Reading in Different Languages
Discover 'Reading' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Reading
Afrikaans lees | ||
Albanian leximi | ||
Amharic ንባብ | ||
Arabic قراءة | ||
Armenian ընթերցանություն | ||
Assamese পঢ়ি থকা | ||
Aymara ullaña | ||
Azerbaijani oxu | ||
Bambara gafekalan | ||
Basque irakurtzen | ||
Belarusian чытанне | ||
Bengali পড়া | ||
Bhojpuri पढ़ल रहल बानी | ||
Bosnian čitanje | ||
Bulgarian четене | ||
Catalan lectura | ||
Cebuano pagbasa | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 读 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 閱讀 | ||
Corsican lettura | ||
Croatian čitanje | ||
Czech čtení | ||
Danish læsning | ||
Dhivehi ކިޔުން | ||
Dogri पढ़ाई | ||
Dutch lezing | ||
English reading | ||
Esperanto legado | ||
Estonian lugemine | ||
Ewe nuxexlẽ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) pagbabasa | ||
Finnish käsittelyssä | ||
French en train de lire | ||
Frisian lêzing | ||
Galician lectura | ||
Georgian კითხვა | ||
German lesen | ||
Greek αναγνωση | ||
Guarani moñe'ẽrã | ||
Gujarati વાંચન | ||
Haitian Creole lekti | ||
Hausa karatu | ||
Hawaiian heluhelu ana | ||
Hebrew קריאה | ||
Hindi पढ़ना | ||
Hmong kev nyeem | ||
Hungarian olvasás | ||
Icelandic lestur | ||
Igbo ogugu | ||
Ilocano panagbasa | ||
Indonesian bacaan | ||
Irish ag léamh | ||
Italian lettura | ||
Japanese 読書 | ||
Javanese maca | ||
Kannada ಓದುವಿಕೆ | ||
Kazakh оқу | ||
Khmer អាន | ||
Kinyarwanda gusoma | ||
Konkani वाचन | ||
Korean 독서 | ||
Krio ridin | ||
Kurdish xwendinî | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خوێندنەوە | ||
Kyrgyz окуу | ||
Lao ການອ່ານ | ||
Latin lectio | ||
Latvian lasīšana | ||
Lingala kotanga | ||
Lithuanian skaitymas | ||
Luganda okusoma | ||
Luxembourgish liesen | ||
Macedonian читање | ||
Maithili अध्ययन | ||
Malagasy famakiana | ||
Malay membaca | ||
Malayalam വായന | ||
Maltese qari | ||
Maori panui | ||
Marathi वाचन | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯄꯥꯔꯤꯕ | ||
Mizo chhiar | ||
Mongolian унших | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) စာဖတ်ခြင်း | ||
Nepali पढ्दै | ||
Norwegian lesning | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kuwerenga | ||
Odia (Oriya) ପ reading ିବା | ||
Oromo dubbisuu | ||
Pashto لوستل | ||
Persian خواندن | ||
Polish czytanie | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) lendo | ||
Punjabi ਪੜ੍ਹਨਾ | ||
Quechua ñawinchay | ||
Romanian citind | ||
Russian чтение | ||
Samoan faitauga | ||
Sanskrit पठन | ||
Scots Gaelic leughadh | ||
Sepedi go bala | ||
Serbian читање | ||
Sesotho ho bala | ||
Shona kuverenga | ||
Sindhi پڙهڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කියවීම | ||
Slovak čítanie | ||
Slovenian branje | ||
Somali aqrinta | ||
Spanish leyendo | ||
Sundanese maca | ||
Swahili kusoma | ||
Swedish läsning | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) nagbabasa | ||
Tajik хондан | ||
Tamil வாசிப்பு | ||
Tatar уку | ||
Telugu పఠనం | ||
Thai การอ่าน | ||
Tigrinya ምንባብ | ||
Tsonga ku hlaya | ||
Turkish okuma | ||
Turkmen okamak | ||
Twi (Akan) akenkan | ||
Ukrainian читання | ||
Urdu پڑھنا | ||
Uyghur ئوقۇش | ||
Uzbek o'qish | ||
Vietnamese đọc hiểu | ||
Welsh darllen | ||
Xhosa kufundwa | ||
Yiddish לייענען | ||
Yoruba kika | ||
Zulu kuyafundwa |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "lees" has its origins in the Dutch word "lees," which means "reading," and also shares the same root as the English word "lesson." |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "leximi" is derived from the Greek word "lexis" (λέξις), which means "word" or "speech". |
| Amharic | In some contexts, the Amharic word "ንባብ" also translates to "study" or "lecture." |
| Arabic | The word "قراءة" comes from the root "قرأ" meaning "to collect" and implies the idea of gathering and understanding information. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "oxu" also means "to guess" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | In Basque mythology, the goddess Iratxoa, which means 'reading', is associated with snakes, magic and witchcraft |
| Bengali | The Bengali word "পড়া" derives from the Sanskrit verb "प्राड्" (prāḍ), meaning "to obtain, acquire". |
| Bosnian | The word "čitanje" also refers to a collection of folklore songs and tales, often sung during gatherings or while working. |
| Bulgarian | "Четене" can be either to "read" or to "count" — an archaism that is most often used in the expressions "чети да видиш" ("read to see") or "чети кога щеш" ("count whenever you want"). |
| Catalan | Despite its apparent meaning, the term "lectura" in Catalan can also refer to a public speech. |
| Cebuano | The Cebuano word "pagbasa" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *basa, which means "to wet" or "to moisten." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | "读" has two meanings: read or understand something |
| Chinese (Traditional) | In Classical Chinese, "閱讀" means "perusing; browsing literature." |
| Corsican | In Corsican, `lettura` can also mean the act of reading aloud for public entertainment. |
