Waste in Different Languages
Discover 'Waste' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'waste' carries significant meaning in our daily lives, reminding us of the importance of resource management and environmental sustainability. Its cultural impact is evident in various contexts, from literature to art, where it symbolizes excess and negligence. Understanding its translation in different languages can provide valuable insights into how different cultures perceive and address the issue.
For instance, in Spanish, 'waste' translates to 'basura', a term that also refers to 'garbage' in English. In French, 'déchet' is the equivalent, reflecting the importance of waste management in the language. Meanwhile, in Japanese, 'waste' is 'garbage' or 'haikibutsu', highlighting the country's commitment to recycling and reducing waste.
Join us as we explore the translations of 'waste' in various languages, shedding light on the cultural nuances and significance of this important term.
Waste
Waste in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | afval | ||
| The word "afval" in Afrikaans is derived from the Dutch word "afval" which means "waste", "garbage", or "refuse" and can also refer to a "byproduct" or "residue". | |||
| Amharic | ብክነት | ||
| "ብክነት" can also be used to describe someone or something that is useless or without value. | |||
| Hausa | sharar gida | ||
| Sharar gida (Hausa) is also a term used for kitchen sweepings, indicating its connection to the concept of waste disposal. | |||
| Igbo | n'efu | ||
| Malagasy | mandany | ||
| The word "mandany" also means "garbage" and "leftovers" in Malagasy. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | zinyalala | ||
| "Zinyalala" also means "a thing not properly done" | |||
| Shona | marara | ||
| The word "marara" also refers to a type of traditional African beer brewed from millet or sorghum. | |||
| Somali | qashin | ||
| Sesotho | litšila | ||
| Swahili | taka | ||
| The word "taka" also means "to spoil or damage" in Swahili. | |||
| Xhosa | inkunkuma | ||
| The word "inkunkuma" can also refer to a large quantity or abundance of something, similar to the English word "heap" or "abundance" | |||
| Yoruba | egbin | ||
| "Egbin" can also refer to a type of masquerade in Yoruba culture, or to a type of plant used in traditional medicine. | |||
| Zulu | imfucuza | ||
| The Zulu word 'imfucuza' derives from the verb 'fukuza,' meaning 'to chase away' or 'to squander.' | |||
| Bambara | ka tiɲɛ | ||
| Ewe | gbeɖuɖᴐ | ||
| Kinyarwanda | imyanda | ||
| Lingala | mbindo | ||
| Luganda | kasassiro | ||
| Sepedi | ditlakala | ||
| Twi (Akan) | sɛe | ||
Waste in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | المخلفات | ||
| المخلفات (al-makhlafat) is derived from the verb خَلَفَ (khalafa), meaning "to come after". Thus, it refers to "that which remains" or "residues". | |||
| Hebrew | בזבוז | ||
| Pashto | ضیاع | ||
| The Pashto word "ضیاع" also means "farmland" and "village". | |||
| Arabic | المخلفات | ||
| المخلفات (al-makhlafat) is derived from the verb خَلَفَ (khalafa), meaning "to come after". Thus, it refers to "that which remains" or "residues". | |||
Waste in Western European Languages
| Albanian | humbje | ||
| The Albanian word "humbje" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *kemb-, meaning "to bend, curve, or twist. | |||
| Basque | hondakinak | ||
| The word "hondakinak" in Basque derives from the Latin "fossatum," meaning "ditch," as waste was traditionally disposed of in ditches. | |||
| Catalan | malbaratament | ||
| "Malbaratament" in Catalan stems directly from the Arabic "malbaraka" (spend or squander). | |||
| Croatian | gubljenje | ||
