Obvious in different languages

Obvious in Different Languages

Discover 'Obvious' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'obvious' is one that we use frequently in our daily lives, often without giving it a second thought. It's a word that signifies something that is easily perceived or understood, a concept that seems simple and straightforward. But the significance of this word goes far beyond its basic definition. The use of 'obvious' can indicate a shared understanding or consensus, and it can also be used to politely correct or guide someone towards the right answer.

Moreover, the word 'obvious' holds cultural importance across the globe, as it is a fundamental building block of communication. Its translation into different languages is a fascinating exploration of how different cultures express the same concept in unique and interesting ways.

For instance, in Spanish, 'obvious' translates to 'evidente,' while in French, it becomes 'évident.' In German, the word is 'offensichtlich,' and in Japanese, it is '明らか (akiraka).'

In this article, we delve into the translations of 'obvious' in different languages, shedding light on the fascinating cultural and historical contexts that shape the way we communicate.

Obvious


Obvious in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansvoor die hand liggend
In Afrikaans, "voor die hand liggend" originally referred to something that is easy to reach or handle.
Amharicግልጽ
"ግልጽ" also means 'out in the open' and is derived from the root 'ግል' (to uncover).
Hausabayyananne
The Hausa word "bayyananne" is also used to mean "manifestly" or "beyond doubt."
Igbodoro anya
The Igbo word "doro anya" literally translates to "see eye" and is an expression used to describe something that is easily recognizable.
Malagasymazava
The word "mazava" in Malagasy also means "clear" or "transparent".
Nyanja (Chichewa)zoonekeratu
The word 'zoonekeratu' is derived from the Chichewa verb 'kuoneratu', meaning 'to see clearly' or 'to make clear'.
Shonapachena
The word "pachena" in Shona can also mean "clearly visible" or "noticeable".
Somalicad
In Somali, "cad" also means "to be tired or exhausted."
Sesothohlakile
In another context, hlakile may also refer to a situation or condition that is easy to recognize or understand
Swahilidhahiri
The word 'dhahiri' also means 'appearance' or 'external characteristics' in Swahili.
Xhosakucacile
The word "kucacile" can also mean "clear" or "evident" in Xhosa.
Yorubakedere
In Yoruba, the word “kedere” can also mean “to be clear”, indicating the unambiguousness of something that is obvious.
Zulukusobala
The word "kusobala" originates from the Zulu word "sobha" meaning "to be apparent or clear"
Bambarajɛlen
Ewesi me kᴐ
Kinyarwandabiragaragara
Lingalapolele
Luganda-suubirwa
Sepedimolaleng
Twi (Akan)pefee

Obvious in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicواضح
The word "واضح" can also mean "clear", "distinct", or "unambiguous" in Arabic.
Hebrewמובן מאליו
The phrase מובן מאליו directly translates to self-evident, as its root מובן means 'understood' and מאליו translates to 'by itself'.
Pashtoڅرګند
The word "څرګند" in Pashto is derived from the Persian word "ظاهر" and means "manifest" or "evident".
Arabicواضح
The word "واضح" can also mean "clear", "distinct", or "unambiguous" in Arabic.

Obvious in Western European Languages

Albaniane dukshme
The Albanian term for "obvious", "e dukshme", also signifies "visible", and has cognates across many other Indo-European languages.
Basqueagerikoa
The word "agerikoa" is not the only term in the Basque language that can signify "obvious," another being "argi" which can also be interpreted to mean "light" in the literal sense.
Catalanevident
Catalan word “evident” also means “income” or “profit”
Croatianočito
In Croatian, 'očito' has two possible origins: 'očiti' ('to see'), which is the more likely one, and 'očiti' ('to wait').
Danishindlysende
The word "indlysende" in Danish traces its roots to the concepts of "light" and "illumination".
Dutchvoor de hand liggend
The Dutch expression "voor de hand liggend" literally translates to "lying in front of the hand."
Englishobvious
The word "obvious" originates from the Latin word "obvius," meaning "in the way, facing." The word has also been used to mean "exposed" or "open to view."
Frenchévident
The French word "évident" comes from the Latin "evidens" meaning "that which can be seen."
Frisiandúdlik
The word "dúdlik" in Frisian could also refer to something that is easy to understand or do, or something that is clear or evident.
Galicianobvio
The etymology of "obvio" in Galician derives from Latin "obvius" meaning "in the way, facing".
Germanoffensichtlich
"Offen" means "open" and "sichtlich" means "visible", and the combined form "offensichtlich" means something that is easily observed or perceived.
Icelandicaugljóst
The Old Norse word "augljóst" originally meant "manifestly true" and was primarily used when referring to legal judgements and divine revelations.
Irishsoiléir
Italianovvio
The Italian word "ovvio" comes from the Latin "obuius", meaning "in the way, confronting one", hence its sense of "evident".
Luxembourgishevident
In Luxembourgish, "evident" is also used to refer to the evidence (proof) presented in a legal case.
Malteseovvju
The word "ovvju" is derived from the Latin word "obvius", meaning "in the way" or "coming to meet".
Norwegianåpenbart
Åpenbart shares its etymological root with the English word "open," referring to the removal of barriers or hindrances to clear understanding.
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)óbvio
The word "óbvio" comes from Latin "obvius", which can also mean "exposed" or "in the way".
Scots Gaelicfollaiseach
The Gaelic word "follaiseach" can also mean "evident", "plain", "clear", or "easily seen".
Spanishobvio
The word "obvio" in Spanish can also mean "obstacle" or "difficulty".
Swedishuppenbar
The word "uppenbar" in Swedish derives from "uppen" (up) and "bar" (bare), and originally meant "uncovered", or "exposed".
Welshamlwg
The word 'amlwg' is derived from Latin 'ad manibus', meaning "ready at hand".