| Croatian | The Croatian word "čitanje" derives from the verb "čitati" which, in addition to "reading" can also mean "collecting" or "picking". |
| Czech | The word "čtení" (reading) also means "lessons" or "recitation" in Czech. |
| Danish | The Danish word 'læsning' shares the same origin as the English 'lesson' but has a broader meaning, encompassing all forms of reading. |
| Dutch | Did you know that the Dutch word "lezing" can also mean a "lecture" in English? |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "legado" also means "legacy" in English. |
| Estonian | "Lugeda" also means "to count" in Estonian. |
| Finnish | In Finnish, käsittelyssä means 'being read,' while käsittely can mean 'process' and käsitteleminen means 'editing' or 'handling' |
| French | The French phrase "en train de lire" can also be used figuratively to mean "engaged in," as in "Il est en train de lire son avenir" ("He is busy plotting his future"). |
| Frisian | The word 'lêzing' also means 'lecture' in Frisian, deriving from the Dutch word 'lezing' with the same meaning. |
| Galician | Lectura in Galician can also mean 'auction' or 'bid' |
| Georgian | The word 'კითხვა' ('reading') also means 'question' in Georgian, suggesting a connection between reading and seeking knowledge. |
| German | The word "lesen" in German can also mean "to pick" or "to gather". |
| Greek | The Greek word "ανάγνωση" (anagnosē), commonly translated as "reading," originally meant "to recognize," "to acknowledge," or "to call back to mind."} |
| Gujarati | In Gujarati, "વાંચન" can also refer to "study" or "learning." |
| Haitian Creole | The word “lekti” in Haitian Creole is of Latin origin, coming from the word “lectus,” which means “bed.” |
| Hausa | In Hausa, "karatu" can refer to both "reading" and "the reading of the Quran." |
| Hawaiian | Heluhelu ana may also refer to the Hawaiian custom of memorization and reciting texts, which were often sacred chants or genealogies. |
| Hebrew | Despite its primary meaning as 'reading,' the Hebrew word 'קריאה' also denotes divine proclamations and summoning. |
| Hindi | The word "पढ़ना" also means "to study" or "to learn". |
| Hmong | The word 'kev nyeem' in Hmong can also refer to studying or learning something more broadly. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "olvasás" also relates to the activity of melting butter into other food and it originates from the Slavic term "olivati". |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "lestur" also means "lesson" and is related to the Latin word "lectio," meaning "reading aloud". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word 'ogugu' can also mean 'knowledge' or 'understanding'. |
| Indonesian | Bacaan is derived from the Sanskrit word "vācana" meaning "speech, recitation, or reading." |
| Irish | The word “ag léamh” (“reading”) can also mean “perusing” or “studying” in Irish. |
| Italian | "Lettura" is not only a noun meaning "reading," but it can also be a verb, meaning either "allow" or, in the subjunctive, "must," "should," or "could." |
| Japanese | Derived from Chinese, 読書 originally meant to "study the Confucian classics" |
| Javanese | Despite its association with reading, "maca" in Javanese can also refer to the action of "taking" or "grasping" an object. |
| Kannada | The term 'ಓದುವಿಕೆ' can also be used in a metaphorical sense to mean 'perusal' or 'inspection'. |
| Kazakh | "Оқу" can also mean "to study" and "to learn." |
| Khmer | The word "អាន" also means "to study" or "to learn" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The word "독서" can also mean "studying" or "learning". |
| Kurdish | "Xwendinî" in Kurdish can also refer to a gathering of people for storytelling or poetry reading. |
| Kyrgyz | "Окуу" also means "teaching" in Kyrgyz, suggesting its multifaceted role in education. |
| Latin | In classical Latin, "lectio" also referred to a lecture and in Vulgar Latin an official or liturgical text. |
| Latvian | Latvian verb 'lasīt' was formed from 'lāsis' (drop), 'lāšēt' (to drip), referring to the archaic tradition of carving runes into wooden sticks |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "skaitymas" also has the alternate meaning of "counting". |
| Luxembourgish | German "lesen" meaning "liesen", as well as French "lesion" (injury), are derivates from Latin "laesion" (hurt) |
| Macedonian | The verb читање (reading) in Macedonian is also used in the context of "listening" in the sense of "listening to" or "perceiving" something with one's senses. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "Famakiana" also means "storytelling" and is derived from the Arabic word "maqāma". |
| Malay | In the Minangkabau language, "membaca" also means "to study" or "to learn." |
| Malayalam | In Malayalam, 'വായന' not only refers to 'reading' but also to 'recitation', highlighting the oral tradition of sharing knowledge in the region. |
| Maltese | The word "qari" can also refer to a person who recites the Qur'an in a mosque. |
