Refugee in Different Languages
Discover 'Refugee' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Refugee
Afrikaans vlugteling | ||
Albanian refugjat | ||
Amharic ስደተኛ | ||
Arabic لاجئ | ||
Armenian փախստական | ||
Assamese শৰণাৰ্থী | ||
Aymara refugiado ukhamawa | ||
Azerbaijani qaçqın | ||
Bambara kalifabaga | ||
Basque errefuxiatua | ||
Belarusian бежанец | ||
Bengali শরণার্থী | ||
Bhojpuri शरणार्थी के रूप में काम कइले बानी | ||
Bosnian izbjeglica | ||
Bulgarian бежанец | ||
Catalan refugiat | ||
Cebuano kagiw | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 难民 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 難民 | ||
Corsican rifugiatu | ||
Croatian izbjeglica | ||
Czech uprchlík | ||
Danish flygtning | ||
Dhivehi ރެފިއުޖީއެކެވެ | ||
Dogri शरणार्थी | ||
Dutch vluchteling | ||
English refugee | ||
Esperanto rifuĝinto | ||
Estonian pagulane | ||
Ewe sitsoƒedila | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) refugee | ||
Finnish pakolainen | ||
French réfugié | ||
Frisian flechtling | ||
Galician refuxiado | ||
Georgian ლტოლვილი | ||
German flüchtling | ||
Greek πρόσφυγας | ||
Guarani refugiado rehegua | ||
Gujarati શરણાર્થી | ||
Haitian Creole refijye | ||
Hausa dan gudun hijira | ||
Hawaiian mea mahuka | ||
Hebrew פָּלִיט | ||
Hindi शरणार्थी | ||
Hmong neeg tawg rog | ||
Hungarian menekült | ||
Icelandic flóttamaður | ||
Igbo onye gbara oso | ||
Ilocano nagkamang | ||
Indonesian pengungsi | ||
Irish dídeanaí | ||
Italian profugo | ||
Japanese 難民 | ||
Javanese pengungsi | ||
Kannada ನಿರಾಶ್ರಿತರು | ||
Kazakh босқын | ||
Khmer ជនភៀសខ្លួន | ||
Kinyarwanda impunzi | ||
Konkani निर्वासित जावन आसा | ||
Korean 난민 | ||
Krio rɛfyuji | ||
Kurdish penaber | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پەنابەر | ||
Kyrgyz качкын | ||
Lao ຊາວອົບພະຍົບ | ||
Latin fugit | ||
Latvian bēglis | ||
Lingala mokimi mboka | ||
Lithuanian pabėgėlis | ||
Luganda omubundabunda | ||
Luxembourgish flüchtling | ||
Macedonian бегалец | ||
Maithili शरणार्थी | ||
Malagasy mpitsoa-ponenana | ||
Malay pelarian | ||
Malayalam അഭയാർത്ഥി | ||
Maltese refuġjat | ||
Maori rerenga | ||
Marathi निर्वासित | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯔꯤꯐ꯭ꯌꯨꯖꯤ ꯑꯣꯏꯅꯥ ꯊꯕꯛ ꯇꯧꯔꯤ꯫ | ||
Mizo raltlan a ni | ||
Mongolian дүрвэгч | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ဒုက္ခသည် | ||
Nepali शरणार्थी | ||
Norwegian flyktning | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) othawa kwawo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଶରଣାର୍ଥୀ | ||
Oromo baqataa | ||
Pashto مهاجر | ||
Persian پناهنده | ||
Polish uchodźca | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) refugiado | ||
Punjabi ਰਫਿ .ਜੀ | ||
Quechua ayqikuq | ||
Romanian refugiat | ||
Russian беженец | ||
Samoan tagata sulufaʻi | ||
Sanskrit शरणार्थी | ||
Scots Gaelic fògarrach | ||
Sepedi mofaladi | ||
Serbian избеглица | ||
Sesotho mophaphathehi | ||
Shona mupoteri | ||
Sindhi پناهگير | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සරණාගතයා | ||
Slovak utečenec | ||
Slovenian begunec | ||
Somali qaxooti | ||
Spanish refugiado | ||
Sundanese pangungsian | ||
Swahili mkimbizi | ||
Swedish flykting | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) tumakas | ||
Tajik гуреза | ||
Tamil அகதி | ||
Tatar качак | ||
Telugu శరణార్థ | ||
Thai ผู้ลี้ภัย | ||
Tigrinya ስደተኛ | ||
Tsonga muhlapfa | ||
Turkish mülteci | ||
Turkmen bosgun | ||
Twi (Akan) aguanfo | ||
Ukrainian біженець | ||
Urdu مہاجر | ||
Uyghur مۇساپىر | ||
Uzbek qochoq | ||
Vietnamese người tị nạn | ||
Welsh ffoadur | ||
Xhosa imbacu | ||
Yiddish פליטים | ||
Yoruba asasala | ||
Zulu umbaleki |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "vlugteling" is a compound of the words "vlug" (flight) and "ling" (person), and it can also mean "fugitive". |
| Albanian | The word "refugjat" in Albanian is derived from the Latin word "refugium", meaning "place of refuge". |
| Amharic | The word "ስደተኛ" has an alternate meaning of 'outcast' and derives from the Old Amharic term "ስደተ" meaning "exile". |
| Arabic | لاجئ is also used in Arabic to describe a fetus or a person who is stillborn. |
