Skin in Different Languages
Discover 'Skin' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Skin
Afrikaans vel | ||
Albanian lëkurës | ||
Amharic ቆዳ | ||
Arabic بشرة | ||
Armenian մաշկ | ||
Assamese ছাল | ||
Aymara janchi | ||
Azerbaijani dəri | ||
Bambara golo | ||
Basque larruazala | ||
Belarusian скуры | ||
Bengali ত্বক | ||
Bhojpuri चमड़ी | ||
Bosnian kože | ||
Bulgarian кожата | ||
Catalan pell | ||
Cebuano panit | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 皮肤 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 皮膚 | ||
Corsican pelle | ||
Croatian koža | ||
Czech kůže | ||
Danish hud | ||
Dhivehi ހަންގަނޑު | ||
Dogri चमड़ी | ||
Dutch huid | ||
English skin | ||
Esperanto haŭto | ||
Estonian nahk | ||
Ewe ŋutigbalẽ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) balat | ||
Finnish iho | ||
French peau | ||
Frisian fel | ||
Galician pel | ||
Georgian კანი | ||
German haut | ||
Greek δέρμα | ||
Guarani pire | ||
Gujarati ત્વચા | ||
Haitian Creole po | ||
Hausa fata | ||
Hawaiian ʻili | ||
Hebrew עור | ||
Hindi त्वचा | ||
Hmong tawv nqaij | ||
Hungarian bőr | ||
Icelandic húð | ||
Igbo anụahụ | ||
Ilocano kudil | ||
Indonesian kulit | ||
Irish craiceann | ||
Italian pelle | ||
Japanese 肌 | ||
Javanese kulit | ||
Kannada ಚರ್ಮ | ||
Kazakh тері | ||
Khmer ស្បែក | ||
Kinyarwanda uruhu | ||
Konkani कात | ||
Korean 피부 | ||
Krio kanda | ||
Kurdish çerm | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) پێست | ||
Kyrgyz тери | ||
Lao ຜິວຫນັງ | ||
Latin pellis | ||
Latvian āda | ||
Lingala mposo | ||
Lithuanian oda | ||
Luganda omubiri | ||
Luxembourgish haut | ||
Macedonian кожата | ||
Maithili चमड़ी | ||
Malagasy hoditra | ||
Malay kulit | ||
Malayalam തൊലി | ||
Maltese ġilda | ||
Maori kiri | ||
Marathi त्वचा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯎꯅꯁꯥ | ||
Mizo vun | ||
Mongolian арьс | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အရေပြား | ||
Nepali छाला | ||
Norwegian hud | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) khungu | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଚର୍ମ | ||
Oromo gogaa | ||
Pashto پوټکی | ||
Persian پوست | ||
Polish skóra | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) pele | ||
Punjabi ਚਮੜੀ | ||
Quechua qara | ||
Romanian piele | ||
Russian кожа | ||
Samoan paʻu | ||
Sanskrit चर्म | ||
Scots Gaelic craiceann | ||
Sepedi letlalo | ||
Serbian коже | ||
Sesotho letlalo | ||
Shona ganda | ||
Sindhi چمڙي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) සම | ||
Slovak koža | ||
Slovenian kožo | ||
Somali maqaarka | ||
Spanish piel | ||
Sundanese kulit | ||
Swahili ngozi | ||
Swedish hud | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) balat | ||
Tajik пӯст | ||
Tamil தோல் | ||
Tatar тире | ||
Telugu చర్మం | ||
Thai ผิวหนัง | ||
Tigrinya ቆርበት | ||
Tsonga nhlonghe | ||
Turkish cilt | ||
Turkmen deri | ||
Twi (Akan) wedeɛ | ||
Ukrainian шкіри | ||
Urdu جلد | ||
Uyghur تېرە | ||
Uzbek teri | ||
Vietnamese da | ||
Welsh croen | ||
Xhosa ulusu | ||
Yiddish הויט | ||
Yoruba awọ | ||
Zulu isikhumba |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "vel" can also refer to a pelt or hide, or, figuratively, to someone's appearance or character. |
| Albanian | "Lëkurë" also refers to "human nature" (good or evil) or to the surface of something; i.e. land, water, an apple. |
| Amharic | The word "ቆዳ" also refers to "the hide or skin of an animal". |
| Arabic | The Arabic word بشرة (biṣarah) not only means 'skin' but can also be used to mean 'complexion' or 'appearance'. |
| Armenian | Մաշկ (mashk) comes from the ancient IE root *mek- meaning "to hide". The word can also refer to a type of wineskin made from leather. |
| Azerbaijani | "Dəri" also means "leather" or "hide" in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | In some Gipuzkoan and Navarrese dialects, |
| Belarusian | The word "скуры" also refers to the membraneous lining of the lungs. |
| Bengali | "ত্বক" also refers to the bark of a tree and leather from an animal's hide. |
| Bosnian | Koža, meaning skin in Bosnian, also refers to leather or a hide in other Slavic languages such as Croatian. |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "кожата" not only means "skin", but is also a term for the "membrane" that separates the pulp from the seeds in citrus fruit. |
| Catalan | The word "pell" in Catalan originates from the Latin "pellis" and also means "sheet" or "sheet of paper." |
| Cebuano | Panit as a Cebuano word also means "shield" in some contexts. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The character "肤" in "皮肤" also means "surface". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 皮膚 is a combination of two characters: 皮 (pí), meaning 'hide' or 'leather', and 膚 (fū), meaning 'flesh' or 'complexion' |
| Corsican | In Corsican, “pelle” also means leather or parchment. |
| Croatian | "Koža" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*koža", which also means "bark". |
| Czech | The word "kůže" also means "leather" in Czech. |
