Stranger in Different Languages
Discover 'Stranger' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Stranger
Afrikaans vreemdeling | ||
Albanian i huaj | ||
Amharic እንግዳ | ||
Arabic شخص غريب | ||
Armenian անծանոթ | ||
Assamese অচিনাকি | ||
Aymara mayja | ||
Azerbaijani qərib | ||
Bambara dunan | ||
Basque arrotza | ||
Belarusian незнаёмы | ||
Bengali অপরিচিত | ||
Bhojpuri अजनबी | ||
Bosnian stranac | ||
Bulgarian непознат | ||
Catalan desconegut | ||
Cebuano langyaw | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 陌生人 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 陌生人 | ||
Corsican stranieru | ||
Croatian stranac | ||
Czech cizinec | ||
Danish fremmed | ||
Dhivehi ނުދަންނަ މީހެއް | ||
Dogri पराया | ||
Dutch vreemdeling | ||
English stranger | ||
Esperanto fremdulo | ||
Estonian võõras | ||
Ewe amedzro | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) estranghero | ||
Finnish muukalainen | ||
French étranger | ||
Frisian frjemd | ||
Galician estraño | ||
Georgian უცხო ადამიანი | ||
German fremder | ||
Greek ξένος | ||
Guarani hekomarãva | ||
Gujarati અજાણી વ્યક્તિ | ||
Haitian Creole etranje | ||
Hausa baƙo | ||
Hawaiian malihini | ||
Hebrew זָר | ||
Hindi अजनबी | ||
Hmong neeg txawv | ||
Hungarian idegen | ||
Icelandic ókunnugur | ||
Igbo onye obia | ||
Ilocano gannaet | ||
Indonesian orang asing | ||
Irish strainséir | ||
Italian sconosciuto | ||
Japanese ストレンジャー | ||
Javanese wong liyo | ||
Kannada ಅಪರಿಚಿತ | ||
Kazakh бейтаныс | ||
Khmer ជនចម្លែក | ||
Kinyarwanda umunyamahanga | ||
Konkani परकी | ||
Korean 낯선 사람 | ||
Krio strenja | ||
Kurdish xerîb | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) بێگانە | ||
Kyrgyz чоочун | ||
Lao ຄົນແປກຫນ້າ | ||
Latin sive peregrinus | ||
Latvian svešinieks | ||
Lingala mopaya | ||
Lithuanian svetimas | ||
Luganda mugenyi | ||
Luxembourgish friem | ||
Macedonian странец | ||
Maithili अपरिचित | ||
Malagasy vahiny | ||
Malay orang asing | ||
Malayalam അപരിചിതൻ | ||
Maltese barrani | ||
Maori tangata tauhou | ||
Marathi अनोळखी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯃꯤꯇꯣꯞ | ||
Mizo hmelhriatloh | ||
Mongolian үл таних хүн | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) လူစိမ်း | ||
Nepali अपरिचित | ||
Norwegian fremmed | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mlendo | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଅପରିଚିତ | ||
Oromo orma | ||
Pashto اجنبی | ||
Persian غریبه | ||
Polish nieznajomy | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) desconhecido | ||
Punjabi ਅਜਨਬੀ | ||
Quechua mana riqsisqa | ||
Romanian străin | ||
Russian незнакомец | ||
Samoan tagata ese | ||
Sanskrit वैदेशिक | ||
Scots Gaelic coigreach | ||
Sepedi moeng | ||
Serbian странац | ||
Sesotho osele | ||
Shona mutorwa | ||
Sindhi اجنبي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ආගන්තුකය | ||
Slovak cudzinec | ||
Slovenian neznanec | ||
Somali shisheeye | ||
Spanish desconocido | ||
Sundanese muhrim | ||
Swahili mgeni | ||
Swedish främling | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) estranghero | ||
Tajik бегона | ||
Tamil அந்நியன் | ||
Tatar чит кеше | ||
Telugu అపరిచితుడు | ||
Thai คนแปลกหน้า | ||
Tigrinya ጋሻ | ||
Tsonga tiviweki | ||
Turkish yabancı | ||
Turkmen nätanyş | ||
Twi (Akan) ɔhɔhoɔ | ||
Ukrainian незнайомець | ||
Urdu اجنبی | ||
Uyghur ناتونۇش | ||
Uzbek begona | ||
Vietnamese người lạ | ||
Welsh dieithryn | ||
Xhosa umntu wasemzini | ||
Yiddish פרעמדער | ||
Yoruba alejò | ||
Zulu umfokazi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word 'vreemdeling' in Afrikaans, meaning 'stranger', is derived from the Dutch word 'vreemdeling', which also means 'stranger' or 'foreigner'. |
| Albanian | The word "i huaj" (stranger) in Albanian is thought to derive from the Proto-Albanian root "*swedhjōs," which also meant "foreigner" or "enemy." |
| Amharic | "እንግዳ" (ängəda) comes from Proto-Semitic *ʾinkid- "one who belongs" and is cognate with other Semitic words for "stranger" such as Arabic "غريب (gharīb)" |
| Arabic | The Arabic word "شخص غريب" literally means "an unknown face" and can refer to a stranger, alien, or foreigner. |