| Armenian | The word "փախստական" (refugee) in Armenian has a strong connotation of being an involuntary escape from one's home country and includes both internal and external displacement. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "qaçqın" (refugee) comes from the Azerbaijani verb "qaçmaq" (to escape) and is used to describe someone who has fled their homeland due to war, persecution, or other forms of violence. |
| Basque | The word "errefuxiatua" in Basque literally translates to "forced to wander" |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word for "refugee" is derived from the Russian word "беженец", which itself comes from the verb "бежать" (to run), suggesting a sense of movement and displacement. |
| Bengali | The Bengali word 'শরণার্থী' ('refugee') originates from the Sanskrit word शरणार्थी ('śaraṇārthī'), meaning 'one who seeks protection'. |
| Bosnian | The word "izbjeglica" can also mean "evacuee" or "displaced person" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | The word "бежанец" comes from the verb "бежа", which means "to run", suggesting a person who is fleeing or has been forced to leave their home. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "refugiat" also means "retired" or "shelter". |
| Cebuano | The word "kagiw" is derived from the Sanskrit word "kagga," meaning "crow," and refers to the displacement and vulnerability of refugees. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The original meaning of the term “难民” was "those fleeing from famine". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 難民一詞在中文中可指因政治、戰爭或自然災難而被迫逃離家園的人，或指貧困、無家可歸的人。 |
| Corsican | Corsican rifugiatu can also mean someone who has lost their home in a natural disaster, not just international conflict. |
| Croatian | The word "izbjeglica" in Croatian is derived from the verb "izbjeći", meaning "to escape" or "to avoid". It can also refer to a person who has been displaced from their home due to war or persecution. |
| Czech | The Czech word "uprchlík" also means "runaway" or "fugitive." |
| Danish | The word 'flygtning' is derived from the Old Norse word 'flytja', meaning 'to move', and originally referred to someone who had left their home due to war or persecution. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "vluchteling" derives from "vluchten," meaning 'to flee,' and is closely related to the word "vlieger," meaning 'kite' in Dutch (ultimately both deriving from Proto-Germanic '*fleugan'). |
| Esperanto | The word "rifuĝinto" is derived from the Latin word "refugere", meaning "to flee" or "to escape". |
| Estonian | The word "pagulane" in Estonian can also refer to a person who is forced to leave their home due to war or persecution. |
| Finnish | Pakolaisen can also mean 'pakoilija' (a person who escapes), but most commonly it is used as a noun to refer to an individual who has left their country of origin to seek safety elsewhere. |
| French | The word "réfugié" comes from the Latin word "refugium", meaning "a place of refuge or safety". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "flechtling" is also used in the dialects spoken by the Roma, a nomadic population living in Central and Eastern Europe, where it means "young man." |
| Galician | The word 'refuxiado' in Galician is a cognate of the Spanish word 'refugiado' and the French word 'réfugié', all meaning 'refugee'. As in these languages, the Galician word can also refer to a person who has taken shelter from danger in a foreign country. |
| German | Das Wort "Flüchtling" leitet sich vom mittelhochdeutschen "vliuhten" ab, was "fliehen" bedeutet. |
| Greek | Πρόσφυγας derives from the Ancient Greek word προσφεύγω (prosfeugo) meaning "to flee towards", "to approach for protection" or "to resort to". |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "refijye" originates from the French word "réfugié", meaning "refugee". |
| Hausa | The Hausa word dan gudun hijira can also mean a "displaced person" or someone who has been "forced to flee their home." |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, the word 'mea mahuka' connotes not only a refugee but also an 'aloha stranger' who is welcomed with compassion and care. |
| Hebrew | The word "פָּלִיט" (refugee) in Hebrew also means "exile" or "fugitive". |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'शरणार्थी' also means 'one who has sought refuge' or 'one who has taken shelter'. |
