Unusual in Different Languages
Discover 'Unusual' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 5, 2024
Unusual is a word that piques our curiosity and invites us to explore the unknown. It signifies something that deviates from the norm, something that is extraordinary, rare, or surprising. The cultural importance of unusual cannot be overstated, as it is a concept that transcends borders and languages. It is a word that is used to describe the wonders of the world, the oddities of human behavior, and the mysteries of the universe.
Moreover, understanding the translation of unusual in different languages can provide us with a unique cultural perspective. For instance, in Spanish, unusual translates to 'inusual', which shares the same Latin root as the English word. Meanwhile, in Japanese, the word for unusual is '珍しい' (mezurashii), which also means 'rare' or 'infrequent'. In German, unusual translates to 'ungewöhnlich', which means 'not usual' or 'uncommon'.
By learning the translations of unusual in different languages, we can gain a deeper appreciation for the diversity and richness of human culture. So, let's explore the world of unusual together and discover the beauty of language and culture.
Unusual
Unusual in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | ongewoon | ||
| The Afrikaans word "ongewoon" is derived from the Dutch word "ongewoon", which has the same meaning and is still used in the Netherlands today. | |||
| Amharic | ያልተለመደ | ||
| The word "ያልተለመደ" can also mean "uncommon" or "rare". | |||
| Hausa | sabon abu | ||
| The Hausa word "sabon abu" literally means "new father" but is used to express "unusual". | |||
| Igbo | ihe puru iche | ||
| There are arguments for the existence of an alternative meaning of "ihe puru iche" that connotes beauty. | |||
| Malagasy | mahazatra | ||
| "Mahazatra" is a Malagasy word that can mean either "unusual" or "rare". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zachilendo | ||
| The word "zachilendo" in Nyanja is also used to describe something that is strange or unexpected. | |||
| Shona | kujairika | ||
| "Kujairika" is derived from the verb "kujaira" meaning "to be out of place" or "to be different from the norm. | |||
| Somali | aan caadi ahayn | ||
| Sesotho | e sa tloaelehang | ||
| Swahili | isiyo ya kawaida | ||
| The Swahili word "isiyo ya kawaida" is derived from the negative prefix "isiyo" and the word "kawaida" meaning "custom" or "norm," effectively conveying something outside the realm of the ordinary. | |||
| Xhosa | engaqhelekanga | ||
| The word 'engaqhelekanga' in Xhosa can also refer to something that is rare or extraordinary. | |||
| Yoruba | dani | ||
| Zulu | okungajwayelekile | ||
| The Zulu word 'okungajwayelekile' stems from the root 'okujwayela', meaning 'to be accustomed to', and the negative prefix 'okunga-', indicating the absence of such accustomed behavior. | |||
| Bambara | kɛrɛnkɛrɛnlen | ||
| Ewe | si womekpɔ kpɔ o | ||
| Kinyarwanda | bidasanzwe | ||
| Lingala | esalemaka mingi te | ||
| Luganda | si kya bulijjo | ||
| Sepedi | sa tlwaelegago | ||
| Twi (Akan) | ɛntaa nsi | ||
Unusual in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | غير عادي | ||
| The word "غير عادي" also means "extraordinary" or "exceptional" in Arabic, not just "unusual". | |||
| Hebrew | בלתי שגרתי | ||
| בלתי שגרתי (unusual) מורכב מהמילים 'בלתי' שפירושה שלילה ו'שגרתי' שפירושה רגיל ויום-יומי. | |||
| Pashto | غیر معمولي | ||
| "غیر معمول" is derived from Persian and literally means "different or out of the norm." | |||
| Arabic | غير عادي | ||
| The word "غير عادي" also means "extraordinary" or "exceptional" in Arabic, not just "unusual". | |||
Unusual in Western European Languages
| Albanian | e pazakontë | ||
| The term "e pazakontë" is derived from "pazakon" (custom), meaning that the word can also describe something "against tradition" or "nonconformist." | |||
| Basque | ezohikoa | ||