| Armenian | In medieval Armenian, "անծանոթ" referred to an anonymous donor, which later evolved to mean "stranger". |
| Azerbaijani | In Azerbaijani, the word "qərib" also refers to a recently deceased person's family or relatives. |
| Basque | The word 'arrotza' in Basque is also used to refer to a type of rice dish, reflecting the influence of rice cultivation in the Basque Country. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "незнаёмы" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *znati, meaning "to know" or "to be familiar with," and thus literally means "not known" or "not familiar." |
| Bengali | The word "অপরিচিত" (stranger) in Bengali has its roots in Sanskrit, where "apari" means "away" and "chita" means "known". |
| Bosnian | In Bosnian, "stranac" also means "foreigner" and can refer to someone who is not from the speaker's country. |
| Bulgarian | The word "непознат" is derived from the Slavic root "znati", meaning "to know", thus its original meaning is "unknown" or "unfamiliar". |
| Catalan | In Catalan, the word "desconegut" also means "unknown", "not known", or "without knowledge of." |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 陌生人's original meaning was 'unfamiliar person', but it later extended to 'one who is not a relative or friend' |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "陌生人"源自於"生（陌生）", 意指不熟悉的人。」 |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "stranieru" is derived from the Italian word "straniero" which means "foreigner". |
| Croatian | The Croatian word 'stranac' derives from the Slavic root 'stra-', meaning 'side,' and can also refer to 'foreigner' or 'guest'. |
| Czech | The word "cizinec" also refers to a foreigner or an alien. |
| Danish | "Fremmed" in Danish initially meant "not domestic", from "frem" (outward) and "hjemme" (home), thus simply referring to someone from abroad, not specifically from another country. |
| Dutch | In Old Dutch the word "vreemd" meant "evil" or "wrong", so "vreemdeling" literally translates to "wrong-doer". |
| Esperanto | “Fremdulo” literally means “strange guest,” thus combining two synonyms for “stranger” and creating the idea of a stranger as a guest. |
| Estonian | The word "võõras" can also mean "foreign" or "alien", and is related to the Finnish word "vieras" with the same meanings. |
| Finnish | Muukalainen may refer to an alien, a foreigner, or a non-human being in Finnish |
| French | The French word "étranger" derives from the Latin word "extraneus" meaning "external" or "foreign". |
| Frisian | The word "frjemd" in Frisian originates from the Old English word "fremed" and can also mean "hostile". |
| Galician | The Galician word "estraño" also means "foreign" and "odd or unusual". |
| Georgian | The word "stranger" in Georgian comes from the Persian word **sukhtan** (to burn), so literally translates as "the one who has been burnt by the sun," i.e. a foreigner. |
| German | The word "Fremder" in German can also refer to a foreign exchange student or a traveler, highlighting the nuance that a stranger may become familiar over time. |
| Greek | The word "ξένος" can also mean "guest" or "friend" in Greek, indicating that a stranger is not necessarily an enemy. |
| Gujarati | In its broader sense, “અજાણી વ્યક્તિ” can also refer to an “unfamiliar” or “unknown” person, place, or thing, not just a stranger |
| Haitian Creole | The word "etranje" is a Haitian Creole term derived from the French word "étranger," with the same meaning of "stranger" or "foreigner." |
| Hausa | The word "baƙo" in Hausa can also refer to a guest or a visitor. |
| Hawaiian | Malihini also means "visitor" and was the term used to refer to foreigners after Captain Cook's arrival in the 18th century. |
| Hebrew | The word 'זָר' ('zar') in Hebrew, meaning 'stranger', also has connotations of being distant, unfamiliar, or foreign. |
| Hindi | "अजनबी" originates from Persian "ajnabee," meaning "foreigner" or "outsider." In certain Indian dialects, it can also denote a guest or someone unfamiliar in a social context. |
| Hmong | Neeg txawv can also refer to someone a Hmong person has never seen, but is related to through marriage |
