Shore in Different Languages
Discover 'Shore' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word shore holds a special significance in our lives, connecting us to the natural beauty of oceans, seas, and lakes. It represents the boundary between land and water, a place of transition and transformation. Throughout history, shores have been essential to human civilization, serving as ports for trade, sources of food, and inspiring countless works of art and literature.
Understanding the translation of shore in different languages can open up new cultural perspectives and deepen our appreciation for the world around us. For instance, in Spanish, the word for shore is orilla, while in French, it's rivage. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for shore is 海滨 (hǎi bīn), and in Japanese, it's 渚（なгиさ） (nagisa).
By learning these translations, we not only expand our linguistic skills but also connect with people from different cultures who share a love for the beauty and power of the water's edge. So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a traveler, or a nature lover, exploring the many translations of shore is a rewarding and enriching experience.
Shore
Shore in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | strand | ||
| In Afrikaans, the word "strand" additionally means "beach" or "seaside". | |||
| Amharic | ዳርቻ | ||
| The word "ዳርቻ" may also refer to a type of grass that grows along the edges of bodies of water. | |||
| Hausa | tudu | ||
| Hausa "tudu" also means "a place where fishermen keep their boats". | |||
| Igbo | ikpere mmiri | ||
| Ikpere mmiri in Igbo also means 'where the water turns' or 'the edge of the water' | |||
| Malagasy | amoron-dranomasina | ||
| The Malagasy word "amoron-dranomasina" is derived from the words "amoro" (sea) and "dranomasina" (edge), meaning "edge of the sea". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | gombe | ||
| The word "gombe" has cognates in other Bantu languages that have a similar meaning, such as "kombe" in Kinyarwanda and "gombe" in Lingala. | |||
| Shona | mahombekombe | ||
| The term "mahombekombe" is an extension of the word "mahombe" (sand), referring to the sandy nature of shorelines. | |||
| Somali | xeebta | ||
| The word "xeebta" is also used to refer to the area of land on either side of a river. | |||
| Sesotho | lebopo | ||
| In Sesotho, "lebopo" is also used to refer to the bank of a river. | |||
| Swahili | pwani | ||
| The word "pwani" in Swahili is derived from the Arabic word "fuwani", meaning "shoreline". Additionally, it can also refer to a coastal region or a place where the sea meets the land. | |||
| Xhosa | unxweme | ||
| "Unxweme" comes from the Proto-Bantu word "*nzombe" meaning "crocodile", suggesting the dangers of swimming in the water near the shore. | |||
| Yoruba | eti okun | ||
| It derives from the root word "eti" (edge) and "okun" (sea), as a shoreline is the edge of the sea. | |||
| Zulu | ogwini | ||
| The Zulu word "ogwini" also means "edge" or "margin". | |||
| Bambara | jida | ||
| Ewe | tɔto | ||
| Kinyarwanda | inkombe | ||
| Lingala | libongo | ||
| Luganda | olukalu | ||
| Sepedi | lebopo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | mpoano | ||
Shore in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | دعم | ||
| Although "دعم" literally means "shore", it is also a metaphor for aid and support. | |||
| Hebrew | חוף | ||
| The word "חוף" (shore) is etymologically related to "חופף" (to float) and denotes not only the seashore but also a lakefront or any place by the water. | |||
| Pashto | ساحل | ||
| The Pashto word "ساحل" (shore) is derived from the Persian word "ساحل" which has the same meaning. In Persian, it is also used to mean "edge", "border", or "boundary". | |||
| Arabic | دعم | ||
| Although "دعم" literally means "shore", it is also a metaphor for aid and support. | |||
Shore in Western European Languages
| Albanian | breg | ||
| The word "breg" in Albanian also means "shoreline" or "coastline". | |||
| Basque | itsasertza | ||
| The first component of the word 'itsasertza' means 'sea' and the second one means 'edge'. | |||
| Catalan | riba | ||
