Reject in different languages

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

Afrikaansverwerp
The Afrikaans word "verwerp", derived from Middle Dutch "verwerpen", also means "to discard", "to abandon", or "to disapprove".
Amharicውድቅ አድርግ
The word "ውድቅ አድርግ" can also mean "to dismiss", "to disown", or "to discard".
Hausaƙi
In Hausa, "ƙi" can also mean "refuse" or "deny".
Igbojụ
The word "jụ" derives from the Proto-Benue-Congo root *ju "to refuse, reject," also yielding Yoruba "jú" and Edo "dʒu".
Malagasymandà
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.
Shonaramba
The word "ramba" means "reject" and also "throw away" in Shona.
Somalidiid
In addition to meaning "reject," the Somali word "diid" can also refer to a type of traditional Somali dance.
Sesothohana
In some dialects, 'hana' can mean 'reject', while in others it can mean 'refuse' or 'deny'.
Swahilikukataa
The word "kukataa" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Swahili.
Xhosaukwala
The Xhosa word "ukwala" (reject) also means "to be at odds with" or "to be in conflict with".
Yorubakọ
'Kọ' means 'reject' but also means 'refuse' or 'not accept'
Zuluwenqabe
In Zulu, "wenqabe" also means "to be abandoned".
Bambaraka fili
Ewegbe
Kinyarwandakwanga
Lingalakoboya
Lugandaokugaana
Sepedigana
Twi (Akan)po

Reject in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicرفض
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.
Hebrewלִדחוֹת
This word is of Aramaic origin, meaning "to cause to depart". It is related to the Hebrew word "לדחוק" ("to push").
Pashtoرد کړئ
The word "رد کړئ" is derived from Arabic "ردّ" (radd), meaning "push back" or "repel."
Arabicرفض
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

Albanianrefuzoj
The term 'refuzoj' stems from the Proto-Albanian root 'refus' and holds additional meanings such as 'refusal' and 'rejection'.
Basquearbuiatu
Arbuiatu is derived from the Basque word arbui, meaning 'refuse' or 'rejection', and the suffix -atu, indicating an action or process.
Catalanrebutjar
"Rebutjar" derives from the Late Latin "repudiāre", meaning "to reject, spurn, divorce, disown".
Croatianodbiti
The Croatian word 'odbiti' also has the meaning 'to bounce back', which comes from its root word 'biti', meaning 'to hit'.
Danishafvise
Afvise comes from the Old Norse word afvīsa, meaning "to turn away".
Dutchafwijzen
The Dutch word "afwijzen" is related to the word "wijs", meaning "wise", and originally meant to turn away from something unwise.
Englishreject
Reject can also mean to throw back, as in the phrase 'reject a ball'.
Frenchrejeter
Rejeter is similar to the English word 'reject' as it shares the same Latin root 'iacere', meaning 'to throw'.
Frisianôfwize
The word "ôfwize" comes from the Old Frisian word "ôfwirsie", meaning "to cast out".
Galicianrexeitar
The Galician word "rexeitar" also means "to deny" or "to refuse".
Germanablehnen
The word "ablehnen" is derived from the Middle High German word "abelennen", meaning "to refuse."
Icelandichafna
The word "hafna" derives from the Old Norse word "hafna," meaning "to refuse, deny, or reject."
Irishdiúltú
Italianrifiutare
Rifiutare originates from the latin verb refutare, which means to disprove or rebut an argument.
Luxembourgishrefuséieren
Maltesetiċħad
"Tiċħad" also means to deny or refuse something.
Norwegianavvise
"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 Gaelicdiùltadh
The Gaelic word "diùltadh" can also mean "to deny" or "to refuse".
Spanishrechazar
The word "rechazar" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Spanish.
Swedishavvisa
The word "avvisa" can also mean "to dismiss" or "to refuse".
Welshgwrthod
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

Belarusianадхіліць
The word "адхіліць" in Belarusian is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "отклонити" and can also mean "to reject" or "to decline".
Bosnianodbiti
In Serbian, the word "odbiti" also means to "defeat" or "repel" an attack.
Bulgarianотхвърли
The word "отхвърли" derives from the Proto-Slavic root *otъvьrgati, meaning "to throw away" or "to reject".
Czechodmítnout
In Czech, "odmítnout" means both "reject" and "refuse".
Estoniantagasi lükata
Estonian word "tagasi lükata" has a literal translation "push back" and an additional meaning of "send back".
Finnishhylätä
The word "hylätä" also means "to abandon" or "to forsake" in Finnish.
Hungarianelutasít
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.
Latviannoraidīt
"Noraidīt" also means "to turn off" in the context of electricity."}
Lithuanianatmesti
The word "atmesti" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *at- "to throw away, reject" and is related to the English word "atom".
Macedonianотфрли
The word "отфрли" in Macedonian comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "отвьрглъ", meaning "to throw away".
Polishodrzucać
In Polish, the verb "odrzucać" can also refer to "rejecting a woman's marriage proposal" or "dispensing with a religious rite."
Romanianrespinge
Romanian "respinge" comes from Latin "respinguere" (to push back) and also means "to push back" or "to recoil".
Russianотвергать
The Russian word "отвергать" can also be used in the context of refusing to accept or believe something, akin to "repudiate" in English.
Serbianодбити
The Serbian word "odбити" can also mean to defend against, repel or reflect something.
Slovakodmietnuť
The Slovak word "odmietnuť" can also mean "to deny".
Slovenianzavrni
The verb 'zavrni' can also mean 'to spin' or 'to turn' in Slovene, related to the noun 'zavor' which means 'brake'.
Ukrainianвідкинути
The Ukrainian word "відкинути" also means "to abandon", "to discard", or "to renounce."