| Hmong | The Hmong word 'neeg tawg rog' (refugee) also means 'separated, displaced person' |
| Hungarian | " menekült " is a noun that means "refugee". It comes from the verb " menekül", which means "to flee" or "to escape". The word was first used in the 16th century to refer to people who had fled from religious persecution. |
| Icelandic | Possibly an old loan word into Icelandic via an unknown language from a West Slavic word, like Polish "płotownik" and Serbo-Croatian "plotun" which both also refer to "refugees". |
| Igbo | "Onye gbara oso" (refugee) literally translates to "one who escaped from running". |
| Indonesian | "Pengungsi" derives from the Javanese word "ngungsi" meaning "to flee". |
| Irish | In the Irish language, |
| Italian | In Italian, "profugo" can also mean an exile or fugitive, and its etymology is from the Latin "profugus" with the same meaning. |
| Japanese | The Japanese word "難民" ("nanmin") originally referred to people displaced within Japan, but now also refers to international refugees. |
| Javanese | Pengungsi is derived from the Javanese word 'ngungsi' which means to seek shelter or refuge. |
| Kazakh | The word "босқын" also has the alternate meaning of "vagabond" in Kazakh. |
| Khmer | 'ជនភៀសខ្លួន' means 'an alien who has been in a foreign country so long that he or she is no longer covered by the diplomatic protection of his or her home government' |
| Korean | "난민" is a compound word formed from the Sino-Korean roots "난" (difficult) and "민" (people). |
| Kurdish | The word "penaber" is often used to refer to temporary refugees, a group that is differentiated from "pishkevt", who have settled somewhere permanently. |
| Kyrgyz | "Качкын" is derived from the verb "кач-" meaning "to escape" or "to run away". |
| Latin | "Fugit" also means "to flee" or "to escape" in Latin. |
| Latvian | The word "bēglis" in Latvian also refers to a runaway slave or serf, and is cognate with the Russian word "беглец" (beglets), meaning "fugitive". |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "pabėgėlis" comes from the verb "bėgti", meaning "to run", and thus originally meant "a fugitive". |
| Luxembourgish | The word "Flüchtling" also has the meaning of "escape" or "flight" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word "бегалец" in Macedonian originally meant "fugitive from justice", but has come to mean "refugee" |
| Malagasy | The word "mpitsoa-ponenana" in Malagasy can also be used to refer to the person who seeks protection or asylum. |
| Malay | In Indonesia, "pelarian" can also refer to a fugitive or a person on the run from the law. |
| Malayalam | The word "അഭയാർത്ഥി" is derived from Sanskrit and means "one who seeks protection". |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "refuġjat" is derived from the French word "réfugié", which means "one who has fled from their country to escape war or persecution". |
| Maori | "Rerenga" derives from the verb "rere," meaning "to fly" or "to flee". |
| Marathi | The word 'निर्वासित' (refugee) in Marathi literally means 'someone who has been exiled'. |
| Mongolian | The spelling of the word ДҮРВЭГЧ has been in use since the 17th century. Historically, it has also been spelled as ДҮРБЭГЧ. |
| Nepali | The word "शरणार्थी" is derived from the Sanskrit root "शरण" (śaraṇa), meaning "protection" or "shelter." |
| Norwegian | "Flyktning" is derived from the verb "flykte", meaning "to flee or escape", suggesting someone who is forced to leave their home due to danger or persecution. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "othawa kwawo" in Nyanja is also used to refer to people who have been displaced from their homes due to war or natural disasters. |
| Pashto | In Pashto, "مهاجر" can also refer to a religious migrant, often used to describe the companions of Prophet Muhammad who migrated from Mecca to Medina. |
| Persian | "پناهنده" not only means "refugee" but also someone who seeks refuge at someone's house, or a person who has fled from a dangerous place. |
| Polish | The word "uchodźca" also means "emigrant" in Polish. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Em português, "refugiado" também pode referir-se a um local de refúgio ou asilo |
