River in Different Languages
Discover 'River' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
River
Afrikaans rivier | ||
Albanian lumi | ||
Amharic ወንዝ | ||
Arabic نهر | ||
Armenian գետ | ||
Assamese নদী | ||
Aymara jawira | ||
Azerbaijani çay | ||
Bambara ba | ||
Basque ibaia | ||
Belarusian рака | ||
Bengali নদী | ||
Bhojpuri नदी | ||
Bosnian rijeka | ||
Bulgarian река | ||
Catalan riu | ||
Cebuano suba | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 河 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 河 | ||
Corsican fiume | ||
Croatian rijeka | ||
Czech řeka | ||
Danish flod | ||
Dhivehi ކޯރު | ||
Dogri दरेआ | ||
Dutch rivier- | ||
English river | ||
Esperanto rivero | ||
Estonian jõgi | ||
Ewe tɔsisi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) ilog | ||
Finnish joki | ||
French rivière | ||
Frisian rivier | ||
Galician río | ||
Georgian მდინარე | ||
German fluss | ||
Greek ποτάμι | ||
Guarani ysyry | ||
Gujarati નદી | ||
Haitian Creole rivyè | ||
Hausa kogi | ||
Hawaiian muliwai | ||
Hebrew נהר | ||
Hindi नदी | ||
Hmong dej | ||
Hungarian folyó | ||
Icelandic ána | ||
Igbo osimiri | ||
Ilocano karayan | ||
Indonesian sungai | ||
Irish abhainn | ||
Italian fiume | ||
Japanese 川 | ||
Javanese kali | ||
Kannada ನದಿ | ||
Kazakh өзен | ||
Khmer ទន្លេ | ||
Kinyarwanda uruzi | ||
Konkani न्हंय | ||
Korean 강 | ||
Krio riva | ||
Kurdish çem | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ڕووبار | ||
Kyrgyz дарыя | ||
Lao ແມ່ນ້ໍາ | ||
Latin flumen | ||
Latvian upe | ||
Lingala ebale | ||
Lithuanian upė | ||
Luganda omugga | ||
Luxembourgish floss | ||
Macedonian река | ||
Maithili नदी | ||
Malagasy renirano | ||
Malay sungai | ||
Malayalam നദി | ||
Maltese xmara | ||
Maori awa | ||
Marathi नदी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯇꯨꯔꯦꯜ | ||
Mizo lui | ||
Mongolian гол | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) မြစ် | ||
Nepali नदी | ||
Norwegian elv | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mtsinje | ||
Odia (Oriya) ନଦୀ | ||
Oromo laga | ||
Pashto سيند | ||
Persian رودخانه | ||
Polish rzeka | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) rio | ||
Punjabi ਨਦੀ | ||
Quechua mayu | ||
Romanian râu | ||
Russian река | ||
Samoan vaitafe | ||
Sanskrit नदी | ||
Scots Gaelic abhainn | ||
Sepedi noka | ||
Serbian река | ||
Sesotho noka | ||
Shona rwizi | ||
Sindhi ندي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ගඟ | ||
Slovak rieka | ||
Slovenian reka | ||
Somali webiga | ||
Spanish río | ||
Sundanese walungan | ||
Swahili mto | ||
Swedish flod | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) ilog | ||
Tajik дарё | ||
Tamil நதி | ||
Tatar елга | ||
Telugu నది | ||
Thai แม่น้ำ | ||
Tigrinya ሩባ | ||
Tsonga nambu | ||
Turkish nehir | ||
Turkmen derýa | ||
Twi (Akan) asubɔntene | ||
Ukrainian річка | ||
Urdu دریا | ||
Uyghur دەريا | ||
Uzbek daryo | ||
Vietnamese con sông | ||
Welsh afon | ||
Xhosa umlambo | ||
Yiddish טייך | ||
Yoruba odo | ||
Zulu umfula |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "rivier" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁re̅y- ("to flow"), cognate with the English word "river". |
| Albanian | Lumi is also used in Albanian as a personal name (usually for boys), likely derived from the Sanskrit word "loka", meaning "world" or "place". |
| Amharic | The word ወንዝ in Amharic is likely derived from the Proto-Ethiopic root *wənəz, which also means "to flow" or "to run." |
| Arabic | The word "نهر" (river) in Arabic also has the figurative meaning of "source" or "origin". |
| Armenian | Գետ (river) is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰew-, meaning to flow or pour. |
| Azerbaijani | The word "çay" has additional meanings in Azerbaijani, including "kind of tree" and "small stream". |
| Basque | The word ibaia does not have any alternate meanings. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "рака" also means "cancer" in Polish and Russian. |
| Bengali | The word "নদী" ("river") in Bengali shares the same etymological root with the Sanskrit word "नदी" ("river"), meaning "water course". |
| Bosnian | The Slavic root *reka, from which "rijeka" derives, also refers to a body of water or a swamp |
| Bulgarian | The word "река" can also refer to a large amount of something, such as tears or blood. |
| Catalan | The Catalan word "riu" derives from the Latin term "rivus," meaning "stream" or "brook." |
| Cebuano | The word "suba" in Cebuano can also refer to a tributary or a large stream. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 河 is a component of the character 江 (river) and is also a character in the word 河道 (river course). |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 河 in Chinese (Traditional) can refer to a river, the Milky Way, or the Yellow River. |
| Corsican | In Corsican, the word “fiume” also refers to a specific type of watercourse or stream that is narrower than a river. |
| Croatian | In Croatian, the word "Rijeka" not only means "river", but also a historic region in the eastern part of the country. |
| Czech | The word "řeka" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*rekъ", which means "to flow". It is also related to the Latin word "rivus", meaning "stream". |
