Afrikaans skielik | ||
Albanian papritur | ||
Amharic ድንገት | ||
Arabic فجأة | ||
Armenian հանկարծակի | ||
Assamese আকস্মিক | ||
Aymara akatjamata | ||
Azerbaijani qəfil | ||
Bambara ka bali | ||
Basque bat-batekoa | ||
Belarusian раптоўна | ||
Bengali হঠাৎ | ||
Bhojpuri अचानक | ||
Bosnian iznenadna | ||
Bulgarian внезапно | ||
Catalan sobtat | ||
Cebuano kalit | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 突然的 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 突然的 | ||
Corsican subbitu | ||
Croatian iznenadna | ||
Czech náhlý | ||
Danish pludselig | ||
Dhivehi ކުއްލި | ||
Dogri चानक | ||
Dutch plotseling | ||
English sudden | ||
Esperanto subita | ||
Estonian ootamatu | ||
Ewe emumake | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) biglaan | ||
Finnish äkillinen | ||
French soudain | ||
Frisian hommels | ||
Galician de súpeto | ||
Georgian მოულოდნელად | ||
German plötzlich | ||
Greek αιφνίδιος | ||
Guarani ojehureíva | ||
Gujarati અચાનક | ||
Haitian Creole toudenkou | ||
Hausa kwatsam | ||
Hawaiian hikiwawe | ||
Hebrew פִּתְאוֹמִי | ||
Hindi अचानक | ||
Hmong dheev | ||
Hungarian hirtelen | ||
Icelandic skyndilega | ||
Igbo na mberede | ||
Ilocano nakellaat | ||
Indonesian tiba-tiba | ||
Irish tobann | ||
Italian improvvisa | ||
Japanese 突然 | ||
Javanese dumadakan | ||
Kannada ಹಠಾತ್ | ||
Kazakh кенеттен | ||
Khmer ភ្លាមៗ | ||
Kinyarwanda gitunguranye | ||
Konkani अचकीत | ||
Korean 갑자기 | ||
Krio wantɛm wantɛm | ||
Kurdish nişka | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) لەناکاو | ||
Kyrgyz күтүлбөгөн жерден | ||
Lao ທັນທີທັນໃດ | ||
Latin subita | ||
Latvian pēkšņi | ||
Lingala na mbalakaka | ||
Lithuanian staiga | ||
Luganda kibwatukira | ||
Luxembourgish op eemol | ||
Macedonian ненадејно | ||
Maithili एकाऐक | ||
Malagasy tampoka | ||
Malay secara tiba-tiba | ||
Malayalam പെട്ടെന്ന് | ||
Maltese f'daqqa | ||
Maori ohorere | ||
Marathi अचानक | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯈꯨꯗꯛꯇ | ||
Mizo thut | ||
Mongolian гэнэт | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရုတ်တရက် | ||
Nepali अचानक | ||
Norwegian plutselig | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) mwadzidzidzi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହଠାତ୍ | ||
Oromo osoo hin yaadamin | ||
Pashto ناڅاپي | ||
Persian ناگهانی | ||
Polish nagły | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) de repente | ||
Punjabi ਅਚਾਨਕ | ||
Quechua qunqaymanta | ||
Romanian brusc | ||
Russian внезапно | ||
Samoan faʻafuaseʻi | ||
Sanskrit आकस्मिक | ||
Scots Gaelic gu h-obann | ||
Sepedi ka bonako | ||
Serbian изненадан | ||
Sesotho ka tshohanyetso | ||
Shona pakarepo | ||
Sindhi اوچتو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) හදිසියේ | ||
Slovak náhly | ||
Slovenian nenadna | ||
Somali lama filaan ah | ||
Spanish repentino | ||
Sundanese ngadadak | ||
Swahili ghafla | ||
Swedish plötslig | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) biglang | ||
Tajik ногаҳон | ||
Tamil திடீர் | ||
Tatar кинәт | ||
Telugu ఆకస్మిక | ||
Thai กะทันหัน | ||
Tigrinya ኣጋጣሚ | ||
Tsonga xihatla | ||
Turkish ani | ||
Turkmen duýdansyz | ||
Twi (Akan) hyew | ||
Ukrainian раптовий | ||
Urdu اچانک | ||
Uyghur تۇيۇقسىز | ||
Uzbek to'satdan | ||
Vietnamese đột nhiên | ||
Welsh sydyn | ||
Xhosa ngesiquphe | ||
Yiddish פּלוצעמדיק | ||
Yoruba lojiji | ||
Zulu ngokuzumayo |
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The Afrikaans word "skielik" can also mean "abruptly", "without warning", or "unexpectedly". |
| Albanian | Papritur derives from Latin "prae" (before) + "ripere" (to arrive) |
| Amharic | The word "ድንገት" can also mean "unexpected occurrence" or "catastrophe" in Amharic. |
| Arabic | فجأة in Arabic is derived from فج (faja), meaning to split or burst open, implying an abrupt or unexpected occurrence. |
