Ten in Different Languages
Discover 'Ten' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The number ten is significant in many cultures and languages around the world. In many Western cultures, it is often associated with perfection and completeness, as it is the base number for our decimal system. In Chinese culture, the number ten is also highly significant, as it is believed to symbolize the unity of heaven and earth. In addition, the Chinese word for ten, shí, is the first character in the phrase shí-yī-bā-qī, which means ten-one-eight-seven, or everything.
Given its importance, you might be interested in learning how to say ten in different languages. Here are a few examples to get you started:
- Spanish: diez
- French: dix
- German: zehn
- Italian: dieci
- Japanese: jū
Stay tuned for more translations of the number ten, and discover the beauty and diversity of languages and cultures from around the world!
Ten
Ten in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | hierdie | ||
| The Afrikaans word "hierdie" is a cognate of the Dutch "deze," and both derive from the Old English "þeos" meaning "this." | |||
| Amharic | ይህ | ||
| The word "ይህ" can also mean "it" or "this" in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | wannan | ||
| "Wanna" means "ten" in Hausa but can also refer to "the decade" or "a group of ten." | |||
| Igbo | nke a | ||
| The Igbo word "nke a" can also mean "the one that is", indicating a specific entity or quality. | |||
| Malagasy | izany | ||
| The Malagasy word "izany" can also be used to mean "to be like this", "such", or "so" | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | ichi | ||
| "Ichikwi" in Nyanja is the term for "eleven," and means "ten and one." | |||
| Shona | ichi | ||
| The Shona word "ichi" (ten) also means "a little bit" | |||
| Somali | tan | ||
| The word "tan" can also refer to a "stick" or "pole" in Somali. | |||
| Sesotho | sena | ||
| Sesotho "sena" also refers to a team of ten people tasked with a common goal. | |||
| Swahili | hii | ||
| "Hii" is also an exclamation used to express surprise or shock. | |||
| Xhosa | le | ||
| The word "le" also means "to go" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yoruba | eyi | ||
| Eyi is also a word for 'bird' in some dialects of Yoruba. | |||
| Zulu | lokhu | ||
| The Zulu word "lokhu" is derived from the Proto-Bantu word "*kumi" and also means "everything". | |||
| Bambara | tan | ||
| Ewe | ewo | ||
| Kinyarwanda | icumi | ||
| Lingala | zomi | ||
| Luganda | kkumi | ||
| Sepedi | lesome | ||
| Twi (Akan) | edu | ||
Ten in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | هذه | ||
| The word "هذه" (ten) comes from the Proto-Semitic word "*ʔašru", which also meant "ten" and is the origin of the word "ten" in many other languages. | |||
| Hebrew | זֶה | ||
| "זֶה" can mean "this is," "one" (as of a pair), or "masculine noun." | |||
| Pashto | دا | ||
| The word "دا" in Pashto is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*dekṃt" and has alternate meanings such as "handful" and "bundle". | |||
| Arabic | هذه | ||
| The word "هذه" (ten) comes from the Proto-Semitic word "*ʔašru", which also meant "ten" and is the origin of the word "ten" in many other languages. | |||
Ten in Western European Languages
| Albanian | kjo | ||
| The word 'kjo' is also used to refer to 'the ten commandments' and is related to the word 'command' in English. | |||
| Basque | hau | ||
| The word 'hamar' is also used for 'ten', particularly by older Basque speakers and in some rural areas. | |||
| Catalan | això | ||
| "Això" derives from the Latin word "ipse" (meaning "this" or "these") and is related to the Spanish word "eso" with the same meaning. | |||
| Croatian | ovaj | ||
| “Ovaj” in Croatian, as in many other Slavic languages, may be related to an Indo-European linguistic superfamily form “awe.” | |||
| Danish | dette | ||
| The Danish word "dette" also means "this" or "this one", and is cognate with the English word "that". | |||
| Dutch | dit | ||
| In the context of poetry it can mean 'song', 'poem' or 'tune' | |||
| English | ten | ||
| The word | |||
| French | ce | ||
| The French word "ce" also means "this" in masculine singular form, as an equivalent to the pronoun "ça" | |||
| Frisian | dizze | ||
| The Frisian word 'dizze' ('ten') is cognate with the Dutch 'tiens' ('ten'), which in turn comes from the Proto-Germanic word '*tehun' | |||
| Galician | isto | ||
| The Galician word "isto" also derives from Latin "iste" meaning "this one" and is used as a demonstrative pronoun. | |||
| German | diese | ||
| Did you know _diese_ can refer to a group of people, too in German? | |||
| Icelandic | þetta | ||
| The etymology of "þetta" is related to the Proto-Germanic word for "that", and the word has also been historically used in Icelandic for "this". | |||
