Think in Different Languages
Discover 'Think' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'think' holds a significant place in our vocabulary, as it allows us to express the complex process of forming ideas, opinions, and judgments. Thinking is a fundamental aspect of human cognition, and it is through this process that we are able to understand and interact with the world around us. Moreover, the word 'think' carries cultural importance, as it is a common thread that connects us all, regardless of language or location.
Given the significance and cultural importance of the word 'think', it's not surprising that many people are interested in learning its translation in different languages. By doing so, they are able to gain a deeper understanding of other cultures and expand their linguistic abilities. For instance, the word 'think' translates to 'pensar' in Spanish, 'penser' in French, and 'Denken' in German.
In this article, we will explore the translations of the word 'think' in a variety of languages, shedding light on the fascinating cultural and historical contexts associated with this simple yet powerful word.
Think
Think in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | dink | ||
| The Afrikaans word "dink" is derived from the Dutch word "denken" and also means "to remember" in Afrikaans. | |||
| Amharic | ብለው ያስቡ | ||
| The Amharic word "ብለው ያስቡ" (think) is derived from the root "ብል" (speak) and the causative suffix "-ያስ" (-cause to), suggesting a connection between thinking and the expression of ideas through speech. | |||
| Hausa | yi tunani | ||
| "Yi tunani" is also the Hausa translation of the English phrase "pay attention." | |||
| Igbo | chee | ||
| "Chee" comes from the Proto-Igbo word *t͡ʃi*, meaning "know or understand", and is cognate with Yoruba "gbọ́" and Gbe "nɔ́ŋ" "hear, be aware of, know". | |||
| Malagasy | eritrereto | ||
| "Eritrereto" means "to think," but also has the connotation of reflecting upon something. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | ganizani | ||
| The term "ganizani" may also refer to the concept of "having ideas" or "understanding". | |||
| Shona | funga | ||
| 'Funga' also means 'understand' and is found in other Shona derived languages like Kalanga. | |||
| Somali | ka fikir | ||
| Somali "ka fikir" also means "to remember" and is connected to "fikrad" meaning "idea". | |||
| Sesotho | nahana | ||
| In the 19th century, "nahana" was applied to European writing and reading. | |||
| Swahili | fikiria | ||
| Fikiria is a Swahili verb that can also mean 'to plan' or 'to intend'. | |||
| Xhosa | cinga | ||
| The word 'cinga' also has a connotation of 'guess' or 'suppose'. | |||
| Yoruba | ronu | ||
| The Yoruba word "ronu" can also mean "to consider" or "to meditate". | |||
| Zulu | cabanga | ||
| The Zulu word "cabanga" can also refer to a "thought" or an "idea". | |||
| Bambara | ka miiri | ||
| Ewe | bu tame | ||
| Kinyarwanda | tekereza | ||
| Lingala | kokanisa | ||
| Luganda | okulowooza | ||
| Sepedi | nagana | ||
| Twi (Akan) | dwene | ||
Think in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | يفكر | ||
| The Arabic word "يفكر" also means "to consider" or "to deliberate" in English | |||
| Hebrew | לַחשׁוֹב | ||
| The Hebrew word "לַחשׁוֹב" (laḥšōv) originally meant "to calculate" or "to count" and is related to the Akkadian word "šabāšu" with the same meaning. | |||
| Pashto | فکر وکړه | ||
| "فکر وکړه" has its roots in the Sanskrit word "चिन्ता" (Chinta), which also means "thought" or "worry". | |||
| Arabic | يفكر | ||
| The Arabic word "يفكر" also means "to consider" or "to deliberate" in English | |||
Think in Western European Languages
| Albanian | mendoj | ||
| The Albanian word 'mendoj' derives from Latin 'mentis' (mind) and also means 'esteem' and 'value'. | |||
| Basque | pentsa | ||
| In the Basque language, the word 'pentsa' means 'thought', 'mind', 'idea', 'opinion', or 'reflection'. | |||
| Catalan | pensar | ||
