Thousand in Different Languages
Discover 'Thousand' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'thousand' holds a significant place in our numerical system, denoting a large quantity that is greater than a hundred but less than ten thousand. Its cultural importance is evident in various contexts, such as in literature, where it is often used to emphasize a vast amount or a long period of time. For instance, 'a thousand and one nights' is a famous collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories, known for its intriguing narratives and cultural significance.
Moreover, the word 'thousand' has been a source of inspiration for many artists, musicians, and writers, who have used it to create captivating works of art, music, and literature. For example, the song 'Thousand Years' by Christina Perri has become a modern classic, with its haunting melody and poignant lyrics.
Given its significance and cultural importance, it's not surprising that someone might want to know the translation of 'thousand' in different languages. After all, language is a powerful tool for communication and cultural exchange, and understanding numerical terms in various languages can help break down barriers and foster connections.
Here are some translations of 'thousand' in different languages:
Thousand
Thousand in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | duisend | ||
| The word "duisend" can also refer to a large number, or a considerable amount. | |||
| Amharic | ሺህ | ||
| The word "ሺህ" is also used to refer to a large number indefinitely in Amharic. | |||
| Hausa | dubu | ||
| Dubu also means 'a long time' or 'a long time ago' in Hausa. | |||
| Igbo | puku | ||
| In the Igbo language, 'puku' is not just a number but also denotes a gathering of people, a multitude, or even a large number of things. | |||
| Malagasy | arivo | ||
| "Arivo" comes from the Arabic loanword "aluf" meaning "chieftain, captain, or leader." | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zikwi | ||
| "Zikwi" in Nyanja is derived from "kiukwi," which means "a lot." | |||
| Shona | chiuru | ||
| The word 'chiuru' can also refer to a large group or a crowd. | |||
| Somali | kun | ||
| The word 'kun' in Somali can also refer to a group of 100, a large sum of money, or a large number in general. | |||
| Sesotho | sekete | ||
| In Sesotho, "sekete" means "thousand," but it also refers to a type of traditional dance. | |||
| Swahili | elfu | ||
| Elfu is derived from the Proto-Bantu term *kikulu, meaning "much," and originally referred to a group of 100 people. | |||
| Xhosa | iwaka | ||
| "Iwaka" in Xhosa shares its root with the Zulu and Nguni word "amawakawaka" meaning "to be many and numerous". | |||
| Yoruba | ẹgbẹrun | ||
| The origin of the word ẹgbẹrun may be related to the idea of a "heap" or "stack". | |||
| Zulu | inkulungwane | ||
| Inkukhu is Zulu for bird, so 'inkukhu lungwane' is a 'big bird', ie. an ostrich. | |||
| Bambara | ba kelen | ||
| Ewe | akpe | ||
| Kinyarwanda | igihumbi | ||
| Lingala | nkoto | ||
| Luganda | lukumi | ||
| Sepedi | sekete | ||
| Twi (Akan) | apem | ||
Thousand in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | ألف | ||
| The word "ألف" (alif) in Arabic also refers to the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 1,000. | |||
| Hebrew | אלף | ||
| The root 'אלף' also signifies leadership and learning, found in the words for 'chief' and 'teacher'. | |||
| Pashto | زره | ||
| The word هزار (Hazâr) comes from Middle Persian "hazāra(k)", ultimately stemming from Avestan | |||
| Arabic | ألف | ||
| The word "ألف" (alif) in Arabic also refers to the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, which has a numerical value of 1,000. | |||
Thousand in Western European Languages
| Albanian | mijë | ||
| "Mijë" is derived from the Latin "milia", meaning "soldier", and is cognate with the English "militia" and "millennium." | |||
| Basque | mila | ||
| The Basque word “mila” (thousand) also means “great”, “abundant”, or “copious”. | |||