| Irish | seo | ||
| The Irish word 'seo' not only means 'ten' but also 'here' or 'this'; as an intensifier it can mean 'well', 'properly', or 'indeed'. | |||
| Italian | questo | ||
| The word "Questo" in Italian can also mean "this" or "the present". | |||
| Luxembourgish | dëst | ||
| The Luxembourgish word "dëst" is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "*tehun"," meaning "ten". This word is related to the Old English word "teoðe" and the modern English word "tenth". The Luxembourgish word "dëst" can also be used to refer to the number "one thousand". | |||
| Maltese | dan | ||
| Maltese "dan" (ten) likely derives from the Arabic "ʿašara" (ten), ultimately from the Proto-Semitic "*ʿaśr" (ten). | |||
| Norwegian | dette | ||
| The word "dette" also means "this" or "the latter" in Norwegian. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | esta | ||
| The word "esta" in Portuguese is used to form ordinal numbers and is also a contraction of "este" (this) and "a" (the). | |||
| Scots Gaelic | seo | ||
| 'Deich' (ten) is the numeral 'dæc' with the addition of 'h' (aspiration), hence 'Deich' is pronounced 'jay' and not 'daych'. | |||
| Spanish | esta | ||
| 'Esta' is derived from the Latin word 'ista', meaning 'this' or 'that'. It can also be used to refer to the current time or situation. | |||
| Swedish | detta | ||
| "Det" also means "it" in Swedish and is the neuter form of the demonstrative pronoun "den". | |||
| Welsh | hyn | ||
| The word “hyn” can also refer to a tendon or a string | |||
Ten in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | гэта | ||
| The word "гэта" (ten) in Belarusian also means "this" in Russian and "these" in Polish. | |||
| Bosnian | ovo | ||
| The word 'ovo' can also mean 'so' or 'therefore' in Bosnian. | |||
| Bulgarian | това | ||
| The word "това" also means "that" in Bulgarian, and is related to the Old Bulgarian word "тъ" meaning "this". | |||
| Czech | tento | ||
| The word "tento" is sometimes used for "this," or as a more specific form of the definite article. | |||
| Estonian | seda | ||
| The Estonian word "seda" is derived from the Proto-Baltic word "*sē" meaning "this". | |||
| Finnish | tämä | ||
| Although "Tämä" means "ten" in Finnish, it is also used to refer to a finger or a hand. | |||
| Hungarian | ez | ||
| The word "ez" can also refer to "this" or "here" in Hungarian. | |||
| Latvian | šo | ||
| "Šo" may also be the root word for "šis" | |||
| Lithuanian | tai | ||
| The word "tai" can also refer to a certain measure of weight in ancient Lithuania. | |||
| Macedonian | ова | ||
| The number 'ова' can be a noun, an adjective, a numeral, or a personal pronoun, among other parts of speech and semantic values. | |||
| Polish | ten | ||
| The Polish word "dziesięć" (ten) comes from the Proto-Slavic word "*desęť", which is cognate with the Latin word "decem" (ten) and the Greek word "δέκα" (déka) (ten). | |||
| Romanian | acest | ||
| The Romanian word "acest" also means "this". In older Romanian, the same word would be used for both "this" and "ten" based on context, a usage still preserved in some modern dialects. | |||
| Russian | это | ||
| In Old Church Slavonic, 'это' meant 'hundred'. | |||
| Serbian | ово | ||
| The word "ово" (ovo) in Serbian is cognate with the Latin word "octo" (eight), and has been theorized to have originally meant "eight". | |||
| Slovak | toto | ||
| Toto in Latin means "who did this?" | |||
| Slovenian | to | ||
| The Slovenian word "to" can also be used as a prefix meaning "this" or "that." | |||
| Ukrainian | це | ||
| The word "це" can also mean "this" or "here" in Ukrainian. | |||
Ten in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | এই | ||
| The word "এই" in Bengali has a secondary meaning of "such," derived from the Middle Bengali word "এতাই" meaning "to this extent or amount." | |||
| Gujarati | આ | ||
| The Gujarati word "આ" (ten) is a cognate of the Sanskrit word "दश" (daśa), meaning "ten". | |||
| Hindi | यह | ||
| The word 'यह' also means 'this' and is related to the English word 'thus'. | |||
| Kannada | ಇದು | ||
| The word "ಇದು" in Kannada also means "this" or "it", and is used as a demonstrative pronoun. | |||
| Malayalam | ഈ | ||
| The Malayalam word "ഈ" can also refer to "this" or "this one" in addition to meaning "ten." | |||
| Marathi | हे | ||
| The Marathi word "हे" (ten) is derived from the Sanskrit word "दश" (dasha), which means "ten" or "group of ten." | |||
| Nepali | यो | ||
| In some contexts, the Nepali word 'यो' can refer to a group of people or a collective noun. | |||
| Punjabi | ਇਹ | ||
| "ਇਹ" in Punjabi can refer to both "this" and "ten". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | මේ | ||
| The word "මේ" can also mean "this" or "these" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | இது | ||
| "இது" ("ten") also means "this" or "these" depending on the context. | |||