| The word "ezohikoa" also means "foreign" or "exotic" in Basque, implying something that is out of the ordinary and different from what is customary or familiar. | |||
| Catalan | inusual | ||
| En catalán, la palabra "inusual" también puede significar "fuera de lo común" o "raro." | |||
| Croatian | neobično | ||
| "Neobično" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "neobyčenŭ," meaning "uncommon" or "rare." | |||
| Danish | usædvanlig | ||
| The Danish word "usædvanlig" derives from "sæd", meaning "usual," and "vanlig," meaning "normal," thus literally meaning "not-usually-normal." | |||
| Dutch | ongebruikelijk | ||
| The word "ongebruikelijk" is derived from the Dutch word "gebruik", meaning "use" or "custom", and the suffix "-lijk", which indicates "similar to" or "in accordance with." | |||
| English | unusual | ||
| The word “unusual” originally meant “not customary” in the 16th century, later coming to mean “extraordinary” or “strange”. | |||
| French | inhabituel | ||
| "Inhabituel" comes from the Latin "inhabitabilis," meaning "uninhabitable," and shares a root with "habitat." | |||
| Frisian | ûngewoan | ||
| The Frisian word "ûngewoan" is derived from the Proto-West Germanic word "ungewono", meaning "not accustomed to" or "unaccustomed to". | |||
| Galician | rara | ||
| "Rara" is also a Spanish word referring to a type of flamenco music and a dance performed to that music. | |||
| German | ungewöhnlich | ||
| In German, "ungewöhnlich" also means "not used to" or "out of the ordinary". | |||
| Icelandic | óvenjulegt | ||
| The word "óvenjulegt" (meaning "unusual" in Icelandic) is derived from the words "ó" (meaning "un"), "venja" (meaning "habit"), and "legt" (meaning "like"), and thus literally means "un-habit-like". | |||
| Irish | neamhghnách | ||
| The word 'neamhghnách' is derived from the Irish word 'gnách', meaning 'usual' or 'customary', and the prefix 'neamh-', meaning 'not' or 'without' | |||
| Italian | insolito | ||
| Insolito shares its root with 'solito' ('usual'), deriving from the Latin word 'solere' ('to be accustomed'). | |||
| Luxembourgish | ongewéinlech | ||
| Maltese | mhux tas-soltu | ||
| The word "mhux tas-soltu" literally means "not of the salt" in Maltese. | |||
| Norwegian | uvanlig | ||
| The word “uvanlig” comes from the Middle Low German word “unwanlik”, meaning “bad habit” or “strange behavior”. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | incomum | ||
| The Portuguese word "incomum" originates from the Latin word "incommunis," which means "not shared" or "not common," reflecting its meaning as "unusual" or "out of the ordinary." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | annasach | ||
| The Gaelic word 'annasach' can also mean 'outrageous' or 'daring', highlighting its connection to going beyond the expected. | |||
| Spanish | raro | ||
| The Spanish word "raro" ultimately derives from the Latin "r(a)rus" meaning "countryside". | |||
| Swedish | ovanlig | ||
| Ovanlig, 'unusual' in Swedish, derives from the words "ovan" ('above') and "ligga" ('lie/exist'), implying something uncommon or abnormal. | |||
| Welsh | anarferol | ||
| The Welsh word "anarferol" can also refer to a person who is strange or eccentric. | |||
Unusual in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | незвычайны | ||
| Bosnian | neobično | ||
| The term "neobično" comes from "običan" ('customary'), "ne-" denoting negation, making it "non-customary". Thus, "neobično" also means "non-habitual". | |||
| Bulgarian | необичайно | ||
| The Bulgarian "необичайно" is derived from the Proto-Slavic "ne-obyčьnъ", meaning "not customary." | |||
| Czech | neobvyklý | ||
| The Czech word "neobvyklý" originally meant "not used to" or "not accustomed to". | |||
| Estonian | ebatavaline | ||
| The word "ebatavaline" is derived from the Proto-Finnic word *ĕpta "other, foreign". | |||
| Finnish | epätavallinen | ||
| The word "epätavallinen" literally means "not regular" in Finnish, highlighting its deviation from the norm. | |||