| Azerbaijani | 'Qəfil' also means 'unwittingly' or 'unexpectedly' in Azerbaijani. |
| Basque | Bat-batekoa is formed by the noun 'bat-batean' meaning 'in an instant' and the suffix '-koa', meaning 'relating to'. |
| Belarusian | "Раптоўна" comes from Proto-Slavic root "*raptъ" - "quick" (as in "surprise","seize") that is also a source for Russian and Polish cognates in addition to Belarusian. |
| Bengali | "হঠাৎ" has an alternate meaning: "by chance" |
| Bosnian | The word "iznenadna" in Bosnian is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *izьnъ "out, from", with the suffix -ьnъ added to form the adjective. |
| Bulgarian | The word "внезапно" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *vьnьzati, meaning "to go out" or "to emerge". |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "sobtat" has the same root as "sobresalt", meaning "fright". This suggests that something sudden can be startling or unexpected. |
| Cebuano | "Kalit" could also mean "secret". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The first character, "突," means "to pierce" and the second, "然," means "to happen" or "to appear", so the term means "happening suddenly". |
| Chinese (Traditional) | "突然" is also a Chinese idiom that means "without warning" or "out of the blue". |
| Corsican | The Corsican word 'subbitu' comes from the Latin word 'subitus', meaning 'arising unexpectedly'. |
| Croatian | "Iznenadna" is related to the word "iznenada", meaning "all of a sudden" and originates from the Slavic word *nadъ* meaning "over/upon/against." |
| Czech | "Náhlý" can also mean "impetuous" or "rash". |
| Danish | The word "pludselig" is derived from the Old Norse word "pludr", meaning "something that happens quickly". |
| Dutch | The word 'plotseling' also refers to a 'sudden change in direction' in a ship or aircraft. |
| Esperanto | The word "subita" is derived from the Latin word "subitus", meaning "sudden" or "unexpected". |
| Estonian | Ootamatu is related to the word ootama (to wait), and also means unexpected. |
| Finnish | In addition to its primary meaning of "sudden," "äkillinen" can also describe a steep slope or a sudden change in temperature. |
| French | The word "soudain" comes from the Latin word "subitaneus," which means "unexpected" or "abrupt. |
| Frisian | The Frisian word "hommels" has an alternative meaning of "violent or aggressive." |
| Galician | The Galician expression "de súpeto" derives from the Latin phrase "de subito", meaning "unexpectedly" or "suddenly". |
| German | The word "plötzlich" comes from the Middle High German word "plotzlich", which means "quickly". It is related to the English word "blithe", which means "cheerful". |
| Greek | In Ancient Greek, "αιφνίδιος" (αἰφνίδιος) also meant "unexpected" and "unforeseen." |
| Gujarati | The word "અચાનક" may also mean "unexpectedly" or "out of the blue". |
| Haitian Creole | The Haitian Creole word "toudenkou" also means "instantly" or "abruptly". |
| Hausa | The Hausa word "kwatsam" can also refer to a type of dance or a sudden movement. |
| Hawaiian | The term 'hikiwawe' comes from 'hiki,' meaning 'to snatch, pull, drag, or haul' and 'wawe,' meaning 'a wave of the sea,' but may also refer to 'thunder or lightning' when used in conjunction with the term 'lani' ('heaven, sky'). |
| Hebrew | "פִּתְאוֹמִי" is derived from the root "פת" which means "to open" or "to appear," suggesting something that occurs unexpectedly. |
| Hindi | The word 'अचानक' has its roots in the Sanskrit word 'a-canaka' which refers to an unexpected, unanticipated, or swift occurrence. |
| Hmong | In Hmong, "dheev" can also mean "quickly" or "in a hurry". |
