Reject in Different Languages
Discover 'Reject' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'reject' carries a significant weight, often associated with feelings of disappointment and failure. Yet, it also represents the process of selection and refinement, as we let go of what doesn't serve us to make room for what does. This cultural importance is reflected in various languages around the world.
Interestingly, the English 'reject' originates from the Latin 'rejectus', meaning 'thrown back'. This historical context sheds light on the word's connotations of dismissal and abandonment. Understanding this word in different languages can provide unique perspectives and insights into how different cultures view and handle rejection.
For instance, the French translation of 'reject' is 'rejeter', which also carries the notion of pushing something away. Meanwhile, in Spanish, 'reject' translates to 'rechazar', a term that implies a firm denial or refusal.
Explore the translations of 'reject' in various languages below, and gain a richer understanding of this powerful word.
Reject
Reject in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | verwerp | ||
| The Afrikaans word "verwerp", derived from Middle Dutch "verwerpen", also means "to discard", "to abandon", or "to disapprove". | |||
| Amharic | ውድቅ አድርግ | ||
| The word "ውድቅ አድርግ" can also mean "to dismiss", "to disown", or "to discard". | |||
| Hausa | ƙi | ||
| In Hausa, "ƙi" can also mean "refuse" or "deny". | |||
| Igbo | jụ | ||
| The word "jụ" derives from the Proto-Benue-Congo root *ju "to refuse, reject," also yielding Yoruba "jú" and Edo "dʒu". | |||
| Malagasy | mandà | ||
| The Malagasy term "mandà" has additional meanings such as "to refuse" and "to prohibit." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kukana | ||
| Kukana is also used to describe the act of rejecting food or other substances. | |||
| Shona | ramba | ||
| The word "ramba" means "reject" and also "throw away" in Shona. | |||
| Somali | diid | ||
| In addition to meaning "reject," the Somali word "diid" can also refer to a type of traditional Somali dance. | |||
| Sesotho | hana | ||
| In some dialects, 'hana' can mean 'reject', while in others it can mean 'refuse' or 'deny'. | |||
| Swahili | kukataa | ||
| The word "kukataa" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | ukwala | ||
| The Xhosa word "ukwala" (reject) also means "to be at odds with" or "to be in conflict with". | |||
| Yoruba | kọ | ||
| 'Kọ' means 'reject' but also means 'refuse' or 'not accept' | |||
| Zulu | wenqabe | ||
| In Zulu, "wenqabe" also means "to be abandoned". | |||
| Bambara | ka fili | ||
| Ewe | gbe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kwanga | ||
| Lingala | koboya | ||
| Luganda | okugaana | ||
| Sepedi | gana | ||
| Twi (Akan) | po | ||
Reject in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | رفض | ||
| The Arabic word "رفض" (reject) is derived from the root word "رفض" (to leave or abandon), suggesting the act of casting something away or dismissing it. | |||
| Hebrew | לִדחוֹת | ||
| This word is of Aramaic origin, meaning "to cause to depart". It is related to the Hebrew word "לדחוק" ("to push"). | |||
| Pashto | رد کړئ | ||
| The word "رد کړئ" is derived from Arabic "ردّ" (radd), meaning "push back" or "repel." | |||
| Arabic | رفض | ||
| The Arabic word "رفض" (reject) is derived from the root word "رفض" (to leave or abandon), suggesting the act of casting something away or dismissing it. | |||
Reject in Western European Languages
| Albanian | refuzoj | ||
| The term 'refuzoj' stems from the Proto-Albanian root 'refus' and holds additional meanings such as 'refusal' and 'rejection'. | |||
| Basque | arbuiatu | ||
| Arbuiatu is derived from the Basque word arbui, meaning 'refuse' or 'rejection', and the suffix -atu, indicating an action or process. | |||
| Catalan | rebutjar | ||
| "Rebutjar" derives from the Late Latin "repudiāre", meaning "to reject, spurn, divorce, disown". | |||
| Croatian | odbiti | ||
| The Croatian word 'odbiti' also has the meaning 'to bounce back', which comes from its root word 'biti', meaning 'to hit'. | |||
| Danish | afvise | ||
| Afvise comes from the Old Norse word afvīsa, meaning "to turn away". | |||
| Dutch | afwijzen | ||
| The Dutch word "afwijzen" is related to the word "wijs", meaning "wise", and originally meant to turn away from something unwise. | |||
| English | reject | ||
| Reject can also mean to throw back, as in the phrase 'reject a ball'. | |||
| French | rejeter | ||
| Rejeter is similar to the English word 'reject' as it shares the same Latin root 'iacere', meaning 'to throw'. | |||
| Frisian | ôfwize | ||
| The word "ôfwize" comes from the Old Frisian word "ôfwirsie", meaning "to cast out". | |||
| Galician | rexeitar | ||
| The Galician word "rexeitar" also means "to deny" or "to refuse". | |||
| German | ablehnen | ||
| The word "ablehnen" is derived from the Middle High German word "abelennen", meaning "to refuse." | |||
| Icelandic | hafna | ||