| The word "Riba" in Catalan shares etymology with "ripe", implying a fertile or productive area bordering water. | |||
| Croatian | poduprijeti | ||
| The word 'poduprijeti' could be derived from Proto-Slavic '*podъ' and '*uperti' (i.e. to fix under), referring to the action of placing an object underneath something to support it. | |||
| Danish | kyst | ||
| The Danish word "kyst" (coast or shore) is related to the Norwegian "kyst" and Swedish "kust" of the same meaning and ultimately originates from the Proto-Germanic word ""kustaz"", which also meant a "coast". | |||
| Dutch | kust- | ||
| The word 'kust' is derived from the Old English word 'cost,' which means 'coast' or 'boundary.' | |||
| English | shore | ||
| The word "shore" derives from the Old English word "scieran," meaning "to cut" or "to shear," referring to the cutting action of waves against land. | |||
| French | rive | ||
| The French word "rive" originated from the Latin "ripa", meaning both "shore" and "bank of a river". | |||
| Frisian | wâl | ||
| In Dutch, 'wal' can also refer to a city's ramparts or dike. | |||
| Galician | costa | ||
| "Costa" in Galician comes from the Latin word "costa", and can also be a synonym for "coastline" or "ribcage". | |||
| German | ufer | ||
| The word 'Ufer' has cognates in Dutch, English, and French, all referring to a riverbank, while in German it denotes a shoreline. | |||
| Icelandic | strönd | ||
| The Icelandic word "strönd" is cognate with the Old Norse phrase "á ströndu", meaning "along the beach" while "strönd" itself also refers to current, tide, or even "a thread or strand". | |||
| Irish | chladach | ||
| The word "chladach" also means "secret" or "clandestine". | |||
| Italian | puntellare | ||
| The verb 'puntellare' in Italian can also mean 'to support' or 'to prop up', alluding to its original meaning of 'to use poles or stakes to support something'. | |||
| Luxembourgish | ufer | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "Ufer" is related to the German "Ufer" and the English "over", which all derive from the Proto-Indo-European root "*uper". | |||
| Maltese | xatt | ||
| The etymology of the Maltese word "xatt" is unclear, and it may be a Semitic or Romance loanword. | |||
| Norwegian | land | ||
| The word "land" is also used in Norwegian as a synonym of "country". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | costa | ||
| The term "costa" originates from the Latin word "costa," which referred to the human ribcage and later extended to signify a body of land jutting into the sea. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | chladach | ||
| Chladach could mean either the boundary or the beach, and is thought to derive from the same root as claidh, which originally meant "ditch". | |||
| Spanish | apuntalar | ||
| The verb "apuntalar" can also mean to support, prop up, or bolster. | |||
| Swedish | strand | ||
| In Swedish, 'strand' also means 'beach', 'coast', or 'shoreline'. | |||
| Welsh | lan | ||
| There is a Welsh proverb which says that "The sea will not go beyond the 'lan'" — that is, the sea cannot go beyond the beach. This proverb is often used to describe the limits of what is possible. | |||
Shore in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | бераг | ||
| The word "бераг" in Belarusian comes from the Proto-Slavic word *bergъ, which also meant "mountain". | |||
| Bosnian | obale | ||
| The word "obale" also means "coasts" in Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | бряг | ||
| The word "бряг" in Bulgarian can also refer to the bank of a river. | |||
| Czech | pobřeží | ||
| The word "pobřeží" is derived from the Old Czech word "břěh" meaning "bank" or "edge", and is cognate with the English word "beach". | |||
| Estonian | kallas | ||
| The word "kallas" also refers to a coastal cliff or bluff. | |||
| Finnish | ranta | ||
| The word 'ranta' may also refer to the edge of something, such as the edge of a piece of paper or the edge of a cliff. | |||
| Hungarian | partján | ||
| The Hungarian word "partján" (meaning shore) is a variant of "párton" (meaning side) and can also refer to the side of a body of water or a riverbank. | |||
| Latvian | krasts | ||