| Danish | The Danish word “hud” can also refer to an animal pelt or a membrane in the body. |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "huid" originates from the Proto-Germanic word "*hud-az", which also means "covering" or "envelope". |
| Esperanto | The word "haŭto" comes from the Latin word "cutis", meaning "hide, skin". |
| Estonian | The word "nahk" is also used in Estonian to refer to the cover of a book or other object. |
| Finnish | Finnish word "iho" is a cognate of Proto-Indo-European "*kayt-o-s" that also meant "to hide". |
| French | In addition to its primary meaning of 'skin,' 'peau' can also refer to a thin, flexible material used for covering or wrapping, such as in 'peau de chagrin' (shagreen) or 'peau d'orange' (orange peel texture). |
| Frisian | Frisian "fel" likely comes from Proto-Germanic "*felljaz", also the origin of English "fell" |
| Galician | Galician "pel" comes from Latin "pellis" and can also refer to animal fur, wool, hair, or fabric made of wool. |
| Georgian | The Georgian word "კანი" can also mean a "shield" or a "cover". |
| German | "Haut" is used for "skin" but also for "main part of a musical instrument" or "membrane" |
| Greek | The word 'δέρμα' in Greek can also mean 'hide', 'leather', or 'parchment'. |
| Gujarati | The word "ત્વચા" (skin) in Gujarati originates from Sanskrit and is also related to the Hindi word "त्वचा" (skin). |
| Haitian Creole | In Haitian Creole, 'po' can also refer to the surface of something, such as a table or a body of water. |
| Hausa | The Hausa word 'fata' not only refers to one's skin, but also carries the metaphorical connotation of 'beauty'. |
| Hawaiian | ʻIli, in addition to its primary meaning of 'skin,' also refers to a layer or covering, such as the bark of a tree. |
| Hebrew | The term may originate in the Semitic concept of a boundary or protection against elements. |
| Hindi | The word "त्वचा" (skin) in Hindi is derived from the Sanskrit word "त्वक्" (bark), indicating its protective nature. |
| Hmong | In Hmong, 'tawv nqaij' translates literally as 'the skin of meat', and the compound word can refer to animal hide, human skin, or a plant's outer layer. |
| Hungarian | The Hungarian word "bőr" (skin) also refers to the outer layer of a tree or plant, as well as to a layer of liquid or gas on a surface. |
| Icelandic | The word "húð" in Icelandic can also refer to the layer of fat beneath the skin. |
| Igbo | In the context of traditional Igbo masks, "anuahu" refers to the "cloth" covering the face. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word 'kulit' derives from proto-Austronesian and also means 'bark' or 'rind'. |
| Irish | The word craiceann can also mean 'membrane' or 'cuticle'. |
| Italian | The word "pelle" comes from the Latin word "pellis", meaning "animal hide". |
| Japanese | The character "肌" also appears in the word "肌理", which means "skin texture" or "complexion". |
| Javanese | In Javanese, the word "kulit" can also refer to the surface or outer layer of something, such as the skin of a fruit or the cover of a book. |
| Kannada | "ಚರ್ಮ" word means "elephant hide" in some rural parts of Karnataka." |
| Kazakh | The word "тері" in Kazakh has an alternate meaning of "face" or "appearance." |
| Khmer | The word "ស្បែក" can also refer to the "rind" of a fruit or vegetable. |
| Korean | In Korean, the word 피부 (pronounced |
| Kurdish | The Kurdish word "çerm" has cognates in many Iranian languages, such as Persian "charm" and Sogdian "chrm." |
| Kyrgyz | In Kyrgyz, the word "тери" also refers to the surface of an object or a wound. |
| Latin | Although "pellis" means "skin" in Latin, it also refers to any animal skin, fur, or hide. |
| Latvian | "Āda" is a homonym, meaning both "skin" and "leather". |
| Lithuanian | "Oda" is also Lithuanian for "louse" (singular) or "lice" (plural), and the word's original meaning was "the skin of a louse". |
| Luxembourgish | In Luxembourgish, "Haut" can also refer to the surface of a liquid or object, or a membrane covering a body part. |
| Macedonian | The word 'кожата' ('skin') derives from the Proto-Slavic word 'skora', meaning 'hide' or 'fur'. |
| Malagasy | The word 'hoditra' can also refer to a 'cover' or 'enclosure,' like the skin that covers an animal's body. |
| Malay | Kulit's etymology comes from Austronesian "kulit" with the main meaning "outer layer". |
| Malayalam | The word "തൊലി" also means "page" in Malayalam, a meaning derived from the use of tree bark as a writing surface in ancient times. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "ġilda" also has the meaning of "cover" or "wrapper". |
| Maori | The Maori word "kiri" also refers to the surface of water, a membrane, or a boundary. |
| Marathi | The word 'त्वचा' can also mean 'bark' or 'rind' of a fruit or vegetable. |