| Catalan | milers | ||
| In Catalan, "milers" also refers to a type of firework, while "mil" (thousand) is used to denote large numbers or distances, such as "vuit mils" (eight thousand) or "a mils de quilòmetres" (thousands of kilometers). | |||
| Croatian | tisuću | ||
| In Croatian, "tisuću" comes from the Proto-Slavic "tysęšta", meaning "fattening of cattle", and is used as a unit of one thousand livestock (heads). | |||
| Danish | tusind | ||
| Tusind derives from the Proto-Germanic word "þusundi", meaning "great hundred". | |||
| Dutch | duizend | ||
| The word "duizend" is cognate with the German word "tausend", the Old English word "þūsend", and the Old Norse word "þúsund". | |||
| English | thousand | ||
| Originating from an Old English word, "thusend", and related to the words "ten" and "hundred," meaning roughly ten-hundred | |||
| French | mille | ||
| The word "mille" in French derives from the Latin "milia", meaning "thousands", and retains this meaning in military contexts. | |||
| Frisian | tûzen | ||
| The word 'tûzen' comes from Old Frisian, and is cognate with Old Saxon 'thusundi' and Old English 'þūsend' | |||
| Galician | mil | ||
| The word "mil" can also mean "millet" in Galician. | |||
| German | tausend | ||
| In German folktales, 'tausend' is often used as an indeterminate number, akin to the English 'a thousand and one'. | |||
| Icelandic | þúsund | ||
| Þúsund derives from the PIE root *teus-, meaning "to swell" or "to be large"; this is also the root of the Greek words "polys" and "mega". | |||
| Irish | míle | ||
| The word "míle" in Irish can also refer to a group of people or an army unit. | |||
| Italian | mille | ||
| Mille derives from the Latin word "milia" (thousands) via the Proto-Romance word "*milja." | |||
| Luxembourgish | dausend | ||
| In Luxembourgish, the word 'dausend' can also refer to the number '12' when used in the context of time. | |||
| Maltese | elf | ||
| The Maltese word "elf" derives from the Arabic "alf", meaning "thousand", but also signifies a multitude or large quantity, especially in ancient poetry. | |||
| Norwegian | tusen | ||
| In Old Norse, "tu" meant "god" hence "thousand" is "the number of the god/gods". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | mil | ||
| The word "mil" originates from the Latin word "mille", meaning "a great number" or "a multitude", and also from the Indo-European root *meh₁- (*men-). | |||
| Scots Gaelic | mìle | ||
| Mìle can also mean "mile" in Scottish Gaelic, preserving its Proto-Celtic meaning. | |||
| Spanish | mil | ||
| The word "mil" derives from the Latin "milia", which originally meant "multitude" | |||
| Swedish | tusen | ||
| In Old Swedish, "tusen" meant "ten hundreds," but has come to mean "one thousand" in Modern Swedish. | |||
| Welsh | mil | ||
| Mil can also mean "animal" or "beast" in a figurative or metaphorical sense, reflecting its Proto-Celtic origin *mi-lo "animal," related to Old Irish mil "beast" | |||
Thousand in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | тысячы | ||
| The word "тысячы" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *tysęťa, which also means "group of a thousand" or "regiment". | |||
| Bosnian | hiljade | ||
| Hiljada derives from the Latin word "mille" and originally meant "a lot of". | |||
| Bulgarian | хиляди | ||
| Bulg. "хиляди" is a cognate of Russian "тысячи", Serbo-Croatian "tisuće", and Czech "tisíce", which are derived from Proto-Slavic "*tysęšte", meaning "thousand." | |||
| Czech | tisíc | ||
| The word "tisíc" is a compound of "ti" (three) and "sto" (one hundred). | |||
| Estonian | tuhat | ||
| "Tuhat" also means "very much" or "a lot" in Estonian. | |||
| Finnish | tuhat | ||
| "Tuhat" derives from the Proto-Finnic word "tuhat", which means "many" or "much." | |||
| Hungarian | ezer | ||
| The word 'ezer' also means 'a helper or helper army' in Hungarian. | |||
| Latvian | tūkstotis | ||
| The word "tūkstotis" is derived from Proto-Indo-European root *deḱm-tom "ten times hundred". | |||