| Maori | The word 'panui' in Māori refers to reading, but also to written notices or proclamations |
| Marathi | वाचन (vachan) also refers to a form of classical Indian music that involves recitation. |
| Mongolian | 'Унших' is also the Mongolian word for 'to perceive' or 'to understand'. |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "पढ्दै" (reading) originates from the Sanskrit root "पठ्" (to recite or read) and is also used to express the act of studying or learning. |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word lesning is a cognate with 'lesson' in English; both derive from a Proto-Germanic term which likely meant 'gathering'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Kuwerenga may also mean to study, understand, or comprehend something. |
| Pashto | "لوستل" may also refer to a "lesson" or "scripture". |
| Persian | The Persian word "خواندن" ("reading") also means "singing" and "inviting" in certain contexts. |
| Polish | Polish "czytanie" comes from the verb "czytać" and means the act of deciphering or understanding written words or signs |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The word "lendo" in Portuguese also means "slow": "o carro estava lendo" (the car was slow). |
| Romanian | The Romanian word 'citire' ('reading') comes from the Latin verb 'citō' meaning 'I arouse', 'I set in motion', 'I evoke'. |
| Russian | The word «чтение» can also mean «lecture» or «religious service» in Russia, and is a cognate of the English word «chant». |
| Samoan | The etymology of "faitauga" is not fully agreed upon, but some believe it may derive from the Proto-Polynesian word *fakatonga*, meaning "to speak or call out". |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "leughadh" comes from the Old Irish word "legad", meaning "to read" or "to recite," and is related to the Welsh word "darllen" and the Breton word "lenn." |
| Serbian | The word "читање" derives from the Proto-Slavic root *kit-, which also means "to gather" or "to collect." |
| Sesotho | In some African languages, 'ho bala' also means 'to understand' or 'to know'. |
| Shona | Kuverenga in Shona also means 'to interpret' or 'to understand' |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "پڙهڻ" (reading) also means "studying" or "learning something formally". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In Sinhala, the word "කියවීම" can also mean "explanation" or "interpretation". |
| Slovak | Slovak "čítanie" originally meant "act of reciting something aloud, recitation" related to "čítanie", "reading aloud". |
| Slovenian | Branje is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *brati, meaning 'to pick' or 'to gather'. |
| Somali | Aqrinta may come from the Proto-Cushitic root *qan- meaning "to count" or the Somali word "qoraal" which means "writing". |
| Spanish | Leyendo derives from the Latin 'legere', which also means 'to gather' or 'to read aloud'. |
| Sundanese | The word "maca" in Sundanese can also mean "to see" or "to look at". |
| Swahili | The word 'kusoma' can also mean 'to educate' or 'to learn'. |
| Swedish | The word "läsning" also means "lecture" in Swedish, likely derived from the Old Norse word "lesa" meaning "to gather" or "to pick up". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word "nagbabasa" can also mean "reading" in a figurative sense, such as "studying" or "learning." |
| Tajik | In Tajiki, the word "хондан" (xondan) can also mean "singing" or "reciting poetry". |
| Tamil | வாசிப்பு is related to the word வாசல் (door) and refers to the act of entering into a new world through words. |
| Telugu | పఠనం (reading) comes from the Sanskrit word 'पाठन' (lesson) and also refers to public discourse in Telugu. |
| Thai | In Thai, "การอ่าน" can also mean "studying" or "reciting". |
| Turkish | Okuma in Turkish also refers to a method of fortune telling using coffee grounds. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "читання" can also refer to public lectures or presentations of literary works. |
| Urdu | The word "پڑھنا" also means "to understand" or "to comprehend" in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "o'qish" also means "studying" or "learning". |
| Vietnamese | The word "đọc hiểu" in Vietnamese is a compound word derived from the words "đọc" (read) and "hiểu" (understand). |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "darllen" also means "to understand" or "to interpret". |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, 'kufundwa,' meaning 'reading,' is also used for 'study' or 'being taught,' indicating its broader use beyond simply the act of reading words. |
| Yiddish | The word 'לייענען' ('reading') in Yiddish also means 'to study' or 'to look at carefully'. |
| Yoruba | The word 'kika' can also be used to refer to the process of learning or studying. |
| Zulu | The word 'kuyafundwa' is derived from the verb 'funda', meaning 'to learn', and can also refer to the act of 'studying' or 'acquiring knowledge'. |
| English | The verb “to read” comes from the Old English word “rædan,” meaning “to interpret.” |