| Mongolian | The word "арьс" in Mongolian can also refer to a layer of something, such as the layer of ice on a lake. |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word "အရေပြား" (skin) in Myanmar (Burmese) has the same root as the word "ရေ" (water), possibly due to the skin's role in protecting the body from dehydration. |
| Nepali | In addition to "skin," "छाला" can also mean "peel" or "rind" in Nepali. |
| Norwegian | Hud in Norwegian also refers to the body, complexion and face. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'khungu' in Nyanja has the alternate meanings of 'peel' and 'bark'. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "پوټکی" can also refer to the outer layer of a fruit, a piece of leather, or a type of bag or container. |
| Persian | In Persian, the word "پوست" ("post") can also refer to the outer layer of a fruit or vegetable. |
| Polish | The word "skóra" also means "hide" in Polish. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Pele" comes from the Latin "pellis", and also means "fur" and "hide". |
| Punjabi | The word "ਚਮੜੀ" (skin) in Punjabi is derived from the Sanskrit word "चर्म" (carma), which also means "hide" or "leather". |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "piele" comes from the Latin "pellis," and has the alternate meaning of "coat" or "fabric." |
| Russian | The Russian word "ко́жа" means not just "skin", but also "leather" and "bark" of a tree. |
| Samoan | In Samoan, the word "paʻu" can also refer to the membrane that covers the internal organs. |
| Scots Gaelic | The term "craiceann" in Scots Gaelic also refers to a "covering" or "skin" in non-literal contexts, such as "the skin of the earth" (i.e., the planet's surface) or the "skin of the sky" (i.e., the atmosphere). |
| Serbian | The Serbian word "коже" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *korja, which also means "crust" or "bark". |
| Sesotho | In Sesotho, the word "letlalo" can also refer to the outer covering or shell of certain objects, such as eggs or nuts. |
| Shona | In Shona, "ganda" can also refer to the surface of a liquid, such as water or milk. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "چمڙي" can also refer to a tanned or processed hide. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhala word "සම" means not only "skin" but also "equal", "uniform", and "similar". |
| Slovak | The word "koža" in Slovak is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*kozja", which is related to the Sanskrit word "कुज्जति" ("kujjati"), meaning "to sting" or "to itch." |
| Slovenian | In the Prekmurje dialect, "koža" also refers to a "vineyard". |
| Somali | The word 'maqaarka' in Somali is derived from the Proto-Cushitic word *maqaar, which means 'skin, hide' |
| Spanish | The word "piel" in Spanish is derived from the Latin word "pellis", meaning "skin, hide, or hide of an animal". |
| Sundanese | In Sundanese, "kulit" can also refer to "character" or "personality". |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "ngozi" also means "beauty" or "charm" and can be used as a compliment. |
| Swedish | In Swedish, "hud" can also refer to the skin of a drum or the surface of a painting. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | Balát can also mean 'leather' or 'hide' if used to refer to animal skin that has been processed. |
| Tajik | Пӯст is borrowed from Middle Persian پوست and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European “*peu-” (“fur, hide”). |
| Tamil | "தோல்" is derived from the proto-Dravidian root *tōl- "hide, skin," also found in Telugu "tollu." It also has a figurative meaning of "defeat, loss." |
| Telugu | In ancient times, చర్మం referred to animal hide used as clothing. |
| Thai | ผิวหนัง in Thai can also refer to the "outer cover" of various things, not just the skin of a living organism. |
| Turkish | The word cilt can also mean 'binding' or 'volume' in Turkish, referring to the skin-like cover of a book. |
| Ukrainian | In Ukrainian, "шкіри" can also refer to animal hides or furs. |
| Urdu | The word "جلد" (skin) in Urdu is derived from the Arabic word "جلد" meaning "to cover" or "to protect". |
| Uzbek | "Teri" also means "leaf" in Uzbek. |
| Vietnamese | "Da" can also mean "country" or "area" in Vietnamese, showcasing the metaphorical extension of skin as a boundary or covering. |
| Welsh | The word 'croen' in Welsh is probably derived from the Proto-Celtic *krow- ('skin'), possibly related to 'crwth' ('fiddle'), from the sound the instrument makes when played. |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, the word "ulusu" has a dual meaning, referring to both "skin" and "people". |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, the word "הויט" also has the meaning of "hideout" or "den". |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word “àwọ” for “skin” can also refer to color, race, or the human body. |
| Zulu | The word "isikhumba" can also refer to a leather object, such as a bag or garment. |
| English | The word 'skin' is derived from the Old English word 'scinu,' which means 'hide' or 'covering'. |