Role in Different Languages
Discover 'Role' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Role
Afrikaans rol | ||
Albanian rolin | ||
Amharic ሚና | ||
Arabic وظيفة | ||
Armenian դերը | ||
Assamese ভূমিকা | ||
Aymara ruli | ||
Azerbaijani rol | ||
Bambara jɔyɔrɔ | ||
Basque rola | ||
Belarusian ролю | ||
Bengali ভূমিকা | ||
Bhojpuri भूमिका | ||
Bosnian ulogu | ||
Bulgarian роля | ||
Catalan paper | ||
Cebuano papel | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 角色 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 角色 | ||
Corsican rolu | ||
Croatian uloga | ||
Czech role | ||
Danish rolle | ||
Dhivehi ރޯލް | ||
Dogri रोल | ||
Dutch rol | ||
English role | ||
Esperanto rolo | ||
Estonian roll | ||
Ewe wɔƒe | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) tungkulin | ||
Finnish rooli | ||
French rôle | ||
Frisian rol | ||
Galician papel | ||
Georgian როლი | ||
German rolle | ||
Greek ρόλος | ||
Guarani kuatia | ||
Gujarati ભૂમિકા | ||
Haitian Creole wòl | ||
Hausa rawa | ||
Hawaiian kūlana | ||
Hebrew תַפְקִיד | ||
Hindi भूमिका | ||
Hmong lub luag hauj lwm | ||
Hungarian szerep | ||
Icelandic hlutverk | ||
Igbo ọrụ | ||
Ilocano amad | ||
Indonesian wewenang | ||
Irish ról | ||
Italian ruolo | ||
Japanese 役割 | ||
Javanese peran | ||
Kannada ಪಾತ್ರ | ||
Kazakh рөлі | ||
Khmer តួនាទី | ||
Kinyarwanda uruhare | ||
Konkani भुमिका | ||
Korean 역할 | ||
Krio pat | ||
Kurdish rol | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ئەرک | ||
Kyrgyz роль | ||
Lao ພາລະບົດບາດ | ||
Latin partes | ||
Latvian lomu | ||
Lingala mokumba | ||
Lithuanian vaidmuo | ||
Luganda omugaso | ||
Luxembourgish roll | ||
Macedonian улога | ||
Maithili भूमिका | ||
Malagasy anjara asa | ||
Malay peranan | ||
Malayalam പങ്ക് | ||
Maltese rwol | ||
Maori tūranga | ||
Marathi भूमिका | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯊꯧꯗꯥꯡ | ||
Mizo chanvo | ||
Mongolian үүрэг | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အခန်းကဏ္။ | ||
Nepali भूमिका | ||
Norwegian rolle | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) udindo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଭୂମିକା | ||
Oromo ga'ee | ||
Pashto رول | ||
Persian نقش | ||
Polish rola | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) função | ||
Punjabi ਭੂਮਿਕਾ | ||
Quechua papel | ||
Romanian rol | ||
Russian роль | ||
Samoan matafaioi | ||
Sanskrit भूमिका | ||
Scots Gaelic dreuchd | ||
Sepedi tema | ||
Serbian улогу | ||
Sesotho karolo | ||
Shona basa | ||
Sindhi ڪردار | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කාර්යභාරය | ||
Slovak úlohu | ||
Slovenian vlogo | ||
Somali doorka | ||
Spanish papel | ||
Sundanese kalungguhan | ||
Swahili jukumu | ||
Swedish roll | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) papel | ||
Tajik нақш | ||
Tamil பங்கு | ||
Tatar роль | ||
Telugu పాత్ర | ||
Thai บทบาท | ||
Tigrinya ግደ | ||
Tsonga ntirho | ||
Turkish rol | ||
Turkmen roly | ||
Twi (Akan) asodie | ||
Ukrainian роль | ||
Urdu کردار | ||
Uyghur رولى | ||
Uzbek rol | ||
Vietnamese vai trò | ||
Welsh rôl | ||
Xhosa indima | ||
Yiddish ראָלע | ||
Yoruba ipa | ||
Zulu indima |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Rol" can also refer to a bundle or a portion, as in "'n rol tabak" (a roll of tobacco). |
| Albanian | The word "rolin" in Albanian is derived from the Latin word "rotulus", meaning "scroll" or "written document", and has also been used to refer to a theatrical role. |
| Amharic | In some dialects, ሚና can also refer to a character performed on stage. |
| Arabic | "وظيفة" in Arabic can also mean "function" or "job", and it comes from the root "وَضَعَ" (waḍaʿa), meaning "to place" or "to put".} |
| Armenian | "Դերը" (role) in Armenian is derived from the root "դարձ" (turn), implying the act of assuming or playing a part. |
| Azerbaijani | "Rol" also means "a piece of round bread" or "roll" in Turkish, which is likely the source of the word in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | The Basque word "rola" can also refer to a "wheel" or "disk". |
| Belarusian | An alternate meaning for "ролю" ("role") in Belarusian is "appearance", "look", or "expression", stemming from the verb "роліць" ("to roll"). |
| Bengali | In music, |
| Bosnian | The word "uloga" can also mean "part of a story" or "performance" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | In Bulgarian, роля, meaning "role," stems from the Proto-Slavic korl-ja, meaning "to twist" or "to cut, cleave." |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "paper" can also refer to a legal document or a part in a play. |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, "papel" can also refer to a document or a letter. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 角色 (jué sè) originally referred to a person's social status or position in Chinese. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 角色 means 'person' or 'individual' and can also be used to refer to a person's social position or status. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "rolu" can also refer to a part of a theatrical performance or the text that an actor reads on stage. |