| Punjabi | The word "ਰਫਿ .ਜੀ" (refugee) in Punjabi is derived from the Arabic word "refugee" (لجئ), meaning "one who seeks refuge". |
| Romanian | In Romanian, "refugiat" can also refer to a protected area for animals, such as a sanctuary or wildlife preserve. |
| Russian | The root of the word беженец ("refugee") is the Old Russian word бег /эт бог ("escape from something, run away"). |
| Samoan | The term 'tagata sulufaʻi' has a literal meaning of 'people escaping to safety', reflecting the desperate circumstances of fleeing one's home. |
| Scots Gaelic | The Scots Gaelic word "fògarrach" comes from the Old Gaelic "forcaire", meaning "a watcher" or "a sentinel", suggesting a secondary meaning as "a protector". |
| Serbian | The word "избеглица" (refugee) in Serbian comes from the verb "избећи" (to avoid), and originally meant "one who has avoided something". It can also refer to a person who has fled their home due to war or persecution. |
| Shona | The word "mupoteri" is derived from two Shona roots, "mupotsi" (one who seeks shelter) and "-eri" (a suffix denoting state or condition), indicating the state of being a refugee. |
| Sindhi | "پناهگير" means both "refugee" and "supplicant" in Sindhi. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | 'සරණාගතයා' is derived from the word 'සරණ' meaning 'refuge' and 'ගත' meaning 'go'. It can also refer to a person who has sought protection from a religious institution. |
| Slovak | Utečenec is derived from the Czech word 'utíkati', which means 'to flee'. |
| Slovenian | The word "begunec" originally referred to an exile, someone who had fled their home because of war or persecution. |
| Somali | The word "qaxooti" in Somali has its roots in the Arabic word "qarra," meaning "to settle down in a place." |
| Spanish | In Spanish, "refugiado" can also mean "someone who has taken shelter in a place". |
| Sundanese | The word "pangungsian" in Sundanese also means "evacuation site" or "shelter". |
| Swahili | The Swahili word, ‘mkimbizi’, also means 'a runaway', 'a person who goes into hiding', or 'a deserter'. |
| Swedish | "Flykting" comes from the verb "fly" (to flee) and the suffix "-ing" (someone who does something), so it literally means "someone who flees". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Tumakas", in addition to meaning "refugee", comes from the word "takas" which denotes moving away from something dangerous or difficult. |
| Tajik | The word "гуреза" is an Arabic loanword meaning “outsider” or “foreigner”. |
| Tamil | "அகதி" is commonly used to denote an individual seeking refuge due to persecution, conflict, or other forms of adversity. |
| Telugu | The word 'శరణార్థ' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'शरणार्थ' (śaraṇārtha), which means 'one who seeks refuge'. |
| Thai | The word "ผู้ลี้ภัย" (refugee) in Thai literally means "a person who seeks refuge". |
| Turkish | In Turkish, "mülteci" can also mean "emigrant" or "expatriate." |
| Ukrainian | The word "біженець" comes from a Proto-Slavic root meaning "to run away" or "to escape". |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "مہاجر" can also refer to a person who left their homeland voluntarily or for political or religious reasons. |
| Uzbek | The word "qochoq" in Uzbek is derived from the Persian word "koč", meaning "migration" or "displacement". |
| Vietnamese | Người tị nạn also translates as “temporary exile” from Chinese, while in English, people who flee are “emigrants”. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word 'ffoadur' is derived from the Latin 'profugus,' meaning 'fugitive' or 'outcast.' |
| Xhosa | The word "imbacu" can also refer to a place of safety or shelter. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פליטים" has its origins in the Hebrew word "פליט," which means "one who has escaped or fled" |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word 'asasala' can also refer to a person who is seeking protection from harm. |
| Zulu | "Umbaleki" literally means "wanderer" in Zulu. |
| English | "Refugee" comes from the French "refugier," which means "to seek shelter." |