University in Different Languages
Discover 'University' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 5, 2024
The word university holds a special significance in many cultures, symbolizing the pursuit of knowledge and personal growth. Originating in the 13th century, the term 'university' is derived from the Latin 'universitas magistrorum et scholarium,' meaning 'community of teachers and scholars.' This reflects the collective nature of learning and knowledge-sharing that takes place within these institutions.
Throughout history, universities have been instrumental in advancing human understanding, fostering innovation, and shaping societies. From the ancient universities of Bologna, Oxford, and Paris to the Ivy League institutions of the United States, these centers of learning have produced countless influential thinkers, leaders, and change-makers.
Understanding the translation of 'university' in different languages can be both fascinating and practical. Whether you're traveling, studying abroad, or simply interested in language and culture, knowing these terms can enrich your experiences and demonstrate respect for the local community.
Here are a few sample translations to pique your curiosity:
- French: université
- Spanish: universidad
- German: Universität
- Mandarin: 大学 (dàxué)
- Japanese: 大学 (daigaku)
- Russian: университет (universitet)
University
University in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | universiteit | ||
| In Afrikaans, "universiteit" comes from the Latin word "universitas," meaning "corporation" or "community". | |||
| Amharic | ዩኒቨርሲቲ | ||
| The word 'ዩኒቨርሲቲ' is derived from the Latin word 'universitas', which means 'a whole' or 'a guild'. | |||
| Hausa | jami'a | ||
| Hausa universities, also known as jami'a, have a long history dating back to the Sokoto Caliphate in the 19th century. | |||
| Igbo | mahadum | ||
| 'Mahadum' is an Igbo word meaning 'great house', likely influenced by the English 'university'. The plural form is 'mahadum' for both a singular and multiple number of universities. | |||
| Malagasy | oniversite | ||
| The word 'Oniversite' in Malagasy is derived from the French word 'université' | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | yunivesite | ||
| In Nyanja, 'yunivesite' is also used to denote a university campus, and can refer to any institution of higher learning. | |||
| Shona | yunivhesiti | ||
| The term 'yunivhesiti' in Shona originates from the Latin 'universitas', meaning a community of scholars. | |||
| Somali | jaamacad | ||
| The word "jaamacad" in Somali is derived from the Arabic word "jāmiʿa", which means "assembly" or "gathering". | |||
| Sesotho | univesithi | ||
| "Yunivesithi" is the Sesotho word for university and is derived from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "community of scholars." | |||
| Swahili | chuo kikuu | ||
| The term 'chuo kikuu', Swahili for university' is believed to have been coined in the 21st century by joining two Swahili terms, "Chuo", which means college and "kikuu", meaning "big". | |||
| Xhosa | eyunivesithi | ||
| In Xhosa, "eyunivesithi" also signifies a place where elders gather to engage with young individuals and impart wisdom and guidance. | |||
| Yoruba | yunifasiti | ||
| The word 'yunifasiti' is derived from the Latin word 'universitas', meaning 'a whole' or 'a body of people'. | |||
| Zulu | inyuvesi | ||
| The word "inyuvesi" is derived from the Zulu word "ivesi", meaning "place of learning", and was originally used to describe traditional schools where young men were taught hunting, warcraft, and other skills needed for adulthood. | |||
| Bambara | kalansoba | ||
| Ewe | yunivesiti | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kaminuza | ||
| Lingala | iniversite | ||
| Luganda | yunivasite | ||
| Sepedi | yunibesithi | ||
| Twi (Akan) | suapɔn | ||
University in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | جامعة | ||
| The word "جامعة" can also mean "society" or "group" in Arabic. | |||
| Hebrew | אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה | ||
| The word "אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה" (university) is derived from the Latin word "universitas", which means "a whole" or "a set of all". | |||
| Pashto | پوهنتون | ||
| Arabic | جامعة | ||
| The word "جامعة" can also mean "society" or "group" in Arabic. | |||
University in Western European Languages