| The Catalan word "pensar" is derived from the Latin verb "pensare" and is related to the French word "penser" and the Italian word "pensare", all meaning "to think". | |||
| Croatian | razmišljati | ||
| The Slavic root "razm" in "razmišljati" also means "dispersing" or "dividing up," suggesting that thinking involves breaking down a concept into its parts. | |||
| Danish | tænke | ||
| Tænke derives from the Old Norse word 'þenkja' meaning 'to consider' and is related to the German word 'denken'. | |||
| Dutch | denken | ||
| "Denken" is a loanword from the Old Saxon word "thenkian," meaning both "to think" and "to remember." | |||
| English | think | ||
| The word 'think' comes from the Old English word 'thencan,' which means 'to consider or reflect.' | |||
| French | pense | ||
| The French word "penser" derives from the Latin "pensare," meaning "to weigh" or "to consider." | |||
| Frisian | tinke | ||
| The Frisian word "tinke" is also related to the Dutch word "denken", which means "to think". | |||
| Galician | pensa | ||
| In Galician the word 'pensa' also means a 'wooden beam'. | |||
| German | überlegen | ||
| The German word "Überlegen" not only means "to think", but also "to consider" or "to deliberate". | |||
| Icelandic | hugsa | ||
| The word hugsa (think) derives from *hugr (mind, spirit, thought, heart), a word that also appears in words like hyggja (think, reflect, intend), hugrekki (spirit, soul), and hugmynd (notion, idea), all words pertaining to human consciousness. | |||
| Irish | smaoineamh | ||
| In Old Irish, the word 'smaoineamh' also meant 'conceive' or 'ponder' and was derived from the root 'smácht', meaning 'to examine'. | |||
| Italian | pensare | ||
| In Latin, "pensare" means "to weigh," and is related to the word "pendere," meaning "to hang". | |||
| Luxembourgish | denken | ||
| In Luxembourgish, "denken" means "to think" in the literal sense, but can also mean "to understand" or "to believe." | |||
| Maltese | aħseb | ||
| The Maltese word "aħseb" can also mean "calculate" or "imagine" | |||
| Norwegian | synes at | ||
| "Synes at" and "tænke på" can both be translated as "think of" or "consider", and the meaning of the sentence depends on the context. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | pensar | ||
| "Pensar" comes from the Latin word "pensare" (to weigh), which is related to the word "pendere" (to hang). Pensar is also the verb used to describe the action of fishing, and it is related to the word "pescar" (fishing). | |||
| Scots Gaelic | smaoinich | ||
| The Scots Gaelic word "smaoinich" is derived from the Old Irish word "smáin", meaning "reflection" or "meditation". | |||
| Spanish | pensar | ||
| The verb "pensar" is derived from the Latin verb "pendere," meaning "to hang," suggesting the idea of weighing or considering different options in the mind. | |||
| Swedish | tror | ||
| "Tror" is also used as a term in the card game bridge, where it denotes a player's belief about the number of tricks their team will take in the current hand. | |||
| Welsh | meddwl | ||
| "Meddwl" can also mean "to mean," "to intend," or "to suppose." | |||
Think in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | падумайце | ||
| The Belarusian word "падумайце" (think) derives from the Proto-Slavic verb "pъnǫti", meaning "to put" or "to reach out", suggesting a connection between thinking and comprehending by reaching out mentally or conceptually. | |||
| Bosnian | razmisli | ||
| The Bosnian word "razmisli" can also mean "meditate" or "reflect". | |||
| Bulgarian | мисля | ||
| The Bulgarian word "мисля" (think) also means "to smell" and "to weigh". | |||
| Czech | myslet si | ||
| The origin of the Czech word "myslet si" is unknown however it can also mean to consider, contemplate, regard, or suppose. | |||
| Estonian | mõtle | ||
| Mõtle has other meanings in Estonian, like "to intend" or "to care for". | |||
| Finnish | ajatella | ||
| Despite its literal meaning of 'to chase,' 'ajatella' has evolved to mean 'to think,' likely due to the notion of chasing thoughts. | |||