| Danish | The word "flod" can also mean "flood" or "estuary" in Danish. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word 'rivier' is derived from the Old French word 'rivier', which comes from the Latin word 'rivus', meaning 'stream'. |
| Esperanto | The word "rivero" can also refer to the concept of a waterway as a whole, including its branches, tributaries, and estuary. |
| Estonian | "Jõgi" in Estonian derives from Proto-Uralic "*joŋki", also meaning "lake". |
| Finnish | The word also refers to a |
| French | The word "rivière" also means "laugh" in French. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "rivier" can also refer to a ditch or a small stream. |
| Galician | The Galician word "río" comes from the Latin word "rīvus," meaning "stream," and is related to the English word "river." |
| Georgian | The word "მდინარე" is also used to refer to a channel of liquid in the body, such as a blood vessel or a tear duct. |
| German | Derived from the Middle High German "vluz" or Old High German "fluz", Fluss can also refer to a "flow" or a "flood". |
| Greek | While in Modern Greek "ποτάμι" means "river", in Ancient Greek the same word could also refer to the sea. |
| Gujarati | The word "નદી" (river) in Gujarati is derived from the Sanskrit word "नदी" (nadi), which originally meant a "reed" or "tube". |
| Haitian Creole | The word "rivyè" comes from the Spanish word "río", meaning "river." |
| Hausa | 'Kogi' also means 'to flow' or 'to make a sound like water flowing', and is used in the names of some traditional water spirits. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word "muliwai" has other meanings including "flow of tears" and "slippery with water." |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "נהר" has alternate meanings including "flood" and "stream". |
| Hindi | The word "नदी" (river) in Hindi is cognate with the Avestan word "naidi" (river), and is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*(s)neh₂-", meaning "to flow". |
| Hmong | The Hmong word "dej" can also refer to streams, creeks, and currents. |
| Hungarian | The word "folyó" in Hungarian originally meant "flowing" or "running", but it also refers to a river. |
| Icelandic | "Ána" is a name derived from the Old Norse word "á" meaning "river" and is still used as a word for "river" in Icelandic. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "osimiri" also means "pathway" or "roadway". |
| Indonesian | The word "sungai" is derived from Proto-Austronesian "*suŋai" meaning "watercourse". |
| Irish | The Scottish Gaelic word "abhainn" ultimately derives from the Proto-Celtic form of the word, *abona, which means "river of a certain size". |
| Italian | From the Latin word "flumen" (river), "fiume" can also refer to a watercourse that has not yet reached the sea, such as a stream or a brook. |
| Japanese | "川" also means "thread" in classical Japanese; it is sometimes seen in the name of bridges as "[Thread of X] bridge." |
| Javanese | "Kali" can also refers to a female deity who is the goddess of water and fertility. |
| Kannada | The word "ನದಿ" derives from the Proto-Dravidian word "*nadi" meaning "watercourse" or "current". |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "өзен" is also used to refer to a water pipe or a conduit. |
| Khmer | The word "ទន្លេ" can also mean "stream" or "canal" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The word "강" can also mean "strength" or "power" in Korean. |
| Kurdish | In Kurdish, the word "çem" (river) also denotes "water" in general. |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz, "дарыя" can also refer to a large body of water such as a lake or sea. |
| Lao | The Lao word for "river", "ແມ່ນ້ໍາ", is etymologically related to the Sanskrit word "nadī", which also means "river" or "stream". |
| Latin | The word "flumen" can also refer to a flow of water, tears, or words. |
| Latvian | Latvian "upe" (river) shares the Indo-European root *h2ep– with the Sanskrit word "āpas" (water). |
| Lithuanian | The word "upė" in Lithuanian comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*h₂up-," meaning "water\." |
| Luxembourgish | As well as denoting a waterway, the word also means "flood" and is cognate with the English "flush". |
| Macedonian | "Река" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *rēka, which also means "stream". |
| Malagasy | RENIRANO in Malagasy may derive from 'reni' (mother) and 'rano' (water), and thus refers to the role of rivers as life-givers. |
| Malay | "Sungai" in Malay can also refer to a body of water that is connected to the sea and is affected by the tide, known as an estuary. |
| Malayalam | In ancient Tamil, "nadi" referred to a large body of water, indicating that "nadi" may have come from Tamil and later adopted into Malayalam. |
| Maltese | The word "xmara" may also refer to a type of Maltese traditional fishing net. |
| Maori | Despite its translation as 'river', 'awa' in Maori also refers to a 'mouth', 'opening', or 'channel'. |
| Marathi | In Marathi, the word "नदी" also means "a stream" or "a riverbank". |