| Albanian | universitet | ||
| The Albanian word "universitet" derives from Latin "universitas" and also means "totality" or "commonwealth". | |||
| Basque | unibertsitatea | ||
| The Basque word "unibertsitatea" derives from the Latin words "universus" (whole) and "universitas" (all), signifying "the whole world" or "the total body of knowledge". | |||
| Catalan | universitat | ||
| The Catalan word 'universitat' derives from the Latin 'universitas', meaning 'community' or 'corporation'. | |||
| Croatian | sveučilište | ||
| The word "sveučilište" derives from the Old Church Slavonic word "sveštĭ", meaning "sacred" and "učitĭ", meaning "to teach". | |||
| Danish | universitet | ||
| The word "universitet" is derived from the Latin word "universitas", which means "a whole" or "a community". | |||
| Dutch | universiteit | ||
| "Universiteit" shares an origin with "Universe" and comes from the Latin word "Universus" meaning "all" or "whole". | |||
| English | university | ||
| The word | |||
| French | université | ||
| "Université" is the French word for "university" and traces its roots back to the Latin word "universitas," which referred to a "whole" or a "body." | |||
| Frisian | universiteit | ||
| The word "universiteit" in Frisian is derived from the Latin "universitas", meaning "a community of scholars". | |||
| Galician | universidade | ||
| The Galician word "universidade" ultimately derives from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "a whole" or "a corporation." | |||
| German | universität | ||
| In Middle Low German, | |||
| Icelandic | háskóli | ||
| The word "háskóli" is derived from the Old Norse words "hás" (temple) and "kóli" (hill). | |||
| Irish | ollscoile | ||
| "Ollscoile" literally means "place of great knowledge" or "school of a sage" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | università | ||
| In Italian, Università also means the entire student body of a university or a specific faculty within a university. | |||
| Luxembourgish | uni | ||
| In Luxembourgish 'Uni' can also mean 'unicorn'. | |||
| Maltese | università | ||
| "Università" comes from the Latin "universitas", but it can also mean "society" or "commonwealth" in Maltese. | |||
| Norwegian | universitet | ||
| The word "universitet" comes from the Latin "universitas," meaning "a community of scholars pursuing a common purpose." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | universidade | ||
| The word "universidade" comes from the Latin word "universitas", which means "the whole" or "all things." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | oilthigh | ||
| The term "oilthigh" in Scots Gaelic stems from the Irish "oileán", meaning "island", and initially referred to a place of sanctuary or higher learning. | |||
| Spanish | universidad | ||
| The word "Universidad" originally meant the entire community of scholars and students in a medieval city. | |||
| Swedish | universitet | ||
| The word universitet comes from the Latin universitas, meaning a corporation or a community. | |||
| Welsh | prifysgol | ||
| The Welsh word "prifysgol" derives from the Latin "primus" ("first") and the Greek "scholē" ("leisure"), reflecting the historical association of universities with the pursuit of knowledge and higher learning. | |||
University in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | універсітэт | ||
| The word "універсітэт" in Belarusian comes from the Latin "universitas", meaning "a community of teachers and students". It was first used in the 15th century, when the first university in Belarus was founded in Vilnius. | |||
| Bosnian | univerzitet | ||
| The word "univerzitet" derives from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "the whole" or "the totality". | |||
| Bulgarian | университет | ||
| The word "университет", like its English cognate "university," ultimately derives from the Latin word "universitas," meaning "universality" or "whole community." | |||
| Czech | univerzita | ||
| The word "univerzita" in Czech shares its Latin root with the concept of the "universe". | |||
| Estonian | ülikool | ||
| The word "ülikool" comes from German "Universität" but the first university in Estonia was founded in 1632 under Swedish rule and named in Latin "Academia Gustaviana". | |||
| Finnish | yliopisto | ||
| The Finnish word 'yliopisto' is derived from the Latin 'universitas', which originally referred to corporations of scholars or guilds. | |||