| The word "krasts" is likely derived from the Baltic word *krantas* meaning "slope" or "edge" | |||
| Lithuanian | krantas | ||
| In Old Lithuanian, "krantas" meant "edge" or "boundary." | |||
| Macedonian | брег | ||
| The word “брег” can also mean the steep edge of the valley. | |||
| Polish | wybrzeże | ||
| The Polish word "Wybrzeże" also means "coast" and derives from the verb "brzmieć" (meaning "to sound"), alluding to the sound of waves hitting the shore. | |||
| Romanian | ţărm | ||
| "Ţărm" evolved from Proto-Slavic *tьrmъ, meaning "border, edge", with similar words in other Slavic languages such as Polish "terem" (house, palace), Russian "терем" (tower, palace), and Ukrainian "терем" (mansion, palace). | |||
| Russian | берег | ||
| In the Russian language, "берег" has a secondary meaning: "a place where somebody or something stops or is stopped". | |||
| Serbian | обале | ||
| The Serbian word "обале" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*oblь", meaning "round" or "bent", and is related to the English word "oblique". | |||
| Slovak | breh | ||
| The word "breh" in Slovak can also mean "bank" in the financial sense or "slope" of a hill. | |||
| Slovenian | obala | ||
| The word "obala" has a parallel meaning in Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian, but in Slovenian it also means "coast" | |||
| Ukrainian | берег | ||
| The word «берег» comes from the Proto-Slavic word *bergъ, meaning both «coast» and «hill». | |||
Shore in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | কূল | ||
| In Sanskrit, "কূল" also means "family" or "lineage". | |||
| Gujarati | કિનારા | ||
| The word "કિનારા" can also refer to a limit or edge, such as the edge of a pond or the boundary of a country. | |||
| Hindi | किनारा | ||
| The word 'किनारा' also means 'boundary', 'edge', and 'margin' in Hindi. | |||
| Kannada | ತೀರ | ||
| "ತೀರ" (shore) in Kannada is cognate with "तीर" (shore) in Hindi and "तट" (shore) in Sanskrit, all derived from the root "ti" meaning "to stretch". | |||
| Malayalam | തീരം | ||
| The word "തീരം" can mean "shore" in some contexts, or it can mean "the edge" in some contexts. | |||
| Marathi | किनारा | ||
| The word 'किनारा' can also mean 'edge' or 'border' in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | किनार | ||
| The Nepali word "किनार" can also mean "coast" or "bank". | |||
| Punjabi | ਕੰoreੇ | ||
| The word "ਕੰoreੇ" comes from the Sanskrit word "kanthā" meaning "throat", and also refers to the edge of a river or pond. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | වෙරළ | ||
| "වෙරළ" can also refer to the shallow water near the shore, or to the edge of a garment or other object. | |||
| Tamil | கரை | ||
| "கரை" means not only "shore", but also "edge", "coastline", "frontier", "boundary", and "end or limit" in Tamil. | |||
| Telugu | తీరం | ||
| Originating from the Prakrit word 'tīra,' 'తీరం' also refers to any boundary or edge. | |||
| Urdu | ساحل | ||
| The word 'ساحل' can also refer to a 'bank' of a river or to the edge of a cloth. | |||
Shore in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 支撑 | ||
| 支撑 (zhīchēng) also figuratively means 'support' or 'prop up'. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 支撐 | ||
| 支撐 in Traditional Chinese can also mean 'to hold up', e.g. 用牆壁來支撐屋頂。 | |||
| Japanese | 岸 | ||
| "岸" (shore) derives from Middle Chinese "gan", a term for high land and embankments near water. | |||
| Korean | 육지 | ||
| "육지" can also be used to refer to an individual's hometown, especially when addressing a person who may be or appear lost and disoriented. | |||
| Mongolian | эрэг | ||
| "Эрэг" also means "ridge" or "border" in Mongolian. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကမ်း | ||
| The word “ကမ်း” does not have alternate meanings, but can be pronounced with the first tone to mean “the other side of a river”. | |||
Shore in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | pantai | ||
| Pantai can also refer to a beach, but it is derived from the Sanskrit word "panta" meaning "border" or "edge". | |||
| Javanese | dharat | ||
| The word 'dharat' in Javanese also means 'dry land' or 'inland'. | |||
| Khmer | ច្រាំង | ||