| Hungarian | "Idegen" also means "alien" in Hungarian, as in "an alien from outer space". |
| Icelandic | 'Ókunnugur' also means 'unknown' and is related to the word 'kunnátta' which means 'knowledge'. |
| Igbo | Onye obia, the word for "stranger" in Igbo, is also used to describe the "spirit double" of a child. |
| Indonesian | The Indonesian word 'orang asing' can also refer to foreigners or non-Indonesian citizens. |
| Irish | The word "strainséir" also means "senior" or "elder", and is used as a term of respect for older people. |
| Italian | The word "sconosciuto" in Italian is derived from the Latin word "cognoscere," meaning "to know," with the prefix "s-" negating the meaning; thus, "sconosciuto" means "unknown" |
| Japanese | The Japanese word "ストレンジャー" can also refer to a "stranger in a foreign land" or an "alien" in science fiction. |
| Javanese | The term "wong liyo" can also refer to outsiders or foreigners, emphasizing their distinctiveness and difference from the local community. |
| Kannada | The word 'ಅಪರಿಚಿತ' also means 'unknown' or 'unfamiliar' in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | The word "бейтаныс" (stranger) in Kazakh is derived from the Persian word "beyganeh" meaning "foreign" or "unknown." |
| Khmer | While "ជនចម្លែក" primarily refers to "strangers" in Khmer, it also carries connotations of "guests" or "foreigners" in specific contexts. |
| Korean | "낯선 사람" derives from the adjective "낯설다," meaning "unfamiliar" or "strange." |
| Kurdish | In the Sorani dialect of Kurdish, "xerîb" also refers to a non-Kurdish person, or a foreigner. |
| Kyrgyz | The word "чоочун" in Kyrgyz also means "guest" and "alien". |
| Latin | The phrase "sive peregrinus" can be translated from Latin to English as either "or stranger" or as "either alien". |
| Latvian | The term “svešinieks” in Latvian also means “alien” in the sense of an extraterrestrial being. |
| Lithuanian | "Svetimas" is cognate with the Latvian "svešs" and the Slavic word "svůj" meaning "one's own" |
| Luxembourgish | "Friem" is possibly derived from Old High German "firiha" or Old Saxon "frewi," both of which indicate a friend or acquaintance rather than a stranger. |
| Macedonian | The word "странец" in Macedonian can also refer to a foreigner or an alien. |
| Malagasy | The etymology of the word "vahiny" is not fully understood, but it may be derived from the Malayo-Polynesian root word "pahi", meaning "guest" or "visitor." |
| Malay | In Indonesian and Malay, "orang asing" literally translates to "different person". |
| Malayalam | The word 'അപരിചിതൻ' (aparijithan) in Malayalam literally means 'not familiar' or 'unknown'. |
| Maltese | Despite coming from Arabic "al-barrani", "barrani" in Maltese is a more specific term for a foreigner not originating from a Muslim country. |
| Maori | The Maori word "tangata tauhou" originally meant "new person" or "new arrival", but now refers to "stranger" or "foreigner". |
| Marathi | The word 'अनोळखी' in Marathi can also refer to a foreign or unknown person or thing, or to a feeling of alienation or unfamiliarity. |
| Mongolian | "Yul tanikh khun" also means "a spirit that one does not know" or "a person that one does not know" in Mongolian |
| Nepali | The word "अपरिचित" (stranger) in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "अपरिचित" (unfamiliar), which is composed of the prefix "अ" (not) and the root "परिचित" (familiar). |
| Norwegian | Fremmed originates from Old Norse and can also mean 'strange' or 'alien'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Mlendo" is also used to refer to an enemy or someone from a different tribe. |
| Pashto | This word is derived from the Arabic word "أجنبي" (ajnabī), meaning "foreigner" or "outsider." |
| Persian | The Persian word "gharibeh," meaning "stranger," can also refer to "a foreign or unusual thing" and "a kind of pastry." |
| Polish | The word 'nieznajomy' in Polish is derived from the Slavic root 'nezna', meaning 'unknown'. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Portuguese word "desconhecido" shares its etymology with the verb "conhecer" (to know), implying an absence of knowledge or familiarity. |