| Hungarian | The word 'hirtelen' can also be used to describe something that is done without thinking, or something that happens unexpectedly. |
| Icelandic | "Skyndilega" is also used as an interjection meaning "hurry" or "look out". |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "na mberede" can also mean "unexpected" or "by chance". |
| Indonesian | "Tiba-tiba" also means "to arrive" or "to come" in Indonesian. |
| Irish | The Irish word "tobann" also means "a heap", "a crowd", "a swarm", or "a collection" |
| Italian | The word "improvvisa" can also mean "improvised" or "unrehearsed" in Italian. |
| Japanese | "突然" is a combination of characters meaning "rush" and "enter". |
| Javanese | "Dumadakan" in Javanese also means "all of a sudden, unexpectedly". |
| Kannada | The word "ಹಠಾತ್" (hataat) in Kannada, meaning "sudden," is derived from the Sanskrit word "hathāt," which also means "suddenly" or "impulsively." |
| Kazakh | The word "кенеттен" can also mean "unexpectedly" or "without warning". |
| Khmer | The Khmer word "ភ្លាមៗ" can also mean "immediately" or "without delay". |
| Korean | "갑자기" (sudden) literally means "suddenly". It is composed of two Chinese characters: "갑" (갑자년, the first year of the Chinese zodiac's 60-year cycle) and "자기" (itself). |
| Kurdish | The word “nişka” is derived from Old Iranian *nišk-, meaning “to go out, pass away, disappear”. |
| Latin | In Latin, "subita" can also mean "unexpected" or "unforeseen". |
| Latvian | The word "pēkšņi" likely originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*pekʷ-", meaning "to strike, pierce, or cleave". It shares cognates with words such as "peak" and "peck" in English, "picco" in Italian, and "πλήσσω" (plēssō) in Greek. |
| Lithuanian | Lithuanian "staiga" originally meant "instant" but was influenced by Russian "vdrug" and shifted towards sudden, unexpected event. |
| Luxembourgish | The word "op eemol" can also mean "in a hurry" or "abruptly" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word "ненадејно" can also mean "unexpectedly" or "out of the blue". |
| Malagasy | "Tampoka" also means "to stumble", referring to the way in which sudden events can cause us to lose our balance or footing. |
| Malay | In Malay, "secara tiba-tiba" not only means "sudden," but also "unexpectedly" or "abruptly." |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "f'daqqa" also means "at once" and it shares its root with the Arabic word "daqqa" meaning "minute, moment" as well as the word "daqīqa" meaning "precise." |
| Maori | The word "ohorere" also means "tremor" or "surprise" in Maori. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word 'अचानक' ('achanak') is derived from the Sanskrit word 'अक्षिण' ('akshina'), meaning 'without a break' or 'uninterrupted'. |
| Mongolian | The word "гэнэт" (sudden) in Mongolian can also mean "unexpected" or "out of the blue." |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word can be used in the context of something happening fast, like the snap of a finger, or something arising rapidly. |
| Nepali | The word "अचानक" in Nepali also means "unexpected". |
| Norwegian | The word "plutselig" is derived from the Old Norse word "plót" which means "something unexpected". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word 'mwadzidzidzi' is also used to describe something that is surprising or unexpected. |
| Pashto | ناڅاپي also means unanticipated and unforeseen in Pashto. |
| Persian | The word "ناگهانی" (nāgahānī) comes from the Persian word "ناگاه" (nāgāh), which means "unexpected" or "unawares". |
| Polish | The Polish word "nagły" also means "urgent" or "unexpected." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Portuguese word "de repente" can also mean "unexpectedly" |