| In Croatian, the word 'gubljenje' comes from the verb 'gubiti' (to lose), suggesting a focus on the consequences of discarding something. | |||
| Danish | spild | ||
| In Norwegian, "spild" means "play," a meaning derived from the Old Norse word "spil" which meant both "waste" and "game." | |||
| Dutch | verspilling | ||
| The word "verspilling" in Dutch is derived from the Old Dutch word "verspeelen", meaning "to lose or gamble away". | |||
| English | waste | ||
| The Old English word for waste - weste - simply meant uncultivated land. | |||
| French | déchets | ||
| The word | |||
| Frisian | ôffal | ||
| The word "ôffal" in West Frisian has evolved from the Latin word "offella", meaning "a small piece" in Frisian. | |||
| Galician | desperdicio | ||
| "Desperdicio" is derived from Latin "desperdicium", meaning "destruction, squandering". In Galician, it can also refer to a nuisance or annoyance. | |||
| German | abfall | ||
| The word "Abfall" comes from the Middle High German "abeval", meaning "that which falls away, off, or down". Alternatively, it can refer to the material removed from a workpiece during production. | |||
| Icelandic | sóun | ||
| The Icelandic word 'sóun' comes from the Proto-Norse word 'swōhōn' meaning 'loss or damage', which also appears in the Swedish word 'skån'. It is also spelled 'sauðn' in Icelandic when referring to animals, as the spelling of 'au' was standardized to 'ó' in 1973 | |||
| Irish | dramhaíl | ||
| "Dramhaíl" derives from Old Irish "dram", meaning either "thorn bush" or "fragment, broken piece". | |||
| Italian | rifiuto | ||
| The Italian word "rifiuto" can also mean "refusal" or "rejection". | |||
| Luxembourgish | offall | ||
| Maltese | skart | ||
| In the past, "skart" was also used to describe something discarded, thrown away or deemed to be of no value. | |||
| Norwegian | avfall | ||
| The Norwegian word "avfall" is composed of two words: "av", which means "off" or "away from", and "fall", which means "to drop". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | desperdício | ||
| "Desperdício" comes from the Latin "disperditio," meaning "dispersion, throwing away." | |||
| Scots Gaelic | sgudal | ||
| The Scots Gaelic word 'sgudal' shares its etymology with the Irish terms 'sgudal' and 'sguthal,' with the latter deriving from the Old Irish verb 'scudal,' meaning 'to cut off' or 'to remove'. | |||
| Spanish | residuos | ||
| The Spanish word 'residuos' comes from the Latin 'residuum,' meaning 'that which remains' or 'remnant'. | |||
| Swedish | avfall | ||
| The word "avfall" literally translates to "that which falls off" and can also be used figuratively to describe something worthless or discarded. | |||
| Welsh | gwastraff | ||
| "Waste" in Old English meant "a desert or barren land, a trackless wilderness". | |||
Waste in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | адходы | ||
| The Belarusian word "адходы" (waste) comes from the Proto-Slavic word "odpadъ" (something that falls off), which is also the origin of the Russian word "отходы" (waste). | |||
| Bosnian | otpad | ||
| The word "otpad" in Bosnian can also mean "refuse", "trash", or "rubbish." | |||
| Bulgarian | отпадъци | ||
| The word "отпадъци" also means "garbage" or "refuse" in Bulgarian. | |||
| Czech | odpad | ||
| Estonian | raiskamine | ||
| The Estonian noun raiskamine meaning "waste" comes from the Old Estonian verb raiskama "to destroy" which is related to the Estonian noun raie "forest clearing" and verb raiuma "to hack, cut, clear a forest". | |||
| Finnish | jätteet | ||
| The word "jätteet" is a loanword from the Swedish word "jätte", itself derived from Old Norse "jotunn" (giant). | |||
| Hungarian | pazarlás | ||
| The Hungarian word "Pazarlás" originally meant "bargaining" or "haggling over price". | |||