| The word "hafna" derives from the Old Norse word "hafna," meaning "to refuse, deny, or reject." | |||
| Irish | diúltú | ||
| Italian | rifiutare | ||
| Rifiutare originates from the latin verb refutare, which means to disprove or rebut an argument. | |||
| Luxembourgish | refuséieren | ||
| Maltese | tiċħad | ||
| "Tiċħad" also means to deny or refuse something. | |||
| Norwegian | avvise | ||
| "Avvise" is derived from Old Norse "á vísu," meaning "in view," and is related to the verb "vise" (to show), suggesting the idea of rejecting something by making it visible. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | rejeitar | ||
| In Portuguese, "rejeitar" also means "to despise", "to disdain", or "to loath". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | diùltadh | ||
| The Gaelic word "diùltadh" can also mean "to deny" or "to refuse". | |||
| Spanish | rechazar | ||
| The word "rechazar" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Spanish. | |||
| Swedish | avvisa | ||
| The word "avvisa" can also mean "to dismiss" or "to refuse". | |||
| Welsh | gwrthod | ||
| The word "gwrthod" in Welsh is derived from the Proto-Celtic root *wret-, meaning "to turn" or "to change direction." | |||
Reject in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | адхіліць | ||
| The word "адхіліць" in Belarusian is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "отклонити" and can also mean "to reject" or "to decline". | |||
| Bosnian | odbiti | ||
| In Serbian, the word "odbiti" also means to "defeat" or "repel" an attack. | |||
| Bulgarian | отхвърли | ||
| The word "отхвърли" derives from the Proto-Slavic root *otъvьrgati, meaning "to throw away" or "to reject". | |||
| Czech | odmítnout | ||
| In Czech, "odmítnout" means both "reject" and "refuse". | |||
| Estonian | tagasi lükata | ||
| Estonian word "tagasi lükata" has a literal translation "push back" and an additional meaning of "send back". | |||
| Finnish | hylätä | ||
| The word "hylätä" also means "to abandon" or "to forsake" in Finnish. | |||
| Hungarian | elutasít | ||
| The word 'elutasít' is not to be confused with 'utasít' meaning 'instruct', as the two words sound the same and only differ in orthography, but are not related semantically. | |||
| Latvian | noraidīt | ||
| "Noraidīt" also means "to turn off" in the context of electricity."} | |||
| Lithuanian | atmesti | ||
| The word "atmesti" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *at- "to throw away, reject" and is related to the English word "atom". | |||
| Macedonian | отфрли | ||
| The word "отфрли" in Macedonian comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "отвьрглъ", meaning "to throw away". | |||
| Polish | odrzucać | ||
| In Polish, the verb "odrzucać" can also refer to "rejecting a woman's marriage proposal" or "dispensing with a religious rite." | |||
| Romanian | respinge | ||
| Romanian "respinge" comes from Latin "respinguere" (to push back) and also means "to push back" or "to recoil". | |||
| Russian | отвергать | ||
| The Russian word "отвергать" can also be used in the context of refusing to accept or believe something, akin to "repudiate" in English. | |||
| Serbian | одбити | ||
| The Serbian word "odбити" can also mean to defend against, repel or reflect something. | |||
| Slovak | odmietnuť | ||
| The Slovak word "odmietnuť" can also mean "to deny". | |||
| Slovenian | zavrni | ||
| The verb 'zavrni' can also mean 'to spin' or 'to turn' in Slovene, related to the noun 'zavor' which means 'brake'. | |||
| Ukrainian | відкинути | ||
| The Ukrainian word "відкинути" also means "to abandon", "to discard", or "to renounce." | |||
Reject in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | প্রত্যাখ্যান | ||
| The word "প্রত্যাখ্যান" ("reject") in Bengali also means "to deny" or "to refuse". | |||
| Gujarati | અસ્વીકાર | ||
| The term 'અસ્વીકાર', originating from Sanskrit, also refers to a philosophical notion of non-attachment or disassociating from desires and external possessions. | |||
| Hindi | अस्वीकार | ||
| The Hindi word "अस्वीकार" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अस्वीकृत," meaning "not accepted" or "disapproved. | |||
| Kannada | ತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸಿ | ||
| It is related to the Sanskrit word 'tiraskaroti', which means 'to remove'. | |||
| Malayalam | നിരസിക്കുക | ||
| നിരസിക്കുക comes from the Sanskrit word 'niras' meaning 'despair' and 'ak' meaning 'to do' and has other meanings including 'prohibit' and 'disapprove'. | |||
| Marathi | नाकारणे | ||
| "नाकारणे" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | अस्वीकृत | ||
| The word अस्वीकृत in Nepali comes from the Sanskrit word "asvi-krita", which literally means "not done or made". | |||
| Punjabi | ਰੱਦ | ||
| The word "ਰੱਦ" derives from the Sanskrit root "rudh" and can mean "to obstruct" or "to stop." | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ප්රතික්ෂේප කරන්න | ||
| Tamil | நிராகரிக்கவும் | ||
| Telugu | తిరస్కరించండి | ||
| Urdu | مسترد کریں | ||