| Punjabi | In addition to meaning "stranger," the word "ਅਜਨਬੀ" also refers to someone who is unfamiliar or unusual in appearance or behavior. |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "străin" ultimately comes from the Latin word "extraneus", meaning "foreign" or "from outside". |
| Russian | "Незнакомец" is derived from the Proto-Slavic *nezna- "not knowing" + *komъ "someone": thus "he who is not known". |
| Samoan | In Samoan, "tagata ese" can also refer to a non-Samoan person or an outsider, while "ese" alone means "foreigner" or "outsider". |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, the word "coigreach" originally meant "foreigner" or "outsider". |
| Serbian | "Странац" also means "foreigner" and "guest" in Serbian. |
| Sesotho | Osele's literal meaning is "the one who's from over there; a foreigner." |
| Shona | Mutorwa, meaning 'stranger', likely derives from the verb 'kutora' (to take), alluding to the idea of taking or bringing something foreign. |
| Sindhi | The word "اجنبي" originally meant "someone from elsewhere" or "guest" before evolving to mean "stranger". |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | ආගන්තුකය may also refer to someone from the same community, but has been separated for a long time, such as an old friend. |
| Slovak | The word 'cudzinec' derives from the Proto-Slavic word for 'alien', while it also colloquially means 'foreigner' or 'guest'. |
| Slovenian | The word "neznanec" comes from "neznati", meaning "not knowing" or "unknown"", and is related to "znati", meaning "to know". |
| Somali | The term "shisheeye" is also used to refer to a foreigner or an unidentified person. |
| Spanish | Desconocido, meaning 'unknown' in Spanish, also suggests 'lack of recognition' or 'not known'. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "muhrim" also signifies someone not related by blood or marriage (non-mahram), hence a potential or actual spouse. |
| Swahili | "Mgeni" also means "guest" in Swahili |
| Swedish | The etymology of "främling" is "foreigner" or "outlander". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The Tagalog word "estranghero" derives from the Old Spanish word "estranjero", which means "foreigner" or "alien". |
| Tajik | The Tajik word "бегона" (stranger) also refers to a type of flower in English. |
| Tamil | Derived from Sanskrit, the term ‘அந்நியன்’ is also used to refer to ‘one who is not intimate’ or an ‘enemy’. |
| Telugu | The Sanskrit root word 'परि' ('pari', meaning 'around' or 'near'), yields both 'परिचत' ('parichata', meaning 'familiar') and 'अप-परि-चित' ('aparichata', meaning 'unfamiliar'), from which 'అపరిచితుడు' ('aparichatudu') is derived. |
| Thai | The Thai word "คนแปลกหน้า" ("stranger") also has the alternate meaning of "outsider". |
| Turkish | The word "yabancı" in Turkish, derived from "yaban", meaning "wild" or "foreign," also carries the connotation of "alien" or "outsider." |
| Ukrainian | The word "незнайомець" ultimately derives from the Proto-Slavic word "neznati", meaning "not to know". |
| Urdu | The word "اجنبی" (ajnabi) in Urdu can also refer to someone who is unfamiliar or unknown, or someone who is not a native of a particular place. |
| Uzbek | Uzbek "begona" from Persian "bi-gāna" meaning "stranger" or "not known". |
| Vietnamese | The word "người lạ" (stranger) in Vietnamese also has the connotation of someone who is "different" or "unfamiliar." |
| Welsh | The term 'dieithryn', meaning 'stranger', is derived from 'dyeithrio' (to come from outside) |
| Xhosa | The term "umntu wasemzini" can also refer to a foreigner or someone who is not from the same area as the speaker. |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "פרעמדער" (fremdər) is ultimately derived from the Old German word "fremidi," meaning "foreign" or "strange." |
| Yoruba | The word "àlejò" is related to the verb "àlejò", meaning "to avoid" or "to flee", suggesting that strangers were seen as people to be wary of. |
| Zulu | The Zulu word "umfokazi" can also refer to a newcomer or a visitor. |
| English | The word 'stranger' originally meant 'foreigner' or 'outsider' and has evolved to include a wider range of meanings. |