| Hungarian | szokatlan | ||
| The word "szokatlan" derives from the Hungarian word "szokás" meaning "custom", as it refers to something that deviates from the usual practice. | |||
| Latvian | neparasts | ||
| The term “Neparasts” comes from the Latvian word “ne” meaning “not” and “parasts” meaning “usual”. | |||
| Lithuanian | neįprastas | ||
| "Neįprastas" has a second meaning of "impassive", from the Proto-Indo-European word for "not" and "breath". | |||
| Macedonian | необично | ||
| The word "необично" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*neboiti", which means "strange" or "foreign". | |||
| Polish | niezwykły | ||
| The word "niezwykły" in Polish is derived from the Proto-Slavic "ne-zъvyklъ", meaning "not accustomed" or "out of the ordinary." | |||
| Romanian | neobișnuit | ||
| The Romanian word "neobișnuit" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *neobyknovenъ, which means "extraordinary" or "uncommon." | |||
| Russian | необычный | ||
| The Slavic root of "необычный" also appears in English words such as "notion" and "know." | |||
| Serbian | необично | ||
| The word "необично" is derived from the root "об" meaning "around" or "about" and "ично" meaning "individual" or "personal", suggesting something that is "around" or "about" the individual and therefore out of the ordinary. | |||
| Slovak | neobvyklé | ||
| Neobvyklé can also mean extraordinary, remarkable, or uncommon. | |||
| Slovenian | nenavadno | ||
| The word "nenavadno" can also mean "unexpected" or "surprising" in Slovenian. | |||
| Ukrainian | незвичний | ||
| The word "незвичний" is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word "незвичайный," which means "not customary". | |||
Unusual in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | অস্বাভাবিক | ||
| The Sanskrit term "asvabhAva" means "not one's own nature," hence "abnormal," whereas in Bengali "asvAbAbik" denotes "unusual"" | |||
| Gujarati | અસામાન્ય | ||
| The word 'અસામાન્ય' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'सम्यक्' (samyak), meaning 'proper' or 'correct'. It originally meant 'not proper' or 'incorrect', but has come to mean 'unusual' or 'abnormal'. | |||
| Hindi | असामान्य | ||
| The word असामान्य is derived from the Sanskrit word 'asamanya', which also means 'ordinary'. The word has evolved over time to take on the meaning of 'unusual' or 'extraordinary'. | |||
| Kannada | ಅಸಾಮಾನ್ಯ | ||
| Malayalam | അസാധാരണമായത് | ||
| Marathi | असामान्य | ||
| The word 'असामान्य' can also mean 'extraordinary' or 'supernatural' in Marathi. | |||
| Nepali | असामान्य | ||
| The word "असामान्य" (asamaannya) is derived from the Sanskrit words "सम" (sama) meaning "together" and "अन्य" (anya) meaning "other". | |||
| Punjabi | ਅਸਾਧਾਰਣ | ||
| It is derived from two words: 'asadh' (uncommon) and 'aran' (worthwhile). | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | අසාමාන්යයි | ||
| Tamil | அசாதாரணமானது | ||
| Telugu | అసాధారణమైనది | ||
| Urdu | غیر معمولی | ||
| The Arabic word 'ghyr' means 'other' or 'different', and 'mamool' means 'custom' or 'habit'. So, 'ghayr maamool' literally means 'other than custom' or 'different from habit', which is why it is used to mean 'unusual'. | |||
Unusual in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 异常 | ||
| 在汉语中，“异常”一词还可以指“超出正常范围”或“不正常”的状态。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 異常 | ||
| 異常, the Chinese word for "unusual" also means "abnormal" or "anomaly". | |||
| Japanese | 珍しい | ||
| The word 「珍しい」 can mean not only "unusual," but also "a rare treat." | |||
| Korean | 별난 | ||
| The word "별난" can also mean "different" or "strange". | |||
| Mongolian | ер бусын | ||
| In Mongolian, | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ပုံမှန်မဟုတ်သော | ||
Unusual in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | luar biasa | ||
| The phrase comes from Malay where it denotes 'outside (the limit of what is) regular'. | |||
| Javanese | mboten umum | ||
| The Javanese word "mboten umum" can also mean "not common" or "rare". | |||
