Swear in Different Languages
Discover 'Swear' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Swear
Afrikaans vloek | ||
Albanian betohem | ||
Amharic እምለው | ||
Arabic أقسم | ||
Armenian երդվել | ||
Assamese শপত | ||
Aymara phuqhaw saña | ||
Azerbaijani and içmək | ||
Bambara ka kalen | ||
Basque zin egin | ||
Belarusian лаяцца | ||
Bengali কসম | ||
Bhojpuri कसम खाईल | ||
Bosnian kunem se | ||
Bulgarian закълни се | ||
Catalan jurar | ||
Cebuano manumpa | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 发誓 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 發誓 | ||
Corsican ghjurà | ||
Croatian zakleti se | ||
Czech přísahat | ||
Danish sværge | ||
Dhivehi ހުވާކުރުން | ||
Dogri सगंध खाना | ||
Dutch zweer | ||
English swear | ||
Esperanto ĵuri | ||
Estonian vanduma | ||
Ewe ka atam | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) magmura | ||
Finnish vannoa | ||
French jurer | ||
Frisian swarre | ||
Galician xurar | ||
Georgian გეფიცები | ||
German schwören | ||
Greek ορκίζομαι | ||
Guarani ñe'ẽme'ẽpy | ||
Gujarati શપથ લેવો | ||
Haitian Creole fè sèman | ||
Hausa rantsuwa | ||
Hawaiian hoʻohiki | ||
Hebrew לְקַלֵל | ||
Hindi कसम खाता | ||
Hmong hais lus dev | ||
Hungarian esküszik | ||
Icelandic sverja | ||
Igbo ụọ iyi | ||
Ilocano agkari | ||
Indonesian bersumpah | ||
Irish mionn | ||
Italian giurare | ||
Japanese 誓う | ||
Javanese sumpah | ||
Kannada ಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞೆ ಮಾಡಿ | ||
Kazakh ант беру | ||
Khmer ស្បថ | ||
Kinyarwanda kurahira | ||
Konkani सोपूत | ||
Korean 저주 | ||
Krio swɛ | ||
Kurdish nifirkirin | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) سوێند خواردن | ||
Kyrgyz ант | ||
Lao ສາບານ | ||
Latin testor | ||
Latvian zvēru | ||
Lingala kolapa ndai | ||
Lithuanian prisiekti | ||
Luganda okulayira | ||
Luxembourgish schwieren | ||
Macedonian се колнам | ||
Maithili कसम | ||
Malagasy mianiana | ||
Malay bersumpah | ||
Malayalam സത്യം ചെയ്യുക | ||
Maltese naħlef | ||
Maori oati | ||
Marathi शपथ | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯋꯥꯁꯛ ꯁꯛꯄ | ||
Mizo chhechham | ||
Mongolian тангарагла | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ကျိန်ဆို | ||
Nepali कसम | ||
Norwegian sverge | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) lumbira | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଶପଥ କର | ||
Oromo kakachuu | ||
Pashto قسم کول | ||
Persian سوگند | ||
Polish przysięgać | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) xingar | ||
Punjabi ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾਓ | ||
Quechua ñakay | ||
Romanian jura | ||
Russian клянусь | ||
Samoan palauvale | ||
Sanskrit शपथ | ||
Scots Gaelic mionnachadh | ||
Sepedi ikana | ||
Serbian закуни се | ||
Sesotho hlapanya | ||
Shona kupika | ||
Sindhi قسم کڻ | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) දිවුරන්න | ||
Slovak prisahať | ||
Slovenian preklinjati | ||
Somali dhaarid | ||
Spanish jurar | ||
Sundanese sumpah | ||
Swahili kuapa | ||
Swedish svära | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) sumpa | ||
Tajik қасам хӯрдан | ||
Tamil சத்தியம் | ||
Tatar ант ит | ||
Telugu ప్రమాణం | ||
Thai สาบาน | ||
Tigrinya ማሕላ | ||
Tsonga rhukana | ||
Turkish yemin etmek | ||
Turkmen ant iç | ||
Twi (Akan) ka ntam | ||
Ukrainian присягати | ||
Urdu قسم کھانا | ||
Uyghur قەسەم | ||
Uzbek qasam ichish | ||
Vietnamese xin thề | ||
Welsh rhegi | ||
Xhosa funga | ||
Yiddish שווערן | ||
Yoruba búra | ||
Zulu funga |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "vloek" in Afrikaans can also mean "curse" and is derived from the Proto-West Germanic word "*flōkan", meaning "to lament" or "to cry out in grief". |
| Albanian | The word "betohem" in Albanian originates from the Proto-Albanian word "b*t-n-o" meaning "oath" or "curse". |
| Amharic | The word "እምለው" also means "to curse" or "to revile". |
| Arabic | In addition to “swearing,” aṣama (أقسم) meant “to cause to share” in pre-Islamic Arabic, and can still have this second meaning in certain contexts and expressions. |