| Croatian | The word "uloga" in Croatian, derived from the Proto-Slavic word *ulogъ, originally meant "a part" or "a section". |
| Czech | Czech "role" can also mean "blind" or "curtain". |
| Danish | Rolle "role" is a word of old Nordic origin that also means "something rolled up". |
| Dutch | Rol in Dutch can also mean a type of fish known as a whiting. |
| Esperanto | "Rolo" also means "scroll" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | In Estonian, the word "roll" can also mean "to glide" or "to roll up". |
| Finnish | In Finnish, "rooli" also refers to a type of fish or a wooden frame. |
| French | The word "rôle" in French originally meant a sheet of parchment rolled up, and is related to the English word "roll". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "rol" can also mean "part of a play" or "function of a person in an organisation". |
| Galician | Galician "papel" can also mean a scroll or official document, deriving from Latin "papyrus" (papyrus) and "papyrellus" (little papyrus roll). |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "როლი" is related to Russian "роль" ("role"), both originating from French "rôle," which in turn comes from Medieval Latin "rotulus" ("scroll"). |
| German | The word "Rolle" in German can also refer to a pastry or a scroll. |
| Greek | The Greek word 'ρόλος', aside from its theatrical connotation, also refers to a cylindrical object used for scribing or printing. |
| Gujarati | The word "भूमि" (bhūmi) in Sanskrit means "ground" and "का" (ka) is a suffix which denotes "doer", thus the word "भूमिका" (bhūmikā) means "one who does something on the ground", i.e. an actor. |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "wòl" can also mean "character", "part", or "function", derived from the French word "rôle". |
| Hausa | Hausa word "rawa" also means "to ask" (for a favor or information). |
| Hawaiian | The word kūlana ('role') in Hawaiian can also mean 'the position or function of something in a system.' |
| Hebrew | The word can be translated to "role" in English, but it primarily refers to a task or mission; a similar usage is seen in the Arabic word "وظيفة". |
| Hindi | Hindi "भूमिका" (role) derives from "भूमी" (earth) and "का" (doer), denoting the foundational part one plays in a performance. |
| Hmong | "Lub luag hauj lwm" (role) can also mean "the act of playing a part" or "a position or function." |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word 'szerep' also denotes 'piece' and 'part', with its root traceable to Proto-Uralic *čärpä 'fragment'. |
| Icelandic | In Icelandic, 'hlutverk' can refer to a person's role, a task, or a piece of work. |
| Igbo | While "ọrụ" primarily means "role" in Igbo, it can also mean "work", "function" or even "position". |
| Indonesian | The word 'wewenang' is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root *waŋaŋ, meaning 'power' or 'authority'. |
| Irish | Ról can also mean 'wheel' or 'list' in Irish, deriving from the Proto-Celtic word *roto-. |
| Italian | The word "ruolo" can also refer to a list of actors in a play or film, or to a table of contents in a book. |
| Japanese | The word 役割 ('yakuwari', 'role') can also refer to a person's social position or status. |
| Javanese | The word "peran" in Javanese also refers to a puppet's costume. |
| Kannada | The Kannada word "ಪಾತ್ರ" (role) is derived from the Sanskrit word "पात्र" (bowl or container), implying someone or something holding or filling a space or position. |
| Kazakh | The word "рөлі" in Kazakh can also mean "part"} |
| Khmer | The word "តួនាទី" can also mean "position" or "duty" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The word 역할 (yeokhal, "role") originally meant "duty" or "function" in Middle Korean. |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "rol" is derived from the French word "rôle" and also refers to a theater piece or movie. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "роль" (role) is derived from the Russian word "роль", ultimately tracing back to the French word "rôle". In addition to its meaning as "role", "роль" can also refer to "duty" or "responsibility". |
| Latin | The theatrical term 'parts' originates from the Latin word 'partes' (role). |
| Latvian | The word "lomu" in Latvian means "role", but its original meaning was "a wooden stake or peg". |
| Lithuanian | The word "vaidmuo" is derived from the verb "vaidinti" ("to act"), which is in turn derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *wei- ("to play"). |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Roll" also has the meaning of "wheel" and is used in words like "Rollstull" (wheelchair). |
| Macedonian | The word "улога" in Macedonian is derived from the old Slavic root "log-", which means "to lie" or "to put". |
| Malagasy | Anjara asa can also mean 'part, portion, share, or destiny' and traces its roots to the Proto-Austronesian term *kanjar, meaning 'divide, separate'. |
| Malay | The alternative meanings of "peranan" are "behaviour of an individual in group life" or "the process of interaction, where every participant takes on several roles" |
