Use in different languages

Use in Different Languages

Discover 'Use' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.

Updated on March 6, 2024

The word 'use' is a small but powerful part of our everyday vocabulary. It signifies the act of utilizing something for a specific purpose or benefit. From a practical standpoint, 'use' is essential in our daily lives, as we constantly employ objects, tools, and skills for various tasks.

Beyond its functional significance, the concept of 'use' carries rich cultural importance. For instance, in many Eastern philosophies, the idea of non-attachment teaches that objects, relationships, and even our own selves should not be clung to, but rather used wisely and then released. This perspective highlights the importance of using resources mindfully and efficiently.

Given the global reach of the English language, understanding the translation of 'use' in different languages can be both enlightening and practical. For example, in Spanish, 'use' translates to 'uso', while in French, it becomes 'usage'. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for 'use' is '使用' (shǐ yòng).

In the sections below, we delve deeper into the translations of 'use' in various languages, shedding light on the fascinating cultural nuances that underpin this simple yet profound term.

Use

Use in Sub-Saharan African Languages

Afrikaansgebruik
"Gebruik" in Afrikaans can also mean "custom," "habit," or "usage."
Amharicአጠቃቀም
አጠቃቀም can also refer to an object's utility or value.
Hausaamfani
"A amfani da shi" can also mean to make use
Igbojiri
jiri also means 'do or make' and is related to the word ji 'to be', and in Igbo philosophy, use or making is synonymous to being.
Malagasyampiasao
The word "Ampiasao" shares a Proto-Austronesian root with the Tagalog word "gamit", meaning "tool, equipment," which implies that "use" in Malagasy may originally have meant the application of a tool.
Nyanja (Chichewa)gwiritsani
The word "gwiritsani" (use) can also mean "employ," "utilize," or "avail oneself of."
Shonashandisa
The word "shandisa" can also mean "to make use of" or "to apply" in Shona.
Somaliisticmaal
The word "isticmaal" has been in use in Somali since at least the 19th century, and was borrowed from Arabic via Swahili.
Sesothosebedisa
The word "sebedisa" can also mean "to operate" or "to work with" in Sesotho.
Swahilitumia
The word "tumia" in Swahili can also refer to the act of sending or applying something.
Xhosasebenzisa
In Xhosa, 'sebenzisa' can also mean 'to treat' or 'to behave towards' someone
Yorubalilo
Lilo can also mean 'to take care of' or 'to maintain' in Yoruba.
Zulusebenzisa
The Zulu word "sebenzisa" is thought to originally refer to a process resembling the act of chewing or grinding, similar to the Nguni word "senga" or "shenga".
Bambarak'a nafa bɔ a la
Ewezã
Kinyarwandakoresha
Lingalakosalela
Lugandaomugaso
Sepedišomiša
Twi (Akan)fa di dwuma

Use in North African & Middle Eastern Languages

Arabicاستعمال
The word "استعمال" in Arabic can also refer to "treatment" or "consumption."
Hebrewלהשתמש
The term “להשתמש” can also denote “apply”, “put in use”, “exercise”, “operate”, “reach”, “exploit”, and more.
Pashtoکارول
In addition to "use," "کارول" can also mean "work," "function," or "application."
Arabicاستعمال
The word "استعمال" in Arabic can also refer to "treatment" or "consumption."