| Armenian | The word "երդվել" can also mean "to swear an oath" or "to promise solemnly. |
| Azerbaijani | "And içmək" in Azerbaijani also means "to spit" in Turkish. |
| Basque | The Basque word 'zin egin' is literally translated to 'to do sin', suggesting that the act of swearing was once considered an immoral act |
| Belarusian | The word "лаяцца" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "lajati", which means "to scold or to curse". |
| Bengali | "কসম" can be traced back to the Sanskrit word "kuśama" meaning "to be angry or enraged" |
| Bosnian | The word "kunem se" also means "curse or vow" in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | The word "Закълни се" also means "to pledge" or "to vow" in Bulgarian. |
| Catalan | In Catalan, "jurar" can also mean "to swear an oath" or "to vow". |
| Cebuano | Manumpa, cognate with Spanish 'empeñar,' derives from Latin 'pignus' meaning 'pledge,' and suggests an earlier usage as 'to pawn or take in pledge.' |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 发誓 is also a term used in traditional Chinese oath-taking ceremonies. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character 發 in 發誓 refers to both "hair" and "vows," reflecting the ancient practice of binding vows to locks of hair. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "ghjurà" is derived from Latin "jurare" (to swear) and means "to swear", "to vow", or "to promise solemnly". |
| Croatian | Croatian verb "zakleti se" also means to curse and has many synonyms, including "kletva" and "kleti". |
| Czech | As a noun, "přísaha" can also mean "oath" |
| Danish | The Danish word "sværge" also has the meanings "to curse" and "to vow". |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "zweer" can also mean "ulcer" or "abscess". |
| Esperanto | "Ĵuri" is derived from the French "jurer" and also means "to make a solemn promise." |
| Estonian | In Estonian, the word "vanduma" not only means to swear, but also to take an oath, make a vow, or curse. |
| Finnish | "Vannoa" may derive from the word "vanha" ("old", "venerable") by way of the concept of "swearing an oath upon something old", i.e. swearing solemnly. |
| French | In French, "jurer" can also mean "to make a formal statement under oath" or "to declare solemnly". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word 'swarre' is cognate with English 'swear', but its root is in Old Norse 'svarra', meaning 'to answer'. |
| Galician | "Xurar" originates from the Latin "iūro" and also means "to attest" or "to assure" in Galician. |
| Georgian | The term 'გეფიცები' is also a slang for 'police' as a result of police using offensive words during interrogation. |
| German | The term "schwören" in German traces its origins to the Proto-Germanic root "swer-", meaning "to answer or agree". |
| Greek | In Greek, the word "ορκίζομαι" also means "to cause someone to swear" or "to conjure someone in the name of a deity." |
| Gujarati | The word "શપથ" (oath) is derived from the Sanskrit word "śapatha" meaning "promise". In Gujarati, it also means to "take an oath" or to "vow". |
| Haitian Creole | The phrase "fè sèman" can also mean "to promise" in Haitian Creole. |
| Hausa | 'Rantsuwa' is also a word for 'oath' and shares the same origin with 'ranto', meaning 'promise'. |
| Hawaiian | The Hawaiian word “hoʻohiki” means to “swear,” but also has the meanings of “to cause to vow,” “to promise,” and “to command.” |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew verb "לְקַלֵל" (l'kalel) can also mean "to curse" or "to speak evil of". |
| Hindi | The word 'कसम खाता' can also mean 'to promise' or 'to vow' in Hindi, and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'svaṃ saṃsthā', meaning 'one's own establishment'. |
| Hmong | The term "hais lus dev" is derived from the Chinese phrase "hài shí lù de," which means "to speak evil words" |
| Hungarian | The word "esküszik" derives from the Proto-Uralic word for "to speak", indicating that taking an oath was originally seen as a speech act. |
