทิศเหนือ" (north) shares the same root with "ทิศหนือ" (upstream), as in the past, Thailand was predominantly an agrarian society, facing southbound rivers and using cardinal directions to navigate the waterways. |
| Turkish | The word "kuzeyinde" in Turkish also means "in the northern part of" or "in the north of". |
| Ukrainian | "Північ" also means "midnight" and derives from the word "півень" ("rooster"), as it coincides with the time when roosters crow. |
| Urdu | شمال is also used in Urdu to mean 'direction' or 'side'. |
| Uzbek | The word "shimoliy" in Uzbek also means "northern" and is derived from the Persian word "shimāl" meaning "north." |
| Vietnamese | The word "Bắc" also means "back" (of a person or animal) or "northern dialect". |
| Welsh | Gogledd comes from **gog** meaning "face" or "front" and is related to the Gaulish word for "left". In Welsh mythology it is the direction of the otherworld. |
| Xhosa | The word "mantla" derives from the Proto-Bantu root "-ntla", which also means "uphill" and "northward". |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, "צאָפן" can also refer to "locks of hair on the side of a man's head" or an "ornament on the side of a woman's headdress." |
| Yoruba | The word 'ariwa' is used in Yoruba to mean 'north' but also 'front' in the sense a 'place of respect' or 'presence of elders'. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "enyakatho" can also refer to the left-hand or clockwise direction. |
| English | The word "north" comes from the Old English word "norþ," which means "left side" and originally referred to the direction the sun rises. |