Reject in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 拒绝 | ||
| “拒”意为堵住，“绝”意为断绝，二字连用表示断然拒绝。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 拒絕 | ||
| "拒" is a variant of "拒", which means 'to push'. | |||
| Japanese | 拒否する | ||
| The word "拒否する" (kyohisuru) translates to "reject" in English, and can also mean "to deny" or "to refuse". | |||
| Korean | 받지 않다 | ||
| 받지 않다 (batji anhda) literally means 'not to receive'. | |||
| Mongolian | татгалзах | ||
| The word "татгалзах" is also used to mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Mongolian. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ငြင်းပယ် | ||
Reject in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | menolak | ||
| Menolak in Indonesian means "to deny," "to refuse," or "to decline," and is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *tulak, meaning "to push away." | |||
| Javanese | nolak | ||
| The word Nolak (reject) means something that needs to be avoided or forbidden and is thought to come from the word Awlak (wrong) | |||
| Khmer | បដិសេធ | ||
| បដិសេធ also means 'deny' or 'oppose', and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'pratisedha', which has the same meaning. | |||
| Lao | ປະຕິເສດ | ||
| Malay | menolak | ||
| The word "menolak" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *tulak, which means "to push away" or "to refuse." | |||
| Thai | ปฏิเสธ | ||
| The word "ปฏิเสธ" can also mean "to oppose" or "to defy". | |||
| Vietnamese | từ chối | ||
| The word "Từ chối" (reject) derives from the Old Vietnamese word "từ" (to turn away) and "chối" (to refuse). | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | tanggihan | ||
Reject in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | rədd et | ||
| The word "rədd et" is derived from the Persian word "radd", meaning "to return" or "to refuse". | |||
| Kazakh | қабылдамау | ||
| Kyrgyz | четке кагуу | ||
| "Четке кагуу" means "to reject" in Kyrgyz. It can also mean "to throw away" or "to discard." | |||
| Tajik | рад кардан | ||
| The verb "рад кардан" in Tajik can also mean "to dismiss" or "to refuse". | |||
| Turkmen | ret et | ||
| Uzbek | rad etish | ||
| The word "rad etish" may be related to Persian "rad kardan," meaning "to expel," or Turkish "reddetmek," meaning "to reject," suggesting its adoption from one of these languages. | |||
| Uyghur | رەت قىلىش | ||
Reject in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hōʻole | ||
| Hōʻole in Hawaiian also refers to the action of turning someone or something away. | |||
| Maori | whakakahore | ||
| The term 'whakakahore' can also denote 'refuse', or the action of 'turning something away'. | |||
| Samoan | teena | ||
| Samoan word “teena” also means “not to eat or drink” (especially because of religious or cultural obligations) | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | tanggihan | ||
| The word "tanggihan" can also refer to a type of Filipino folk dance originating from the Southern Tagalog region | |||
Reject in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | janiw saña | ||
| Guarani | mombia | ||
Reject in International Languages
| Esperanto | malakcepti | ||
| Esperanto's "malakcepti" is a calque of English "malaccept" meaning "to accept reluctantly or disapprovingly." | |||
| Latin | repellam | ||
| Repellam originates from the Latin word pellere, which means "to drive away." | |||
Reject in Others Languages
| Greek | απορρίπτω | ||
| The word "απορρίπτω" can also mean "to cast away", "to put aside", or "to abandon" in Greek. | |||
| Hmong | xyeej | ||
| In the Hmong language, the word "xyeej" can also mean "to turn away" or "to refuse to accept something" | |||
| Kurdish | refzkirin | ||
| The Kurdish word "refzkirin" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*reǵ-skei-ro-," meaning "to abandon, give up, or reject." | |||
| Turkish | reddetmek | ||
| "Reddetmek" is derived from the Persian word "rad etmek," meaning "to approve, accept," and has undergone a semantic shift in Turkish to mean "to reject, refuse." | |||
| Xhosa | ukwala | ||
| The Xhosa word "ukwala" (reject) also means "to be at odds with" or "to be in conflict with". | |||
| Yiddish | אָפּוואַרפן | ||
| "אָפּוואַרפן" (reject) comes from Middle High German “verwerfen,” meaning "to throw out" or "to spurn." | |||
| Zulu | wenqabe | ||
| In Zulu, "wenqabe" also means "to be abandoned". | |||
| Assamese | প্ৰত্যাখ্যান | ||
| Aymara | janiw saña | ||
| Bhojpuri | नामंजूर कईल | ||
| Dhivehi | ޤަބޫލުނުކުރުން | ||
| Dogri | रद्द करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | tanggihan | ||
| Guarani | mombia | ||
| Ilocano | ipaid | ||
| Krio | avɔyd | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | ڕەتکردنەوە | ||
| Maithili | अस्वीकार करनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯠꯇꯣꯛꯄ | ||
| Mizo | hnawl | ||
| Oromo | fudhachuu dhiisuu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ପ୍ରତ୍ୟାଖ୍ୟାନ କର | | ||
| Quechua | kutichipuy | ||
| Sanskrit | अस्वीकार | ||
| Tatar | кире кагу | ||
| Tigrinya | ምንጻግ | ||
| Tsonga | ariwa | ||