| Hungarian | egyetemi | ||
| "Egyetemi" originates from Latin "universitas", referring to guilds or corporations, and was first used for educational institutions in the 13th century. | |||
| Latvian | universitāte | ||
| "Universitāte" is an archaic word in Latvian that derives from the Latin "universitas," meaning "the whole", and refers to a corporation or community." | |||
| Lithuanian | universitetas | ||
| The Latin term “universitas” referred to the body of professors and students of a particular learned discipline | |||
| Macedonian | универзитет | ||
| The word "универзитет" comes from the Latin word "universitas", which originally meant "a guild" or "a corporation". | |||
| Polish | uniwersytet | ||
| In Polish, the word "Uniwersytet" comes from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "a whole composed of parts". | |||
| Romanian | universitate | ||
| The word "universitate" in Romanian ultimately derives from the Latin "universitas," which originally meant "the whole," "totality," or "the universe". | |||
| Russian | университет | ||
| The Russian word 'Университет' originates from the Latin 'universitas', meaning 'a whole' or 'a community'. | |||
| Serbian | универзитет | ||
| The Serbo-Croatian equivalent of the English | |||
| Slovak | univerzita | ||
| The word 'univerzita' in Slovak comes from the Latin word 'universitas', meaning 'community' or 'corporation'. | |||
| Slovenian | univerza | ||
| The word 'univerza' in Slovenian comes from the Latin word 'universitas', which means 'a whole', 'a collection', or 'a community'. | |||
| Ukrainian | університет | ||
| The word "університет" also means "universe" in Ukrainian, coming from the Latin "universitas" meaning "the whole" or "everything". | |||
University in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় | ||
| The Bengali word "বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়" can also refer to a collection of scholars or a community of teachers and students. | |||
| Gujarati | યુનિવર્સિટી | ||
| Hindi | विश्वविद्यालय | ||
| The word 'विश्वविद्यालय' is derived from Sanskrit and literally means 'universal knowledge' or 'global learning'. | |||
| Kannada | ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾಲಯ | ||
| Malayalam | സർവ്വകലാശാല | ||
| The word സർവ്വകലാശാല in Malayalam is a compound word derived from the Sanskrit words, "sarva" meaning "all" and "kalāśāla" meaning "seat of learning", hence, "university." | |||
| Marathi | विद्यापीठ | ||
| The word also means 'a college or school of learning' and is derived from Sanskrit, where 'vidya' means 'knowledge' and 'peeth' means 'seat'. | |||
| Nepali | विश्वविद्यालय | ||
| The word "विश्वविद्यालय" is derived from the Sanskrit words "विश्व" (world) and "विद्यालय" (school), and it also means "global school" or "school of the world". | |||
| Punjabi | ਯੂਨੀਵਰਸਿਟੀ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | විශ්ව විද්යාලය | ||
| Tamil | பல்கலைக்கழகம் | ||
| Telugu | విశ్వవిద్యాలయ | ||
| Urdu | جامع درس گاہ | ||
University in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 大学 | ||
| In ancient Chinese, "大学" (dàxué) referred to the highest learning institution, while in modern Chinese it refers to a comprehensive higher education institution. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 大學 | ||
| 大學 also stands for the first of the Four Books and Five Classics, the "Great Learning" in English. | |||
| Japanese | 大学 | ||
| "大学" is a Sino-Japanese compound word comprised of "大" (great) and "学" (learning). | |||
| Korean | 대학 | ||
| The word | |||
| Mongolian | их сургууль | ||
| In Mongolian, Их сургууль comes from "Их" meaning "great" or "senior" and "сургууль" meaning "teaching" or "school." | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | တက္ကသိုလ် | ||
University in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | universitas | ||
| Kata Universitas berasal dari kata Latin "universitas" yang berarti "keseluruhan" atau "semua". | |||
| Javanese | universitas | ||
| Javanese word 'univesitas' (originally from 'universitas' in Latin) also refers to the general assembly and council of an organization | |||
| Khmer | សាកលវិទ្យាល័យ | ||
| The word | |||
| Lao | ມະຫາວິທະຍາໄລ | ||
| The literal translation into English and the original Sanskrit meaning is “great house of knowledge”. | |||
| Malay | universiti | ||