| The Khmer word 'ច្រាំង' ('chram') also means steep slope or embankment, and is cognate with the Thai word 'ช ram' ('slope'). | |||
| Lao | ຝັ່ງ | ||
| The term "ຝັ່ງ" ("shore") derives from the Tai-Kadai word *pɔŋk, signifying "riparian land". In contemporary Lao, it also implies "border" and "edge". | |||
| Malay | pantai | ||
| The word "Pantai" also means "side" or "edge" in Malay, and is related to the Sanskrit word "pānta" meaning "border" or "extremity." | |||
| Thai | ฝั่ง | ||
| Thai word "ฝั่ง" ("shore") also means "side" and can be used to refer to "side of a river" or "political alliance" | |||
| Vietnamese | bờ biển | ||
| "Bờ biển" can also refer to the "coastline" or the "seaside". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | baybayin | ||
Shore in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | sahil | ||
| Sahil is also used to refer to the "edge" of something, such as a forest or a lake. | |||
| Kazakh | жағалау | ||
| "Жағалау" derives from the Turkic verb "жағалау" meaning "to walk along the edge of something" or "to stroll along the bank of a river, lake, or sea". | |||
| Kyrgyz | жээк | ||
| The word "жээк" in Kyrgyz also means "edge" or "rim", and is related to the words "жэк" (side) and "жээкен" (border). | |||
| Tajik | соҳил | ||
| The word "соҳил" in Tajik also means "coastline" or "seaside". | |||
| Turkmen | kenar | ||
| Uzbek | qirg'oq | ||
| Uzbek "qirg'oq" originally meant only "high, steep bank (of a river)", and only entered wider usage in the 20th century. | |||
| Uyghur | قىرغاق | ||
Shore in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kahakai | ||
| The Hawaiian word "kahakai" can also refer to the "edge of a forest" or, figuratively, to "the forefront of a battle". | |||
| Maori | takutai | ||
| "Takutai" can also mean "coastline" or "border" in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | matafaga | ||
| The Samoan word "matafaga" ("shore") derives from the Proto-Austronesian word *mata-paga* ("eye of the ocean"). | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | baybayin | ||
| The word "baybayin" is also the ancient Filipino writing system composed of 17 syllables. | |||
Shore in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | lamar quta thiya | ||
| Guarani | rembe'y | ||
Shore in International Languages
| Esperanto | bordo | ||
| Esperanto's "bordo" also refers to a type of embroidery. | |||
| Latin | litore | ||
| The word 'litore' is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ley- ('to go') and is related to the English word 'leap'. | |||
Shore in Others Languages
| Greek | ακτή | ||
| The Greek word "ακτή" can also refer to a "ray" or "sunbeam". | |||
| Hmong | ntug dej | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "shore," the Hmong word "ntug dej" can also refer to the edge or boundary of something, such as a forest or a village. | |||
| Kurdish | berav | ||
| "Berav" can also mean "refuge" in Kurdish, suggesting a connection between the physical protection offered by a shore and the emotional shelter provided by a place of safety. | |||
| Turkish | sahil | ||
| "Sahil" also means "coast" or "river bank" in Turkish | |||
| Xhosa | unxweme | ||
| "Unxweme" comes from the Proto-Bantu word "*nzombe" meaning "crocodile", suggesting the dangers of swimming in the water near the shore. | |||
| Yiddish | ברעג | ||
| The Yiddish word "ברעג" for "shore" also implies an edge or limit. | |||
| Zulu | ogwini | ||
| The Zulu word "ogwini" also means "edge" or "margin". | |||
| Assamese | দাঁতি | ||
| Aymara | lamar quta thiya | ||
| Bhojpuri | सागर के किनारा | ||
| Dhivehi | އައްސޭރިފަށް | ||
| Dogri | कंढा | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | baybayin | ||
| Guarani | rembe'y | ||
| Ilocano | igid ti baybay | ||
| Krio | land | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | کەنار | ||
| Maithili | समुन्दर किनारा | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯨꯔꯦꯜ ꯃꯄꯥꯜ | ||
| Mizo | kam | ||
| Oromo | qarqara galaanaa | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କୂଳ | ||
| Quechua | pata | ||
| Sanskrit | तट | ||
| Tatar | яр | ||
| Tigrinya | ገምገም-ባሕሪ | ||
| Tsonga | ribuwa | ||