| Latvian | atkritumi | ||
| The word "atkritumi" also means "what is given away" or "what is not needed". | |||
| Lithuanian | atliekos | ||
| The word "atliekos" can also refer to "debris" or "dregs" in Lithuanian. | |||
| Macedonian | отпад | ||
| "Отпад" in Macedonian also has slang meanings such as "someone or something cool, amazing or excellent" | |||
| Polish | marnotrawstwo | ||
| "Marnotrawstwo" is derived from the verb "marnować" which means "to waste" or "to squander". | |||
| Romanian | deşeuri | ||
| The Romanian word "deşeuri" comes from the Turkish word "değer", meaning "price" or "value". | |||
| Russian | трата | ||
| "Трата" derives from "травить", meaning "to poison", via the sense of "expenditure" or "loss". | |||
| Serbian | губљење | ||
| Губљење can also refer to a 'loss' or 'damage' similar to 'уништáвање', and is derived from the verb 'губити' ('to lose'). | |||
| Slovak | mrhať | ||
| Etymology unknown, but it is unrelated to waste in English which comes from Latin "vastare". | |||
| Slovenian | odpadki | ||
| The word "odpadki" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *ot-padъ, meaning "something that has fallen off or away". | |||
| Ukrainian | відходи | ||
Waste in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | নষ্ট | ||
| In Bengali, 'নষ্ট' can also mean 'ruined' or 'destroyed'. | |||
| Gujarati | કચરો | ||
| "કચરો" ('waste') is also used to refer to 'garbage' or 'rubbish' in Gujarati. | |||
| Hindi | बेकार | ||
| "बेकार" can also mean worthless, useless, ineffective, invalid, futile, redundant, surplus, empty or void. | |||
| Kannada | ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ | ||
| The word "ತ್ಯಾಜ್ಯ" (waste) is derived from the Sanskrit word "tyaj" (to abandon, discard). | |||
| Malayalam | മാലിന്യങ്ങൾ | ||
| Marathi | कचरा | ||
| The word "कचरा" is derived from the Sanskrit word "कच" meaning "rubbish" or "worthless material". | |||
| Nepali | फोहोर | ||
| "फोहोर" also literally means "to open one's mouth," especially to ask or beg. | |||
| Punjabi | ਫਜ਼ੂਲ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කසළ | ||
| The word 'කසළ' can also mean 'chaff' or 'husk'. | |||
| Tamil | கழிவு | ||
| Tamil word 'கழிவு' is closely related to 'கழித்தல்' meaning 'to remove' or 'to discard'. The word has also been used in literature to refer to 'expenses' in its plural form, 'கழிவுகள்'. | |||
| Telugu | వ్యర్థాలు | ||
| Urdu | فضلہ | ||
| 'فاضلہ' is also used as a term of endearment for children, due to its secondary connotation of 'leftovers', implying that the recipient is precious. | |||
Waste in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 浪费 | ||
| "浪费" 的含义不仅指物资消耗，还包含时间和精力的不合理使用。 | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 浪費 | ||
| In Chinese, the character "浪費" can also mean "spend extravagantly" or "be dissolute". | |||
| Japanese | 無駄 | ||
| "無駄" can also refer to useless or idle matters, and sometimes means "unreasonable" or "ridiculous". | |||
| Korean | 낭비 | ||
| The word "낭비" can also refer to an extravagant or frivolous person. | |||
| Mongolian | хог хаягдал | ||
| The word "хог хаягдал" can also refer to "trash" or "garbage". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | စွန့်ပစ်ပစ္စည်း | ||
Waste in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | limbah | ||
| Limbah may originate from the Old Javanese word "lambah", meaning "something discarded" or "rubbish" | |||
| Javanese | sampah | ||
| Sampah shares the same etymological root as 'sampah-ing' ('sweeper of') and 'samping' ('side'), referring to the action of sweeping waste to the side of the house. | |||
| Khmer | ខ្ជះខ្ជាយ | ||