| Icelandic | The Icelandic word "sverja" is also used to refer to an oath or vow, and is related to the Old Norse word "sverja", meaning "to swear". |
| Igbo | In Igbo cosmology, the act of swearing is believed to be a powerful force that can have both positive and negative consequences, depending on the intention and circumstances. |
| Indonesian | Bersumpah can also mean "to agree", "to swear an oath", or "to bind oneself" in Indonesian. |
| Irish | The word "mionn" can also mean "promise" or "vow". |
| Italian | The word "giurare" derives from the Latin word "iurare" and originally meant to "speak solemnly" or "promise under oath". |
| Japanese | The word '誓う' can also mean to 'promise' or 'vow', and is often used in formal or legal settings. |
| Javanese | "Sumpah" in Javanese also means "prayer". |
| Kannada | The word "ಪ್ರತಿಜ್ಞೆ ಮಾಡಿ" in Kannada has its roots in the Sanskrit word "प्रतिज्ञा" meaning "oath". It can also refer to a promise or vow made to a deity or a respected person. |
| Kazakh | The Kazakh word "ант беру" can also refer to "taking an oath" or "making a vow". |
| Khmer | In Khmer, ស្បថ (swear) can also mean to vow or promise solemnly. |
| Korean | "저주" can also refer to a curse, imprecation, or an oath |
| Kurdish | Nifirkirin is a colloquial term for swearing, derived from the Arabic word "nifq", meaning "hypocrisy" or "pretense". |
| Kyrgyz | "Ант" can be translated as "oath", not only as "curse". |
| Latin | The word "Testor" can also mean "to prove" or "to bear witness" in Latin. |
| Latvian | "Zvēru" in Latvian derives from Proto-Slavic "*zveriti", which meant "to make an animal roar", "to call upon animals", "to hunt" and "to chase". |
| Lithuanian | The word "prisiekti" can also mean "to take an oath". |
| Luxembourgish | "Schwieren" has a double meaning: to swear an oath or to swear at somebody. |
| Macedonian | The Proto-Slavic form *klęti (from Proto-Indo-European *ḱelh₂-) could also imply 'invoke', in the sense of uttering a religious oath as a magical formula. |
| Malagasy | The word "mianiana" in Malagasy is derived from the Arabic word "ma'na" meaning "oath". |
| Malay | "Bersumpah" shares the same root word as "sumpah", which has several different but related meanings depending on context, including "curse" and "oath". |
| Malayalam | In ancient Sanskrit, 'സത്യം' meant 'truth' or 'reality', and 'ചെയ്യുക' means 'to do' or 'to perform', hence its literal meaning is 'to perform truth' or 'to speak the truth'. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "naħlef" is also used to refer to a solemn promise or oath |
| Maori | The word 'oati' is a corruption of the English word 'oath'. |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "शपथ" (śapatha) has its roots in the Sanskrit word "सपथ" (sapath), meaning "oath" or "vow". It also has a less common meaning of "an agreement" or "a promise". |
| Mongolian | "Тангарагла" - originally meant "to make a promise before Heaven or a god". |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ကျိန်ဆို (swear) derives from a Mon-Khmer root meaning both "to curse" and "to love" and is related to other words for "love" and "affection" in other Southeast Asian languages, suggesting its original meaning may have been closer to "to bind" or "to attach." |
| Nepali | The word "कसम" derives from the Sanskrit word "शपथ" (śapatha), meaning "oath" or "vow". |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "sverge" has its roots in the Old Norse word "sverja", which means "to promise solemnly to do or not to do something" |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The word "lumbira" can also mean "to curse" in Nyanja. |
| Pashto | The Pashto word "قسم کول" also denotes "to declare solemnly" or "to pledge or to promise." |
| Persian | The word "سوگند" also means "oath" and can be used interchangeably with the word "قسم" to mean "swearing" or making a solemn promise |
| Polish | The Polish word "przysięgać" also means "to swear an oath" in English. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | The Brazilian word "xingar" comes from the Portuguese "chingar", which itself derives from the Spanish "cingar", ultimately tracing back to the Latin "cingere" ("to envelop"). |