| Punjabi | The word "ਅਚਾਨਕ" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अचानकः" (acānakah), which means "unforeseen" or "unexpected". |
| Romanian | Brusc, which means "sudden" in Romanian, also refers to a type of plum in Romanian. |
| Russian | The etymology of "внезапно" (sudden) comes from the verb "внести" (to bring in), meaning "something unexpected that was brought in". |
| Samoan | Faʻafuaseʻi is derived from the word "fuaseʻi," meaning "swift" or "hasty. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "gu h-obann" can also mean "unexpectedly" or "without warning" in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | The Serbo-Croatian word "iznenadan" also means "caught by surprise" or "unexpected". |
| Sesotho | The word "ka tshohanyetso" can also mean "abruptly" or "unexpectedly". |
| Shona | In Shona, the word "pakarepo" can also mean "quickly" or "without hesitation." |
| Sindhi | "اوچتو" is derived from the Persian word "اتفاق" (etfagh), meaning "occurrence" or "event." |
| Slovak | The word "náhly" is derived from the Old Slavic word "naglъ", meaning "unexpected". |
| Slovenian | Nenadna is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *nędъ, meaning 'lacking, deprived of' |
| Somali | The word "lama filaan ah" also means "unexpected" or "impetuous". |
| Spanish | "Repentino" in Spanish also means "unexpected" or "unforeseen". |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "ngadadak" can also refer to "unexpected" or "unanticipated" events. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word "ghafla" also implies unexpectedness, surprise, and a lack of preparedness. |
| Swedish | Plötslig means "suddenly" but can also mean "fast". |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Biglang" derives from the Proto-Austronesian word "*biliŋ" meaning "to coil or entwine," hinting at a sudden action or change. |
| Tajik | The word "ногаҳон" comes from the Persian word "ناگهان" (nāgahān), which means "all of a sudden" or "unexpectedly." |
| Tamil | Tamil word "திடீர்" also means "unexpectedly" and is related to the word "திட" meaning "steady". |
| Telugu | The word 'ఆకస్మిక' can also mean 'unexpected' or 'unforeseen'. |
| Thai | This word "กะทันหัน" (sudden) shares the root word with the word "ทัน" (to catch) and the word "หัน" (to turn), representing an action or event that happens unexpectedly, catching one off guard. |
| Turkish | The Turkish word "ani" has Indo-European origins and is also found in Sanskrit and Persian languages, referring to "instant" or "now." |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "раптовий" derives from an Old Slavonic word meaning "seize" and can also mean "unexpected" or "swift". |
| Urdu | The word "اچانک" is a compound of the words "آ" (meaning "to come") and "چانک" (meaning "instantly"), thus literally meaning "coming instantly". |
| Uzbek | The word "toʻsatdan" may also mean "immediately" or "quickly" in addition to its primary meaning of "sudden". |
| Vietnamese | The word "đột nhiên" can also mean "out of the ordinary" or "special" in Vietnamese. |
| Welsh | The word "sydyn" in Welsh derives from the Proto-Celtic root "*sodino-" meaning "violent" or "powerful." |
| Xhosa | The word "ngesiquphe" can also refer to an unexpected event or an urgent matter that requires immediate attention. |
| Yiddish | Yiddish 'פּלוצעמדיק' (ploetzlemedick) derives from the German 'plötzlich' and originally meant 'clumsy,' 'awkward,' or 'foolish.' |
| Yoruba | "Lojiji" may also mean "quickly" or "abruptly". |
| Zulu | The Zulu word 'ngokuzumayo' comes from the verb 'zuma', meaning 'to leap' or 'to spring', and the prefix 'ngoku', meaning 'now' or 'suddenly'. |
| English | The word "sudden" is derived from the Old English word "soden," which means "boiled" or "steeped." |