| The Khmer word “ខ្ជះខ្ជាយ” has the same root as the word “ក្ងុយ,” meaning “monkey,” and suggests something that is scattered or thrown widely. | |||
| Lao | ສິ່ງເສດເຫຼືອ | ||
| Malay | membazir | ||
| "Membazir" originates from Arabic "mubazžar" which means "squandering", "extravagant", or "profligate". | |||
| Thai | ของเสีย | ||
| "ของเสีย" (waste) also means "spoiled things" and "excrement". | |||
| Vietnamese | chất thải | ||
| "Chất thải" có thể dùng để chỉ | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | basura | ||
Waste in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | israf | ||
| "Israf" kökü Arapça'daki "israf" kelimesinden gelir ve "aşırılık, savurganlık, israf" anlamlarına gelir. | |||
| Kazakh | жарату | ||
| The word "жарату" (/ʒɑrɑtʊ/) in Kazakh is derived from the Proto-Turkic root "*čara-," meaning "to scatter, to disperse." | |||
| Kyrgyz | калдыктар | ||
| Tajik | партовҳо | ||
| Turkmen | galyndylar | ||
| Uzbek | chiqindilar | ||
| The word "chiqindilar" is derived from the Persian word "chikandin" meaning "to gather" or "to collect". | |||
| Uyghur | ئىسراپچىلىق | ||
Waste in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | ʻōpala | ||
| ʻŌpala's other meanings include a fault, a blemish, disgrace, rubbish, a weed, an unskillful act, and a term of endearment for a pet or child. | |||
| Maori | ururua | ||
| "Ururua" can also refer to something thrown away or discarded, such as trash or sewage. | |||
| Samoan | faʻamaimau | ||
| Faʻamaimau can also mean to cause harm or destruction. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | sayang | ||
| 'Sayang' (a cognate of 'sayang'), also means 'pity' or 'regret' in Tagalog. | |||
Waste in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | inach'usaru | ||
| Guarani | hejarei | ||
Waste in International Languages
| Esperanto | malŝparo | ||
| "Malŝparo" comes from the roots "mal" (bad) and "ŝpar" (save), so it literally means "bad saving" or "not saving". | |||
| Latin | perdere | ||
| Perdere in Latin also signifies 'to undo' or 'to destroy', akin to its counterparts in French and Spanish 'perdre' and 'perder' respectively. | |||
Waste in Others Languages
| Greek | απόβλητα | ||
| Απόβλητα (apóvlyta) comes from the Ancient Greek word "apoballein" (to throw away), but it also refers to "things that are cast off or rejected". | |||
| Hmong | khib nyiab | ||
| The word "khib nyiab" in Hmong can also mean "to use up" or "to finish". | |||
| Kurdish | xûrdekirinî | ||
| The word “xûrdekirinî” in Kurdish has an alternate definition, meaning an excess of something that cannot be stored. | |||
| Turkish | atık | ||
| In Old Turkish, "atık" meant "old clothes, rags" and also "old woman, grandmother". | |||
| Xhosa | inkunkuma | ||
| The word "inkunkuma" can also refer to a large quantity or abundance of something, similar to the English word "heap" or "abundance" | |||
| Yiddish | וויסט | ||
| The Yiddish word "וויסט" can also mean a barren wilderness or desert | |||
| Zulu | imfucuza | ||
| The Zulu word 'imfucuza' derives from the verb 'fukuza,' meaning 'to chase away' or 'to squander.' | |||
| Assamese | আৱৰ্জনা | ||
| Aymara | inach'usaru | ||
| Bhojpuri | कूड़ा | ||
| Dhivehi | އުކާލާ ތަކެތި | ||
| Dogri | बरबाद | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | basura | ||
| Guarani | hejarei | ||
| Ilocano | sayangen | ||
| Krio | west | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بەفیڕۆدان | ||
| Maithili | अपशिष्ट | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯃꯪꯡꯍꯟꯕ | ||
| Mizo | thilchhia | ||
| Oromo | qisaasa'uu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବର୍ଜ୍ୟବସ୍ତୁ | ||
| Quechua | puchuqkuna | ||
| Sanskrit | अवक्षयः | ||
| Tatar | калдыклар | ||
| Tigrinya | ተረፍ | ||
| Tsonga | tlangisa | ||