| Punjabi | The word 'ਸਹੁੰ ਖਾਓ' ultimately derives from Ancient Greek 'homilos' via Arabic and Persian, and also means 'oath, vow', 'promise, pledge, sacred promise', 'word of honour', 'covenant', 'troth', 'faith', 'engagement', and 'warranty'. |
| Romanian | The word "jura" in Romanian is derived from the Latin word "jurare", meaning "to swear" or "to take an oath", and has the same meaning in Romanian. |
| Russian | The Russian word "клянусь" can also mean "to promise". |
| Samoan | The word "palauvale" can also mean "to curse" or "to blaspheme". |
| Scots Gaelic | The word "mionnachadh" can also refer to a "vow" or "oath" in Scots Gaelic. |
| Serbian | The verb 'Закуни се' can also mean 'to swear an oath' or 'to make a promise'. |
| Sesotho | The Sesotho word 'hlapanya' originates from the Bantu root '-lapana', which also means 'to smear' or 'to plaster' and is related to the noun 'lepa' (mud plaster) |
| Shona | "Kupika" can also mean to "mix" or "stir" a liquid in Shona. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word "قسم کڻ" can also refer to an oath, pledge, or vow. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The verb "දිවුරන්න" is derived from the Sanskrit word "div" meaning "to swear". It can also mean "to affirm", "to promise", or "to take an oath". |
| Slovak | The word "prisahať" shares its root with the word "prisaha" (oath) and means "to take an oath" or "to make a vow". |
| Slovenian | The word "preklinjati" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "preklinati", which means "to curse" or "to invoke evil upon someone". In Slovenian, it has retained this meaning, as well as acquiring the additional meaning of "to swear". |
| Somali | "Dhaarid" is related to the Somali word "dhaar," which means "vow" or "oath," and the Proto-Somali word "*dheer," which means "straight" or "long." |
| Spanish | The verb "jurar" can also mean "to promise" or "to assure" in Spanish. |
| Sundanese | The word "sumpah" in Sundanese has an alternate meaning of "promise" or "oath". |
| Swahili | The word "kuapa" in Swahili has several meanings, including "to swear," "to promise," and "to take an oath." |
| Swedish | In Swedish, svära can also refer to a parent-in-law or swearing at someone. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Sumpa" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian root word "*sumpah", which also means "curse" or "oath." |
| Tajik | In a religious context, "қасам хӯрдан" can also mean to make an oath or affirmation. |
| Thai | This word has two sources. One is "ศัพท์" which means "word", and the other is "บาน" which means "to open", so it means "to open a word." |
| Turkish | The word 'yemin' derives from the Arabic root 'yamn', meaning 'right' or 'direction', referring to the ancient practice of swearing by pointing to the right. |
| Ukrainian | The word "присягати" in Ukrainian derives from the Old Church Slavonic "присѣгати", meaning "to make a promise" |
| Urdu | قسم کھانا means 'to swear' in Urdu and has additional meanings like 'to promise' or 'to vow'. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, "qasam ichish" also means "to take an oath" or "to give a promise". |
| Vietnamese | The word xin thề derives from Chinese 誓 (shì), meaning "oath" or "promise". |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "rhegi" also means "to crack, split or burst", a meaning derived from its Proto-Celtic and Proto-Indo-European roots. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word "funga" can also mean "to promise" or "to vow." |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "שווערן" also means "to be pregnant" or "to be heavy". |
| Yoruba | The Yoruba word "búra" also means "curse" or "malediction". |
| Zulu | In some contexts, "funga" can also refer to making a promise or vow. |
| English | The verb “swear” comes from the Old English word “swerian,” meaning "to make an oath or promise." |