Use in Western European Languages

Albanianpërdorim
"Përdorim" is derived from the Latin word "usus", meaning "use, custom, or practice."
Basqueerabili
The word "erabili" also carries the meanings "benefit," "comfort," and "utility."
Catalanús
The Catalan word "ús" derives from the Latin word "usus", which means "custom, practice, or habit."
Croatiankoristiti
The word 'koristiti' is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *korь, meaning 'profit' or 'benefit'.
Danishbrug
In Norwegian, "brug" can mean both "use" and "bridge."
Dutchgebruik
The Dutch word "gebruik" also has the meaning "custom" and derives from the Middle Dutch "ghebruken", meaning "to enjoy, have pleasure in, use."
Englishuse
The word “use” can derive from “utī” or “ūsus,” from Proto-Indo-European “h₁ews-”. In Latin, this gave rise to “utī” (“to make use of,” “to employ, utilize,” “to be accustomed”)}
Frenchutilisation
The French word "utilisation" originates from the Latin word "utilis", meaning "useful" or "advantageous".
Frisianbrûke
Galicianuso
The Galician word “uso” is related to its Spanish counterpart, but it can also mean “custom” or “habit”.
Germanverwenden
The verb 'verwenden' also has the meaning 'to apply', e.g. 'die Flüssigkeit auf die Wunde ~'.
Icelandicnota
In addition to its primary meaning of "use", "nota" can also refer to "enjoyment", "benefit", or "profit".
Irishúsáid
The word "úsáid" in Irish ultimately derives from the Vulgar Latin word "usātaticus" meaning "pertaining to use," which in turn derives from the Latin word "usus" meaning "use."
Italianuso
The word "uso" in Italian can also refer to a custom, habit, or tradition.
Luxembourgishbenotzen
"Benotzen" is derived from the Romance root "*benedicere" meaning "to bless" and is cognate with French "bénir" "to bless" and "bénédiction" "blessing".
Malteseużu
The word "użu" is derived from the Arabic word "istikhdam" and can also refer to "employment" or "practice".
Norwegianbruk
The Norwegian word "bruk" is ultimately derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰrew-, meaning "to cook" or "boil".
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil)usar
The Portuguese word "usar" can also mean "to wear" or "to use up".
Scots Gaeliccleachdadh
The Scots Gaelic word "cleachdadh" derives from the Old Irish "clecht" meaning "practice" or "procedure".
Spanishutilizar
The verb "utilizar" is derived from the Latin word "uti" (to use), which also gave rise to the English word "utility".
Swedishanvända sig av
In addition to "use," "använda sig av" also means "to utilize" and "to employ."
Welshdefnyddio

Use in Eastern European Languages

Belarusianвыкарыстоўваць
Bosniankoristiti
The word 'koristiti' can also mean 'to utilize' or 'to apply'.
Bulgarianизползване
The Bulgarian word "използване" also has the meaning of "spending".
Czechpoužití
The word "použití" is related to the word "pouštět" which means "to let go" or "to release".
Estoniankasutamine
The word 'kasutamine' derives from the verb 'kasutama' (to use, to employ), which is ultimately rooted in the Proto-Uralic verb *käyd- ('to go').
Finnishkäyttää
Käyttää also means "to operate" or "to utilize", and is derived from the verb "käydä" ("to go, to visit").
Hungarianhasználat
The word "használat" (use) is derived from the Proto-Uralic word *käts-, meaning "hand, use, power, authority."
Latvianizmantot
The word "izmantot" also means "to exploit" and is derived from the Russian word "использовать" (ispol'zovat), meaning "to use" or "to take advantage of".
Lithuaniannaudoti
Possibly derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *newd- ("to take, to give") and cognate with Latin nauta ("sailor") and Sanskrit nau ("ship").
Macedonianупотреба
The word "употреба" can also refer to the act of using a substance, especially in a recreational context.
Polishposługiwać się
The word "posługiwać się" can also mean "to serve" or "to minister to" in Polish.
Romanianutilizare
"Utilizare" in Romanian can also refer to "consumption," "utilization," or "usage".
Russianиспользовать
Использовать can also mean "to apply" (e.g. "to apply paint").
Serbianупотреба
The word "употреба" is also used in Serbian to refer to a "consumption" or "utility".
Slovakpoužitie
Slovenianuporaba
The word 'uporaba' derives from the Slavic root 'rab-' meaning 'to work' and originally referred to any kind of activity.
Ukrainianвикористання
The Ukrainian word

Use in South Asian Languages

Bengaliব্যবহার
ব্যবহার' শব্দটি সংস্কৃত ব্যুৎপত্তি 'व्यवहार' থেকে এসেছে, যার আসল অর্থ 'ব্যবসা' বা 'व्यवस्था' (व्यव + हार)
Gujaratiવાપરવુ
The Gujarati word "વાપરવુ" derives from the Sanskrit root "वृष्" (vr̥ṣ) meaning "to rain" or "to sprinkle", and has alternate meanings of "to apply", "to employ", and "to utilize".
Hindiउपयोग
उपयोग (use) is derived from the Sanskrit word 'upyog', which also means 'benefit' or 'application'.
Kannadaಬಳಕೆ
The verb 'ಬಳಕೆ' can also mean 'to wear' or 'to practice', indicating its broad range of applications.
Malayalamഉപയോഗം
The word "ഉപയോഗം" can also refer to "employment" or "service" in Malayalam.
Marathiवापरा
The Marathi word 'वापरा' (vaapara), meaning 'to use,' shares a root with the Sanskrit verb 'अपराव्' (aparāv), which means 'to turn to, apply, or employ.'
Nepaliप्रयोग गर्नुहोस्
Punjabiਵਰਤਣ
The Punjabi word ਵਰਤਣ can also mean 'to wear' or 'to apply' something.
Sinhala (Sinhalese)භාවිත
The term භාවිත may also imply "practice," "method," "habit," or "application" in certain contexts.
Tamilபயன்பாடு
Teluguవా డు
This word has meanings like: to use, to utilize, to put into practice, to employ, to apply, to serve, to behave, to act.
Urduاستعمال کریں