| Lithuanian | tūkstantis | ||
| The Lithuanian word "tūkstantis" (thousand) derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "*teḱs" (to weave) and shares a common origin with the English "text" and "tissue". | |||
| Macedonian | илјади | ||
| The word "илјади" in Macedonian comes from the Proto-Slavic word *ty̨sǫšta, which also means "thousand" in other Slavic languages. | |||
| Polish | tysiąc | ||
| The word 'tysiąc' comes from the Proto-Slavic word '*tysęšti', which originally meant 'great multitude' or 'a large number'. | |||
| Romanian | mie | ||
| The Romanian word "mie" for "thousand" derives from the Slavic word "tysąсa", which is a cognate of the Russian word "тысяча". | |||
| Russian | тысяча | ||
| The word "тысяча" originally meant "a group of 1000" and was used to count various objects, including people, animals, and goods. | |||
| Serbian | хиљаду | ||
| Хиљаду comes from the Proto-Slavic word "tysiąc", which also meant "ten hundred". | |||
| Slovak | tisíc | ||
| The word "tisíc" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "tysęcь" which also meant "ten hundreds". | |||
| Slovenian | tisoč | ||
| The word "tisoč" also refers to several historical units of volume used for measuring hay and grain. | |||
| Ukrainian | тисяч | ||
| In Ukrainian, "тисяч" is the plural form of the word "тисяча", which means "thousand". | |||
Thousand in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | হাজার | ||
| The word "হাজার" is derived from the Arabic word "ألف" (alif), meaning "thousand". | |||
| Gujarati | હજાર | ||
| The word 'હજાર' ('thousand') in Gujarati is derived from the Sanskrit word 'सहस्र' ('sahasra'), meaning 'thousand' or 'abundance'. | |||
| Hindi | हज़ार | ||
| "हज़ार" is also used to refer to a large number of something, even if it is not exactly a thousand. | |||
| Kannada | ಸಾವಿರ | ||
| Although ಸಾವಿರ (sāvira) is now used almost exclusively to mean "thousand" in colloquial Kannada, it can also mean "army" in archaic usage. | |||
| Malayalam | ആയിരം | ||
| The word "ആയിരം" comes from the Proto-Dravidian word *aruṅkat, which also means "six" in some Dravidian languages. | |||
| Marathi | हजार | ||
| हजार (hazaar) is an Arabic loanword in Marathi, meaning "thousand" and also "very much" or "in abundance." | |||
| Nepali | हजार | ||
| "हजार" (thousand) comes from Persian "hazār" (multitude). | |||
| Punjabi | ਹਜ਼ਾਰ | ||
| ਹਜ਼ਾਰ can also mean a multitude of different things, such as a large group of people or animals, or a vast amount of money. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | දහසක් | ||
| The Sinhala word "දහසක්" has multiple meanings and etymological connections, including "group of ten", "aggregate of many groups", and "gathering of a thousand". | |||
| Tamil | ஆயிரம் | ||
| The word | |||
| Telugu | వెయ్యి | ||
| The word "వెయ్యి" (veyyi) may come from the Dravidian root word "vey" meaning "to count" or "to gather". | |||
| Urdu | ہزار | ||
| The Urdu word "ہزار" can also be used to mean "very much" or "a lot" | |||
Thousand in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 千 | ||
| 千 originates from the ancient Chinese character '干', meaning 'shield' or 'branch'. Subsequently, it was used to represent 'many' or 'large' before designating the numerical value 'thousand'. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 千 | ||
| "千" was not originally a number, it meant to stack or accumulate | |||
| Japanese | 千 | ||
| The character "千" also means "to spread out" or "to stretch out". | |||
| Korean | 천 | ||
| The Korean word "천" can also mean "sky" or "Heaven". | |||
| Mongolian | мянга | ||
| Mongolian "мянга" could also refer to "great," "huge," or "uncountable." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ထောင်ပေါင်းများစွာ | ||
Thousand in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | ribu | ||
| The word "ribu" can also refer to a group of people or things. | |||
| Javanese | sewu | ||
| "Sewu" in Javanese can also mean "evil spirits" or "mysterious beings". | |||
| Khmer | ពាន់ | ||