Reject in South Asian Languages

Bengaliপ্রত্যাখ্যান
The word "প্রত্যাখ্যান" ("reject") in Bengali also means "to deny" or "to refuse".
Gujaratiઅસ્વીકાર
The term 'અસ્વીકાર', originating from Sanskrit, also refers to a philosophical notion of non-attachment or disassociating from desires and external possessions.
Hindiअस्वीकार
The Hindi word "अस्वीकार" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अस्वीकृत," meaning "not accepted" or "disapproved.
Kannadaತಿರಸ್ಕರಿಸಿ
It is related to the Sanskrit word 'tiraskaroti', which means 'to remove'.
Malayalamനിരസിക്കുക
നിരസിക്കുക comes from the Sanskrit word 'niras' meaning 'despair' and 'ak' meaning 'to do' and has other meanings including 'prohibit' and 'disapprove'.
Marathiनाकारणे
"नाकारणे" can also mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Marathi.
Nepaliअस्वीकृत
The word अस्वीकृत in Nepali comes from the Sanskrit word "asvi-krita", which literally means "not done or made".
Punjabiਰੱਦ
The word "ਰੱਦ" derives from the Sanskrit root "rudh" and can mean "to obstruct" or "to stop."
Sinhala (Sinhalese)ප්‍රතික්ෂේප කරන්න
Tamilநிராகரிக்கவும்
Teluguతిరస్కరించండి
Urduمسترد 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".
Korean받지 않다
받지 않다 (batji anhda) literally means 'not to receive'.
Mongolianтатгалзах
The word "татгалзах" is also used to mean "to refuse" or "to deny" in Mongolian.
Myanmar (Burmese)ငြင်းပယ်

Reject in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianmenolak
Menolak in Indonesian means "to deny," "to refuse," or "to decline," and is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *tulak, meaning "to push away."
Javanesenolak
The word Nolak (reject) means something that needs to be avoided or forbidden and is thought to come from the word Awlak (wrong)
Khmerបដិសេធ
បដិសេធ also means 'deny' or 'oppose', and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'pratisedha', which has the same meaning.
Laoປະຕິເສດ
Malaymenolak
The word "menolak" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *tulak, which means "to push away" or "to refuse."
Thaiปฏิเสธ
The word "ปฏิเสธ" can also mean "to oppose" or "to defy".
Vietnamesetừ 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

Azerbaijanirədd et
The word "rədd et" is derived from the Persian word "radd", meaning "to return" or "to refuse".
Kazakhқабылдамау
Kyrgyzчетке кагуу
"Четке кагуу" means "to reject" in Kyrgyz. It can also mean "to throw away" or "to discard."
Tajikрад кардан
The verb "рад кардан" in Tajik can also mean "to dismiss" or "to refuse".
Turkmenret et
Uzbekrad 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.
Uyghurرەت قىلىش

Reject in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianhōʻole
Hōʻole in Hawaiian also refers to the action of turning someone or something away.
Maoriwhakakahore
The term 'whakakahore' can also denote 'refuse', or the action of 'turning something away'.
Samoanteena
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

Aymarajaniw saña
Guaranimombia

Reject in International Languages

Esperantomalakcepti
Esperanto's "malakcepti" is a calque of English "malaccept" meaning "to accept reluctantly or disapprovingly."
Latinrepellam
Repellam originates from the Latin word pellere, which means "to drive away."

Reject in Others Languages

Greekαπορρίπτω
The word "απορρίπτω" can also mean "to cast away", "to put aside", or "to abandon" in Greek.
Hmongxyeej
In the Hmong language, the word "xyeej" can also mean "to turn away" or "to refuse to accept something"
Kurdishrefzkirin
The Kurdish word "refzkirin" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*reǵ-skei-ro-," meaning "to abandon, give up, or reject."
Turkishreddetmek
"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."
Xhosaukwala
The Xhosa word "ukwala" (reject) also means "to be at odds with" or "to be in conflict with".
Yiddishאָפּוואַרפן
"אָפּוואַרפן" (reject) comes from Middle High German “verwerfen,” meaning "to throw out" or "to spurn."
Zuluwenqabe
In Zulu, "wenqabe" also means "to be abandoned".
Assameseপ্ৰত্যাখ্যান
Aymarajaniw saña
Bhojpuriनामंजूर कईल
Dhivehiޤަބޫލުނުކުރުން
Dogriरद्द करना
Filipino (Tagalog)tanggihan
Guaranimombia
Ilocanoipaid
Krioavɔyd
Kurdish (Sorani)ڕەتکردنەوە
Maithiliअस्वीकार करनाइ
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯈꯠꯇꯣꯛꯄ
Mizohnawl
Oromofudhachuu dhiisuu
Odia (Oriya)ପ୍ରତ୍ୟାଖ୍ୟାନ କର |
Quechuakutichipuy
Sanskritअस्वीकार
Tatarкире кагу
Tigrinyaምንጻግ
Tsongaariwa

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