Use in East Asian Languages

Chinese (Simplified)使用
使用 (shǐyòng), which literally means "to use for" or "to make use of," can also mean "to consume" or "to adopt."
Chinese (Traditional)採用
採用（yòngyòng）本亦作「擁擁」，意為擁抱、支持，如「擁護」、「擁軍」。
Japanese使用する
使用する is the verb form of 使用, and its literal meaning is not “to use,” but “to cause to use.”
Korean사용하다
Mongolianашиглах
The word "ашиглах" is derived from the Old Turkic word "аšyğ" meaning "weapon" or "tool".
Myanmar (Burmese)အသုံးပြုသည်

Use in South East Asian Languages

Indonesianmenggunakan
Menggunakan is also used to express possession, such as "mobil menggunakan saya" ("the car is mine").
Javanesenggunakake
The word "nggunakake" can also mean "to apply" or "to utilize" in Javanese.
Khmerប្រើ
The word "ប្រើ" (pronounced as bru) can also have the connotation of "to make use of", which can be seen in the phrase: ប្រើរបស់គេ (to make use of someone's belongings)
Laoການນໍາໃຊ້
Malaymenggunakan
In Malay, 'menggunakan' can also refer to the consumption of food or resources.
Thaiใช้
The Thai word 'ใช้' means 'use' but can also mean 'spend', 'apply' or 'utilize', depending on the context.
Vietnamesesử dụng
The word "sử dụng" derives from Chinese characters meaning "to command" and has the alternate meaning of "to employ".
Filipino (Tagalog)gamitin

Use in Central Asian Languages

Azerbaijaniistifadə edin
The verb
Kazakhпайдалану
The Kazakh word "пайдалану" can also refer to the process of extracting value or utility from something.
Kyrgyzколдонуу
The word "колдонуу" can also mean "apply" or "employ" in Kyrgyz.
Tajikистифода бурдан
The term "истифода бурдан" in Tajik, meaning "use", also has alternate meanings such as "utilize", "employ", and "make use of".
Turkmenulanmak
Uzbekfoydalanish
The Uzbek word "foydalanish" has a similar etymological root to the Uyghur word "paylanish," which also means "use."
Uyghuruse

Use in Pacific Languages

Hawaiianhoʻohana
Maoriwhakamahi
In Maori,
Samoanfaʻaaoga
Faʻaaoga can also mean "usage" or "application."
Tagalog (Filipino)gamitin
"Gamitin" derives from the Proto-Austronesian root "*gamit", which also means "to take" or "to hold."

Use in American Indigenous Languages

Aymaraapnaqaña
Guaraniporu

Use in International Languages

Esperantouzi
The word
Latinusus
The Latin word 'usus' means both 'use' and 'law' or 'custom' in the sense of established social norms.

Use in Others Languages

Greekχρήση
The Greek word "χρήση" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*ker-yo- ("to make, do")", and can also mean "action, behavior" or "practice."
Hmongsiv
The word "siv" can also mean "to be used to" or "to be accustomed to".
Kurdishbikaranîn
The word "bikaranîn" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*bʰerǵʰ-", meaning "to carry" or "to bring".
Turkishkullanım
Kullanim (use) originates from the Persian word 'istihdam', which also means 'employment' in Turkish.
Xhosasebenzisa
In Xhosa, 'sebenzisa' can also mean 'to treat' or 'to behave towards' someone
Yiddishנוצן
The Yiddish word "נוצן" ("use") derives from the German "nutzen" (benefit), which in turn comes from the Old High German "nuzzi" (good).
Zulusebenzisa
The Zulu word "sebenzisa" is thought to originally refer to a process resembling the act of chewing or grinding, similar to the Nguni word "senga" or "shenga".
Assameseব্যৱহাৰ
Aymaraapnaqaña
Bhojpuriउपयोग
Dhivehiބޭނުންކުރުން
Dogriबरतून
Filipino (Tagalog)gamitin
Guaraniporu
Ilocanousaren
Krioyuz
Kurdish (Sorani)بەکارهێنان
Maithiliइस्तेमाल
Meiteilon (Manipuri)ꯁꯤꯖꯤꯟꯅꯕ
Mizohmang
Oromofayyadamuu
Odia (Oriya)ବ୍ୟବହାର କରନ୍ତୁ |
Quechuahapiy
Sanskritउपयुञ्जताम्‌
Tatarкуллану
Tigrinyaጥቅሚ
Tsongatirhisa

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