| Khmer | មិនធម្មតា | ||
| Lao | ຜິດປົກກະຕິ | ||
| Malay | tidak biasa | ||
| Tidak biasa is an Indonesian phrase meaning "unlike others" that also holds meanings of "extraordinary, unique, or uncommon," reflecting the word's etymological roots. | |||
| Thai | ผิดปกติ | ||
| ผิดปกติ is an antonym of ปกติ, which derives from Sanskrit and means "normal, regular, natural". | |||
| Vietnamese | bất thường | ||
| "Bất thường" (unusual) shares its root word with the word "thường" (regular), meaning it literally means "not regular". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | hindi karaniwan | ||
Unusual in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | qeyri-adi | ||
| The Azerbaijani word "qeyri-adi" ("unusual") is derived from Persian "qeyr" ("other") and "adi" ("normal"). | |||
| Kazakh | ерекше | ||
| The word "ерекше" also means "unexpected" or "abnormal" in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | адаттан тыш | ||
| The term "адаттан тыш" comes from the Arabic word "ada" meaning custom or tradition, and the Persian word "tash" meaning outside or contrary to. | |||
| Tajik | ғайриоддӣ | ||
| Turkmen | adaty däl | ||
| Uzbek | g'ayrioddiy | ||
| Uyghur | ئادەتتىن تاشقىرى | ||
Unusual in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻano ʻē | ||
| This term may also be used to refer to an action carried by an agent that is not usually carried out by them. | |||
| Maori | rerekē | ||
| The word "rerekē" has alternate meanings which include "different", "strange", and "novel". | |||
| Samoan | ese | ||
| "Ese" can also be a phrase to describe something that is unanticipated or unexpected. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | hindi karaniwan | ||
| The Tagalog word "hindi karaniwan" literally means "not common", indicating something that is out of the ordinary. | |||
Unusual in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | janapanaqaña | ||
| Guarani | ojehecharamóva | ||
Unusual in International Languages
| Esperanto | nekutima | ||
| Latin | insolitam | ||
| Insolitam literally translates to 'not accustomed' | |||
Unusual in Others Languages
| Greek | ασυνήθης | ||
| The word "ασυνήθης" (asynithis) in Greek means "unusual," but it also has the connotation of "unfamiliar" or "strange." | |||
| Hmong | txawv txawv | ||
| The Hmong word "txawv txawv" (unusual) comes from the Proto-Hmong-Mien root for "change or deviation" which is also related to the word for "different or abnormal" and the word for "strange or foreign" in several modern Hmongic languages. | |||
| Kurdish | nefêr | ||
| The word "nefêr" in Kurdish also means "extravagant" or "outstanding". | |||
| Turkish | alışılmadık | ||
| Etymology: 'alış': habit, 'ılma': becoming, '-dık': negative nominal suffix. 'Alışılmadık' literally means 'not becoming a habit'. | |||
| Xhosa | engaqhelekanga | ||
| The word 'engaqhelekanga' in Xhosa can also refer to something that is rare or extraordinary. | |||
| Yiddish | ומגעוויינטלעך | ||
| Zulu | okungajwayelekile | ||
| The Zulu word 'okungajwayelekile' stems from the root 'okujwayela', meaning 'to be accustomed to', and the negative prefix 'okunga-', indicating the absence of such accustomed behavior. | |||
| Assamese | অসাধাৰণ | ||
| Aymara | janapanaqaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | असामान्य | ||
| Dhivehi | އާދަޔާ ޚިލާފު | ||
| Dogri | नराला | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | hindi karaniwan | ||
| Guarani | ojehecharamóva | ||
| Ilocano | saan a kadawyan | ||
| Krio | strenj | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | نائاسایی | ||
| Maithili | असामान्य | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯇꯣꯏꯅ ꯊꯣꯛꯇꯕ | ||
| Mizo | pangngai lo | ||
| Oromo | kan hin baratamin | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ଅସାମାନ୍ୟ | ||
| Quechua | mana riqsisqa | ||
| Sanskrit | अनित्य | ||
| Tatar | гадәти булмаган | ||
| Tigrinya | ዘይተለመደ | ||
| Tsonga | tolovelekangi | ||