Obvious in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianвідавочна
"Відавочна" (Belarusian) comes from "відаць" (visible), like "очевидная" (Russian) from "очевидный" (evident).
Bosnianočigledno
The word "očigledno" in Bosnian derives from the Slavic root "oko" (eye), suggesting "what can be seen with one's own eyes".
Bulgarianочевидно
The word "очевидно" was derived from the phrase "в очите видя", which means "visible to the eyes" in Old Church Slavonic.
Czechzřejmé
While "zřejmé" can mean "obvious," it is also derived from the Old Czech word "zjiti" meaning "to see", which may be why it now means "evident" or "visible too."
Estonianilmselge
The noun "ilm" in "ilmselge" means "world" or "weather" and "selge" means "clear" so the literal translation for "ilmselge" would be "world clear"
Finnishilmeinen
The word "ilmeinen" in Finnish is derived from the Proto-Finnic word "*ilme" meaning "appearance, face".
Hungariannyilvánvaló
"Nyilvánvaló" comes from the words "nyilván" (public) and "való" (real). It also means "evident" or "clear."
Latvianacīmredzams
The word "acīmredzams" is derived from the Latvian word "redzams," meaning "visible".
Lithuanianaiškus
The root of "aiškus" has the meaning of "bright" or "clear" related to the root present in the word "aušra" ("dawn").
Macedonianочигледно
Очигледно has an alternate meaning, 'evidently', in the 15th century.
Polishoczywisty
The word "oczywisty" derives from the Old Church Slavonic word "очивьстии" ( očiĭvĭstii), meaning "pure, clear, or evident".
Romanianevident
The Romanian word "evident" comes from the Latin word "evidēns," which means "clear, manifest, apparent," or "that which can be seen."
Russianочевидный
The Russian word "очевидный" derives from the verb "видеть" and literally translates as "visible, evident". It implies something palpable and indisputable.
Serbianочигледан
The word "очигледан" is derived from the Serbian word "очи" (eye) and "гледати" (to see), meaning "seen by the eye" or "self-evident".
Slovakzrejmé
The word "zrejmé" is derived from the verb "zriet", meaning to see or experience something.
Slovenianočitno
The word 'očitno' can also mean 'apparently' or 'evidently'.
Ukrainianочевидний
The Ukrainian word "очевидний" also has the alternate meaning of "apparent" or "self-evident."

Obvious in South Asian Languages

Bengaliস্পষ্ট
"স্পষ্ট" is a Sanskrit-based word, deriving from "sphuṭ" meaning "open", "clear", or "evident".
Gujaratiસ્પષ્ટ
The word 'સ્પષ્ટ' shares its root with the Sanskrit verb 'स्पष्ट' meaning “to make seen, to reveal, to show clearly”.
Hindiज़ाहिर
From the Arabic word 'Zahir' meaning 'outer', 'external', or 'apparent', 'Zahir' in Hindi can refer to both the physical appearance and the underlying truth or essence of something.
Kannadaಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ
"ಸ್ಪಷ್ಟ" (obvious) comes from the Sanskrit root "spash", which also means "to see" or "to perceive".
Malayalamവ്യക്തമാണ്
The word "വ്യക്തമാണ്" in Malayalam comes from the Sanskrit word "व्यक्त" (vyakta), meaning "made manifest, clear, evident". It can also be used in a figurative sense to mean "well-known, obvious, or commonplace".
Marathiस्पष्ट
स्पष्ट (spasht) also means 'clear' or 'transparent' in Marathi, sharing a cognate with the English word 'space'.
Nepaliस्पष्ट
"स्पष्ट" is derived from the Sanskrit word स्पृश meaning 'to perceive' and is cognate with the English word 'perspicuous'.
Punjabiਸਪੱਸ਼ਟ ਹੈ
Sinhala (Sinhalese)පැහැදිලිය
Tamilவெளிப்படையானது
Teluguస్పష్టంగా
Urduواضح
The word “واضح” can also mean “to make something clear or manifest”.