| Hungarian | gondol | ||
| The Hungarian word "gondol" has an alternate meaning of "vessel". | |||
| Latvian | padomā | ||
| The Latvian word "padomā" (think) has a Proto-Indo-European root also shared by many other words in other Indo-European languages with the meanings of "to bind" and "to think". | |||
| Lithuanian | pagalvok | ||
| The verb "pagalvok" in Lithuanian has Slavic roots and is related to the word "glava" (head). | |||
| Macedonian | мислам | ||
| Мислам is a Macedonian word that can also mean "opinion" or "belief. | |||
| Polish | myśleć | ||
| In Polish, the verb "myśleć" may also mean "to ponder" or "to intend". | |||
| Romanian | gândi | ||
| The Romanian word "gândi" originates from the Proto-Indo-European root *kʷen(dʰ)-, which also gave rise to the English word "know" and the Hindi word "jān". | |||
| Russian | считать | ||
| The root of “считать” (think) is “читать” (read), thus its initial meaning was “to read out loud”. | |||
| Serbian | размисли | ||
| The Serbian word "размисли" also means "to ponder" or "to reflect". | |||
| Slovak | myslieť si | ||
| The word 'myslieť si' also means 'believe' in Slovak. | |||
| Slovenian | pomisli | ||
| Pomisli, a form of "misliti" in Slovene, originally implied the "ability" to think. | |||
| Ukrainian | подумайте | ||
| The word 'подумайте' can also be used in Ukrainian with the meaning of 'consider', 'reflect upon', or 'take into account'. | |||
Think in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ভাবুন | ||
| The Bengali word "ভাবুন" (bhabun) also means "to care for" or "to give attention to". | |||
| Gujarati | વિચારો | ||
| The Gujarati word વિચારો, meaning "think," is derived from the Sanskrit word विचार, which also means "consideration" or "reflection." | |||
| Hindi | सोच | ||
| The Hindi word 'सोच' ('soch') derives from the Sanskrit root 'sūci' meaning 'needle', likely referring to the sharpness of thought and introspection. | |||
| Kannada | ಯೋಚಿಸಿ | ||
| The word "ಯೋಚಿಸಿ" can also mean "to consider" or "to contemplate". | |||
| Malayalam | ചിന്തിക്കുക | ||
| Marathi | विचार करा | ||
| The verb "विचार करा" in Marathi also means "to consider" or "to deliberate". | |||
| Nepali | सोच्नुहोस् | ||
| The Nepali verb 'सोच्नुहोस्' ('think') is also used to express pondering, wondering or reflecting. | |||
| Punjabi | ਸੋਚੋ | ||
| The Punjabi word "ਸੋਚੋ" is cognate with the Hindi word "सोचो", ultimately deriving from the Sanskrit word "चिन्तयति" (cintáyati) meaning "to think" or "to consider". | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සිතන්න | ||
| The Sinhala word "සිතන්න" (think) is derived from the Sanskrit word "सित्" (sit), meaning "to perceive" or "to understand". | |||
| Tamil | சிந்தியுங்கள் | ||
| Telugu | ఆలోచించండి | ||
| The word "ఆలోచించండి" originates from the Sanskrit word "चिन्ता" (cinta), meaning "to think," "to consider," or "to care about". | |||
| Urdu | سوچنا | ||
| The word "سوچنا" comes from the Sanskrit word "शोच" (śoca), meaning sorrow or grief, and has also been used in Urdu to mean "to worry" or "to care about". | |||
Think in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 认为 | ||
| 认为 is a compound word formed from the characters “认” (acknowledge) and “为” (consider) | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 認為 | ||
| The character "認" in "認為" originally meant "to see clearly" or "to identify." | |||
| Japanese | 考える | ||
| The word "考える (kangaeru)" in Japanese is derived from the word "かんがう (kangau)", which means "to ponder" or "to deliberate." | |||
| Korean | 생각한다 | ||
| 생각한다 can also mean "worry" which has influenced the word's usage in modern Korean to be less positive than its English counterpart. | |||
| Mongolian | бодох | ||
| The word "бодох" in Mongolian can also mean "to guess". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စဉ်းစားပါ | ||
Think in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | berpikir | ||