| Telugu | ఇది | ||
| The Telugu word "ఇది" ("idi") also means "this" or "this thing". | |||
| Urdu | یہ | ||
| "یہ" (ten) derives from Persian "ده" (dah), and also means "this" in Urdu. | |||
Ten in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 这个 | ||
| "这个" in Mandarin Chinese can also mean "this one" or "this one here." | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 這個 | ||
| In older Chinese texts, "這個" also meant "this one" and "this very thing" | |||
| Japanese | この | ||
| The word "この" ("ten") can also refer to a measure word for long, thin objects such as sticks or ropes. | |||
| Korean | 이 | ||
| "이" is also often used in Korean to indicate "this" or "here." | |||
| Mongolian | энэ | ||
| The Mongolian word "энэ" (ten) is derived from the Proto-Mongolic word *eŋ, which also means "this" in Mongolian. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဒီ | ||
| The word ဒီ can also refer to a small coin or a measurement of weight equal to a viss. | |||
Ten in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | ini | ||
| "Ini" in Indonesian also refers to "this" in English, demonstrating a shared root with "ini" in many Indo-European languages, including English, where it is "this". | |||
| Javanese | iki | ||
| "Iki" in Javanese also means "this one" or "here". | |||
| Khmer | នេះ | ||
| The word "នេះ" in Khmer does not have any alternate meanings. | |||
| Lao | ນີ້ | ||
| "นี้นิ" is a common phrase that is often used as a term of endearment in Lao. | |||
| Malay | ini | ||
| In Malay, "ini" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word *sa-ni, meaning "this" and is used as a demonstrative pronoun. | |||
| Thai | นี้ | ||
| This word also serves as a general classifier in Thai. | |||
| Vietnamese | điều này | ||
| "Điều này" in Vietnamese can also refer to the Vietnamese currency, the đồng. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sampu | ||
Ten in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | bu | ||
| "Bu" in Azerbaijani is cognate with the Georgian word "bo" and the Lezgian word "bu" and possibly derived from the Proto-North-East Caucasian form *bʸu | |||
| Kazakh | бұл | ||
| The root of "бұл" (ten) may be related to "бел" (waist), as "ten fingers" can be imagined as a waist of a person. | |||
| Kyrgyz | бул | ||
| The word "бул" ("ten") in Kyrgyz is also used to express "a lot" or "many". | |||
| Tajik | ин | ||
| The word "ин" "ten" in Tajik is derived from the Persian word "ده" and in many contexts can also mean "village". | |||
| Turkmen | on | ||
| Uzbek | bu | ||
| The word "bu" can also mean "this" or "that" in Uzbek. | |||
| Uyghur | ئون | ||
Ten in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kēia | ||
| The Hawaiian word "kēia" can also mean "this" | |||
| Maori | tenei | ||
| "Tenei" can also be translated to mean "this" and "here". | |||
| Samoan | lenei | ||
| In Samoan the word "lenei" can also mean "the tenth". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | ito | ||
| While the number "ten" is "sampu" in Tagalog, "ito" is used as a suffix to indicate the decimal point in prices and numbers. | |||
Ten in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | tunka | ||
| Guarani | pa | ||
Ten in International Languages
| Esperanto | ĉi tio | ||
| The word "ĉi tio" can also mean "this very thing" in Esperanto. | |||
| Latin | haec | ||
Ten in Others Languages
| Greek | αυτό | ||
| Αυτό is an Ancient Greek word meaning 'it', often used to refer to a thing of unknown or unclear nature. | |||
| Hmong | no | ||
| The Chinese character that is used to write ''no'' also means, ''difficult; dangerous.'' | |||
| Kurdish | ev | ||
| Although commonly known as "ten," the Kurdish word "ev" primarily denotes the number "nine." | |||
| Turkish | bu | ||
| The Turkish word "bu" also means "this" and is cognate with the English word "both". | |||
| Xhosa | le | ||
| The word "le" also means "to go" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yiddish | דאָס | ||
| 'דאָס' is also a form of Yiddish 'עס' ('it') and can be used as a dummy subject analogous to the pronoun 'it' in English. | |||
| Zulu | lokhu | ||
| The Zulu word "lokhu" is derived from the Proto-Bantu word "*kumi" and also means "everything". | |||
| Assamese | দহ | ||
| Aymara | tunka | ||
| Bhojpuri | दस | ||
| Dhivehi | ދިހައެއް | ||
| Dogri | दस | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | sampu | ||
| Guarani | pa | ||
| Ilocano | sangapulo | ||
| Krio | tɛn | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | دە | ||
| Maithili | दस | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯔꯥ | ||
| Mizo | sawm | ||
| Oromo | kudhan | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଦଶ | ||
| Quechua | chunka | ||
| Sanskrit | दशम | ||
| Tatar | ун | ||
| Tigrinya | ዓሰርተ | ||
| Tsonga | khume | ||