| "ពាន់" (thousand) is also a measure of paper (a "ream") of approximately 500 sheets, likely because 500 sheets was historically 1/2 of a "thousand" sheets of paper. | |||
| Lao | ພັນ | ||
| The word "ພັນ" can also refer to a specific type of Lao currency during the pre-modern era. | |||
| Malay | ribu | ||
| In Sanskrit, the word "ripu" translates to "enemy", and the Malay word "ribu" may have originated from this, referring to the thousands of enemies faced in ancient warfare. | |||
| Thai | พัน | ||
| The word "พัน" (phan) also has a secondary meaning referring to a type of traditional Thai silk fabric. | |||
| Vietnamese | nghìn | ||
| "Nghìn" and "ngàn" are both Vietnamese words for "thousand," but "nghìn" has an alternate definition as "thousand million (10^12)" which is rarely used. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | libo | ||
Thousand in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | min | ||
| Min is also used in some Azerbaijani dialects to mean "many" or "much". | |||
| Kazakh | мың | ||
| The word "мың" also means "abundance" or "a great quantity" in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | миң | ||
| In Kyrgyz, the word "миң" not only means "thousand" but also refers to a specific administrative unit or region. | |||
| Tajik | ҳазор | ||
| The word "ҳазор" can also refer to a "thousand-headed mythical creature" or a "multitude of people or things" | |||
| Turkmen | müň | ||
| Uzbek | ming | ||
| The Uzbek word "ming" can also refer to an administrative unit or a unit of distance. | |||
| Uyghur | مىڭ | ||
Thousand in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | tausani | ||
| The word "tausani" also means "ten thousand" in Hawaiian. | |||
| Maori | mano | ||
| The term "mano" also refers to groups of 100 or 10, depending on the context | |||
| Samoan | afe | ||
| The word 'afe' can also refer to a large group or collection of people. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | thousand | ||
| In Tagalog, "libo" also means "group of a hundred" or "crowd". | |||
Thousand in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | waranqa | ||
| Guarani | su | ||
Thousand in International Languages
| Esperanto | mil | ||
| The Esperanto word "mil" ultimately derives from the French word "mille," and can also be used to mean "a great number" or "a multitude." | |||
| Latin | milia | ||
| The Latin word 'milia' can also refer to 'a Roman mile' or 'a large number' | |||
Thousand in Others Languages
| Greek | χίλια | ||
| The Greek word "χίλια" not only means "thousand," but also "the millennium". | |||
| Hmong | txhiab | ||
| The word "txhiab" can be used to mean both "thousand" and "large number" in Hmong, with the specific meaning depending on the context in which it is used. | |||
| Kurdish | hezar | ||
| The word "hezar" in Kurdish has Persian and Arabic origins, signifying both "thousand" and "secret". | |||
| Turkish | bin | ||
| Bin, meaning 'thousand' in Turkish, also carries the meanings of 'many' and 'numerous'. | |||
| Xhosa | iwaka | ||
| "Iwaka" in Xhosa shares its root with the Zulu and Nguni word "amawakawaka" meaning "to be many and numerous". | |||
| Yiddish | טויזנט | ||
| "טויזנט" (toyzent) is derived from the Slavic word "tysiąc" (thousand) and also means "a lot" or "an abundance" in Yiddish. | |||
| Zulu | inkulungwane | ||
| Inkukhu is Zulu for bird, so 'inkukhu lungwane' is a 'big bird', ie. an ostrich. | |||
| Assamese | এশ | ||
| Aymara | waranqa | ||
| Bhojpuri | हजार | ||
| Dhivehi | އެއްހާސް | ||
| Dogri | ज्हार | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | libo | ||
| Guarani | su | ||
| Ilocano | sangaribo | ||
| Krio | tawzin | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | هەزار | ||
| Maithili | हजार | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯂꯤꯁꯤꯡ | ||
| Mizo | sangkhat | ||
| Oromo | kuma | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ହଜାରେ | ||
| Quechua | waranqa | ||
| Sanskrit | सहस्रं | ||
| Tatar | мең | ||
| Tigrinya | ሽሕ | ||
| Tsonga | gidi | ||