| The word 'berpikir' can also mean 'meditate', or 'reflect', depending on the context. | |||
| Javanese | mikir | ||
| The Javanese word "mikir" can also refer to the concept of deep contemplation and reflection. | |||
| Khmer | គិត | ||
| In Khmer, គិត also means "to remember" and "to understand." | |||
| Lao | ຄິດວ່າ | ||
| Malay | berfikir | ||
| The word "berfikir" is derived from Proto-Austronesian *pikir, meaning "to desire" or "to want". | |||
| Thai | คิด | ||
| The word "คิด" also means "to calculate" or "to compute". | |||
| Vietnamese | suy nghĩ | ||
| The Vietnamese word "suy nghĩ" can also mean "consideration" or "meditation" | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | isipin | ||
Think in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | düşün | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "düşün" is derived from the Persian word "dūš" meaning "mind". | |||
| Kazakh | ойлау | ||
| In Kazakh, ойлау also means 'to consider, reflect, or ponder'. | |||
| Kyrgyz | ойлон | ||
| The word "ойлон" can also refer to a type of Kyrgyz folk song or a musical instrument used in such songs. | |||
| Tajik | фикр кардан | ||
| The word "фикр кардан" also means "to consider" or "to contemplate" in Tajik. | |||
| Turkmen | pikirlen | ||
| Uzbek | o'ylang | ||
| The word "o'ylang" in Uzbek, besides its primary meaning of "think", also refers to the concept of "contemplating" and "reflecting" on something. | |||
| Uyghur | ئويلاڭ | ||
Think in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | manaʻo | ||
| The word 'mana'o' has the same root as the word 'manawa,' which translates to "breath" or "spirit." | |||
| Maori | whakaaro | ||
| The word 'whakaaro' in Maori also means 'to feel' or 'to perceive'. | |||
| Samoan | mafaufau | ||
| Samoan word 'mafaufau' shares a similar root with 'fa'afa' meaning 'to make' and 'fa'a' meaning 'to do' | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | isipin mo | ||
| The Tagalog word "isipin mo", meaning "think", literally translates to "put it in your mind". | |||
Think in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | lup'iña | ||
| Guarani | jepy'amongeta | ||
Think in International Languages
| Esperanto | pensu | ||
| The root "-pens-" derives from Latin "pendere" ("to hang, weigh") via French "penser" ("to think"). | |||
| Latin | cogitare | ||
| "Cogitare" also means "to worry about", "to intend" or "to purpose". | |||
Think in Others Languages
| Greek | νομίζω | ||
| "Νομίζω" in Greek also means "consider" or "believe", and its root is the noun "νόμος" (law), thus originally meaning "to think according to law". | |||
| Hmong | xav | ||
| The Hmong word "xav" can also mean "plan", "consider", or "guess". | |||
| Kurdish | ponijîn | ||
| The word "ponijîn" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- "to think". | |||
| Turkish | düşünmek | ||
| The word 'düşünmek' in Turkish is derived from the verb 'düşmek' (to fall), implying a process of 'letting go' of thoughts to reach a deeper level of understanding. | |||
| Xhosa | cinga | ||
| The word 'cinga' also has a connotation of 'guess' or 'suppose'. | |||
| Yiddish | טראַכטן | ||
| The word "טראַכטן" in Yiddish is derived from the German word "trachten", meaning "to strive for" or "to aim at". | |||
| Zulu | cabanga | ||
| The Zulu word "cabanga" can also refer to a "thought" or an "idea". | |||
| Assamese | চিন্তা কৰা | ||
| Aymara | lup'iña | ||
| Bhojpuri | सोचीं | ||
| Dhivehi | ވިސްނުން | ||
| Dogri | सोचो | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | isipin | ||
| Guarani | jepy'amongeta | ||
| Ilocano | panunoten | ||
| Krio | tink | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بیرکردنەوە | ||
| Maithili | सोचनाइ | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯈꯟꯕ | ||
| Mizo | ngaihtuah | ||
| Oromo | yaaduu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଭାବ | | ||
| Quechua | umanchay | ||
| Sanskrit | चिन्तयतु | ||
| Tatar | уйла | ||
| Tigrinya | ሕሰብ | ||
| Tsonga | ehleketa | ||