| Malayalam | The Malayalam word "പങ്ക്" (/paŋk/) comes from Sanskrit "भङ्ग" (/bhaŋga/), meaning "to break" or "to divide", referring to the allocation of duties or responsibilities. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "rwol" comes from the Italian "ruolo", and can also mean "list" or "register". |
| Maori | In Māori, tūranga can also refer to a position or rank, as in a chief or a commander. |
| Marathi | The word भूमिका also means introduction or preface in Marathi, derived from the Sanskrit word " भूमि " (foundation). |
| Mongolian | "Үүрэг" may also refer to the Milky Way galaxy. |
| Nepali | The word भूमिका shares its root with the word "भूम" (land) or "earth", and can also refer to a stage in a play. |
| Norwegian | The word "rolle" can also refer to a bread roll or a film reel in Norwegian. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "udindo" can also mean "duty" or "responsibility". |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "رول" can also refer to a type of bread or a kind of dance performed by women. |
| Persian | The word "نقش" which means "role" in Persian, also means "design" or "plan". |
| Polish | In Polish, "rola" can also mean "farmland". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, the word "Função" can also mean "job" or "duty". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "rol" likely comes from the French word "rôle" or the Medieval Latin word "rotulus", meaning "roll". In Romanian, the word "rol" can also refer to a "scroll" or a "cylinder". |
| Russian | The word "роль" is related to the word "рядить" (to dress), suggesting its original meaning of "a part played" in a theatrical performance. |
| Samoan | In Samoan, the word "matafaioi" can also mean "task", "responsibility", or "duty." |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, "dreuchd" derives from the Proto-Celtic *dreg- "to climb" and was originally used in a military context but came to mean "role" as in "social position". |
| Serbian | The word "улогу" can also mean "part" or "function" in Serbian, indicating a broader scope of its usage beyond the theater or acting context. |
| Sesotho | The word 'karolo' also means 'part' or 'portion' in Sesotho. |
| Shona | "Basa" in Shona can also mean "position" or "status", and it is cognate with the isiZulu word "indaba", meaning "news" or "meeting". |
| Sindhi | Sindhi word "ڪردار" can also refer to the nature or personality of a person, in addition to its primary meaning of "role". |
| Slovak | The word "úlohu" is the direct form of the noun "úloha" which also means "task, duty, work assignment". |
| Slovenian | Vlogo, derived from the Proto-Slavic root *volg-, can also refer to "following" or "accompanying" in Slovenian. |
| Somali | The word "doorka" (role) in Somali is derived from the Arabic word "دور" (dhawr), meaning "turn" or "responsibility." |
| Spanish | The Spanish word "papel" comes from the Latin word "papyrus", which refers to the ancient writing material made from the stem of the papyrus plant. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "kalungguhan" has Javanese etymology and can also mean "position" or "office" in a hierarchical system. |
| Swahili | "Jukumu," in addition to its main meaning of "role," can also refer to "responsibility". |
| Swedish | The Swedish word "rulle" can refer to a scroll, a role, or a dish consisting of something rolled up, such as a cinnamon roll. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | From Middle English 'papel', ultimately from Latin 'papyrus', referring to a writing material made from reeds |
| Tajik | The word "нақш" in Tajik can also mean "picture" or "ornamentation". |
| Tamil | The word "பங்கு" (role) in Tamil can also mean "share" or "portion". |
| Telugu | The term 'పాత్ర' derives from the Sanskrit word 'पात्र' (patra), meaning a deserving vessel or recipient. |
| Thai | The word "บทบาท" also has other meanings in Thai, such as "function" or "duty". |
| Turkish | Rol in Turkish can also refer to a round shape or a coil. |
| Ukrainian | The word "роль" can also mean "a list of actors and their parts in a play" or "a document that sets out the rights and duties of a person in a particular situation." |
| Urdu | In Urdu, كردار "kirdār" is an Arabic loanword with meanings ranging from "character" to "nature", depending on the context. |
| Uzbek | Uzbek "rol" ( роль ) is also used to refer to "scroll" and "roll" (in the sense of a food item). |
| Vietnamese | The term "vai trò" is composed of two Sino-Vietnamese elements: "vai" (meaning "person") and "trò" (meaning "performance"). |
| Welsh | The etymology of the Welsh word "rôl" includes the meaning "part of a whole" and is cognate with the Irish "rol". |
| Xhosa | Indima has meanings of both 'role' and 'a way of life' in Xhosa. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word ראָלע can also refer to a part in a play, a function or task, or a person's overall purpose in life. |
| Yoruba | In Yoruba, "ipa" can also refer to the action of carrying something on one's head. |
| Zulu | "Indima" also refers to the spiritual and emotional essence of a person in Zulu culture. |
| English | The word 'role' derives from the French 'rôle', ultimately from Latin 'rotulus' (scroll). |