Obvious in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)明显
The word "明显" (míngxiǎn) in Chinese can also mean "bright".
Chinese (Traditional)明顯
In Chinese, 明顯 (míngxiǎn) literally means "brightly seen". It can also mean "clear" or "distinctive."
Japanese明らか
明らか is also used metaphorically to mean "to reveal" or "to expose".
Korean분명한
"분명하다"는 '밝다'는 뜻의 '분'과 '빛나다'는 뜻의 '명'이 합쳐진 단어로, 원래는 '밝은 것'을 의미했습니다.
Mongolianтодорхой
The word "тодорхой" also means "clear" or "distinct".
Myanmar (Burmese)သိသာတဲ့
The word "သိသာတဲ့" in Myanmar (Burmese) is derived from the Pali word "saddhā", meaning "faith" or "belief", and the Burmese word "tē", meaning "to know" or "to understand".

Obvious in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianjelas
"Jelas" can also mean "clear" or "unambiguous" in Indonesian.
Javaneseketok
The Javanese word "ketok" is a slang that shares its root word with "ketok-ketok", a term for knocking on a door.
Khmerជាក់ស្តែង
The word ជាក់ស្តែង (obvious) is derived from Sanskrit, where it originally meant 'firmly established'.
Laoຈະແຈ້ງ
"ຈະແຈ້ງ" also means "to inform", in which case it means to give notice or information, rather than make something obvious.
Malayjelas
The word "jelas" can also mean "clear" or "distinct" in Malay.
Thaiชัดเจน
ชัดเจน derives from Proto-Austronesian *t-aŋaŋ and Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-lang meaning "clear, transparent, plain, and bright."
Vietnamesehiển nhiên
Hiển nhiên is derived from the Chinese word "顯然", meaning "manifest" or "clear". It also has the alternate meaning of "naturally" or "of course".
Filipino (Tagalog)halata naman

Obvious in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniaşkar
"Aşkar" also means "manifest" and is derived from the Arabic word "ashkara".
Kazakhайқын
The Kazakh word "айқын" also means "clear" or "certain".
Kyrgyzачык-айкын
The word "ачык-айкын" is a compound word made up of the words "ачык" (open) and "айкын" (clear). It is often used to describe something that is very clear or obvious.
Tajikаён
"Аён" (obvious) is derived from the Persian word "ayân", which means "manifest" or "evident."
Turkmenäşgär
Uzbekaniq
The word "aniq" is also used to describe something that is well-defined or distinct.
Uyghurئېنىق

Obvious in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianmaopopo
The Polynesian word 'maopopo' means 'obvious' and is related to the concept of 'clear' or 'transparent' in many Austronesian languages.
Maorimārama
'Mārama' also means 'moon' and 'light'.
Samoanmanino
In a literal sense, "manino" refers to an open coconut spathe, thus meaning "plain to see".
Tagalog (Filipino)halata naman
The Tagalog word "halata naman" can also mean "noticeable" or "evident".

Obvious in American Indigenous Languages

Aymaraukhamawa
Guaraniojekuaaháicha

Obvious in International Languages

Esperantoevidenta
The Esperanto word "evidenta" comes from the Latin root "evidere", meaning "to see, to become visible."
Latinobvious
In Latin, the word “obvious” meant “to meet in the way” or “to block the way.”

Obvious in Others Languages

Greekφανερός
The word φανερός, in addition to its primary meaning of "obvious," also carries the connotation of "appearing to the mind".
Hmongpom tseeb
The word "pom tseeb" is also used to describe something that is easy to understand or to see
Kurdishberçavan
The word "berçavan" is a cognate of the Persian word "ravshan" (روشن) meaning "light" or "brightness".
Turkishaçık
The word "açık" in Turkish also means "open" or "clear" and is related to the concept of "light" or "visibility".
Xhosakucacile
The word "kucacile" can also mean "clear" or "evident" in Xhosa.
Yiddishקלאָר ווי דער טאָג
"קלאָר ווי דער טאָג" is a Yiddish idiom that literally translates to "clear as the day." However, it can also mean "obviously" or "self-evident."
Zulukusobala
The word "kusobala" originates from the Zulu word "sobha" meaning "to be apparent or clear"
Assameseস্পষ্ট
Aymaraukhamawa
Bhojpuriस्पष्ट
Dhivehiޔަޤީން
Dogriसाफ-साफ
Filipino (Tagalog)halata naman
Guaraniojekuaaháicha
Ilocanobatad
Krioklia
Kurdish (Sorani)ڕوون
Maithiliस्पष्टतः
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯁꯣꯏꯗꯕ
Mizochiang
Oromobeekamaa
Odia (Oriya)ସ୍ପଷ୍ଟ
Quechuachiqan chiqan
Sanskritप्रत्यक्षं
Tatarбилгеле
Tigrinyaብርግፀኝነት
Tsongarivaleni

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