| The word 'universiti' in Malay ultimately comes from the Latin word 'universitas', meaning 'a whole' or 'a group'. | |||
| Thai | มหาวิทยาลัย | ||
| The word มหาวิทยาลัย (university) is derived from two Sanskrit words: महा (maha), meaning "great" or "large," and विद्यालय (vidyalaya), meaning "school" or "place of learning." | |||
| Vietnamese | trường đại học | ||
| The word "trường đại học" literally translates to "field of great learning" | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | unibersidad | ||
University in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | universitet | ||
| The word | |||
| Kazakh | университет | ||
| The Kazakh word “университет” is borrowed from the Russian and originally comes from the Latin language, where the word “universitas” means “a whole”, “a set”, or “a community”. | |||
| Kyrgyz | университет | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "университет" comes from the Latin word "universitas", which means "a community of scholars". | |||
| Tajik | донишгоҳ | ||
| The word "донишгоҳ" in Tajik comes from the Persian word "دانشگاه" (dāneshgāh), which means "house of knowledge". | |||
| Turkmen | uniwersiteti | ||
| Uzbek | universitet | ||
| Universitet derives from the Latin word "universitas," meaning "a whole" or "guild." | |||
| Uyghur | ئۇنىۋېرسىتېت | ||
University in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | kulanui | ||
| The word "kulanui" is also used to refer to a meeting house, a community center, or a school. | |||
| Maori | whare wananga | ||
| "Whare wananga" (university) translates to "house of knowledge" in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | iunivesite | ||
| The Samoan word "iunivesite" is derived from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "a whole" or "a community of scholars". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | unibersidad | ||
| The word "unibersidad" is derived from the Latin word "universitas" which means "whole" or "all together". | |||
University in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jach'a yatiqañ uta | ||
| Guarani | mbo'ehaovusu | ||
University in International Languages
| Esperanto | universitato | ||
| The Esperanto word "universitato" is derived from the Latin word "universitas", which originally meant a guild or corporation. | |||
| Latin | vniuersitatis | ||
| The word "vniuersitatis" in Latin derives from "universus," meaning "of the whole, or entire," and refers to the community of scholars and students within a university. | |||
University in Others Languages
| Greek | πανεπιστήμιο | ||
| The word 'πανεπιστήμιο' is derived from the Ancient Greek words 'πᾶν' (all) and 'ἐπιστήμη' (knowledge), and originally referred to any place of higher learning. | |||
| Hmong | tsev kawm ntawv | ||
| Kurdish | zanko | ||
| In Kurdish, "zanko" also refers to a group of people who have gathered for a specific purpose, such as a meeting or a gathering. | |||
| Turkish | üniversite | ||
| The Turkish word "Üniversite" is derived from the French "université". It also has the alternate meaning of "a group of scholars". | |||
| Xhosa | eyunivesithi | ||
| In Xhosa, "eyunivesithi" also signifies a place where elders gather to engage with young individuals and impart wisdom and guidance. | |||
| Yiddish | אוניווערסיטעט | ||
| The Yiddish word "אוניווערסיטעט" (university) is derived from the Latin word "universitas", meaning "the whole" or "the community". | |||
| Zulu | inyuvesi | ||
| The word "inyuvesi" is derived from the Zulu word "ivesi", meaning "place of learning", and was originally used to describe traditional schools where young men were taught hunting, warcraft, and other skills needed for adulthood. | |||
| Assamese | বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় | ||
| Aymara | jach'a yatiqañ uta | ||
| Bhojpuri | विश्वविद्यालय | ||
| Dhivehi | ޔުނިވަރސިޓީ | ||
| Dogri | यूनिवर्सटी | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | unibersidad | ||
| Guarani | mbo'ehaovusu | ||
| Ilocano | unibersidad | ||
| Krio | yunivasiti | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | زانکۆ | ||
| Maithili | विश्वविद्यालय | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯥꯏꯕꯪ ꯃꯍꯩꯀꯣꯜ | ||
| Mizo | zirna sang | ||
| Oromo | yuunivarsitii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ | ||
| Quechua | hatun yachay wasi | ||
| Sanskrit | विश्वविद्यालयं | ||
| Tatar | университет | ||
| Tigrinya | ዩኒቨርሲቲ | ||
| Tsonga | yunivhesiti | ||