| Mongolian | The Mongolian word "гол" (river) is related to the Turkic word "kol" (lake). |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "မြစ်" also means "a stream of water that flows continuously in a definite direction". |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "नदी" (river) originates from the Sanskrit "nadee," which signifies a natural watercourse, and is cognate with words like "navya" (new). |
| Norwegian | The word "elv" is cognate with the English word "elf", both deriving from the Proto-Germanic word *albiz "white", referring to the white foam in fast-flowing water. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'mtsinje' in Nyanja can also refer to a valley or a narrow body of water. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "سيند" also refers to the "Indus River" and the "Ganges River" in specific contexts. |
| Persian | The word "رودخانه" is a compound of the words "رود" (meaning "flow") and "خانه" (meaning "house"), suggesting a place where water flows. |
| Polish | The word "rzeka" is of Proto-Slavic origin and likely descends from the verb meaning "to flow". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "rio" can also refer to a river's estuary or a large body of water. |
| Punjabi | ਨਦੀ also refers to a mythical river that flows through the center of the Earth in Sikhism. |
| Romanian | "Râu" originates from the Latin word "rivus", and it can also mean "beard" in Romanian |
| Russian | In Russian, 'река' ( река) also means 'speech' or 'stream'. |
| Samoan | The word 'vaitafe', meaning river, is derived from the words 'vai' meaning water and 'tafe' meaning channel or path. |
| Scots Gaelic | Abhainn is derived from the Proto-Celtic word *abona, meaning "water" or "river." |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "река" (river) likely comes from the Proto-Indo-European root "*sreu-," meaning "to flow" |
| Sesotho | Noka is also sometimes used to refer to a wide and permanent stream of water (i.e. a river) that may or may not contain water depending on the time of the year, and sometimes used for dry streambeds too. |
| Shona | The word "rwizi" also means "great" or "large" in Shona, highlighting the importance and awe associated with rivers. |
| Sindhi | "ندي" (river) in Sindhi also means "water" in general, and "moisture" in the context of soil. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The term "ගඟ" can refer to a particular river, such as the "Mahaweli Ganga," or to rivers in general. |
| Slovak | From Proto-Slavic, *reka, a hydronym also found in Baltic, Germanic, and Celtic. |
| Slovenian | The word "reka" can also refer to a torrent or a flood. |
| Somali | The word "webiga" can also refer to a valley or a low-lying area where water flows during the rainy season. |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "río" likely originated from the Celtic word "rīgos," meaning "to flow" or "stream. |
| Sundanese | In Old Sundanese, the word "walungan" also meant "harbor" or "estuary". |
| Swahili | Mto, meaning 'river' in Swahili, shares a root with the word 'umto', which means 'child' or 'young person'. |
| Swedish | The origin of the Swedish word "flod" likely derives from the Indo-European root "*pleu" and the Proto-Germanic term "*flut", cognate to the English "flood". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "ilog" is also used to refer to a stream, creek, or any body of water that flows. |
| Tajik | The word "дарё" also means "life" and "existence" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | The term 'நதி' (nadi) in Tamil also signifies a vein or artery in the human body, or any natural or spiritual pathway. |
| Telugu | The word "నది" also refers to a type of snake called "King Cobra" in Telugu. |
| Thai | The Thai word for "river" (แม่น้ำ) literally means "mother water". |
| Turkish | The word 'nehir' is derived from the Proto-Turkic word 'ner' meaning 'waterway'. |
| Ukrainian | The word “річка” is derived from the Proto-Slavic word “*rěka”, which also means “speech”. This reflects the ancient belief that rivers possessed a kind of consciousness and could communicate with humans. |
| Urdu | The word "دریا" can also refer to the ocean or any large body of water. |
| Uzbek | The word "daryo" comes from the Proto-Turkic word *tory, meaning "channel, stream". |
| Vietnamese | The word "con sông" (river) in Vietnamese is a compound word that literally means "mother river". |
| Welsh | Afon may also refer to a Welsh deity of rivers and one of the gods of the Mabinogion. |
| Xhosa | Xhosa word 'umlambo' may refer to both a natural or supernatural river. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word טייך "Taykh" derives from Middle Low German teich "pond" or Upper German Teich "pond, fish pond" |
| Yoruba | Odo can also mean "spring" or "creek" and is related to the word "odi" ( |
| Zulu | In Zulu, the word "umfula" can also mean "a deep place in a river where there is a whirlpool or a pool." |
| English | The term "river" originates from the Latin "rivus" and has been used since the 13th century to describe a natural watercourse. |