Water in Different Languages
Discover 'Water' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Water
Afrikaans water | ||
Albanian ujë | ||
Amharic ውሃ | ||
Arabic ماء | ||
Armenian ջուր | ||
Assamese পানী | ||
Aymara uma | ||
Azerbaijani su | ||
Bambara ji | ||
Basque ura | ||
Belarusian вада | ||
Bengali জল | ||
Bhojpuri पानी | ||
Bosnian vode | ||
Bulgarian вода | ||
Catalan aigua | ||
Cebuano tubig | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 水 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 水 | ||
Corsican acqua | ||
Croatian voda | ||
Czech voda | ||
Danish vand | ||
Dhivehi ފެން | ||
Dogri पानी | ||
Dutch water | ||
English water | ||
Esperanto akvo | ||
Estonian vesi | ||
Ewe tsi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) tubig | ||
Finnish vettä | ||
French eau | ||
Frisian wetter | ||
Galician auga | ||
Georgian წყალი | ||
German wasser | ||
Greek νερό | ||
Guarani y | ||
Gujarati પાણી | ||
Haitian Creole dlo | ||
Hausa ruwa | ||
Hawaiian wai | ||
Hebrew מים | ||
Hindi पानी | ||
Hmong dej | ||
Hungarian víz | ||
Icelandic vatn | ||
Igbo mmiri | ||
Ilocano danum | ||
Indonesian air | ||
Irish uisce | ||
Italian acqua | ||
Japanese 水 | ||
Javanese banyu | ||
Kannada ನೀರು | ||
Kazakh су | ||
Khmer ទឹក | ||
Kinyarwanda amazi | ||
Konkani उदक | ||
Korean 물 | ||
Krio wata | ||
Kurdish av | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) ئاو | ||
Kyrgyz суу | ||
Lao ນ້ໍາ | ||
Latin aqua | ||
Latvian ūdens | ||
Lingala mai | ||
Lithuanian vandens | ||
Luganda amazzi | ||
Luxembourgish waasser | ||
Macedonian вода | ||
Maithili जल | ||
Malagasy rano | ||
Malay air | ||
Malayalam വെള്ളം | ||
Maltese ilma | ||
Maori wai | ||
Marathi पाणी | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯁꯤꯡ | ||
Mizo tui | ||
Mongolian ус | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရေ | ||
Nepali पानी | ||
Norwegian vann | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) madzi | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଜଳ | ||
Oromo bishaan | ||
Pashto اوبه | ||
Persian اب | ||
Polish woda | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) água | ||
Punjabi ਪਾਣੀ | ||
Quechua yaku | ||
Romanian apă | ||
Russian вода | ||
Samoan vai | ||
Sanskrit जलम् | ||
Scots Gaelic uisge | ||
Sepedi meetse | ||
Serbian воде | ||
Sesotho metsi | ||
Shona mvura | ||
Sindhi پاڻي | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ජලය | ||
Slovak voda | ||
Slovenian vode | ||
Somali biyo | ||
Spanish agua | ||
Sundanese cai | ||
Swahili maji | ||
Swedish vatten | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) tubig | ||
Tajik об | ||
Tamil தண்ணீர் | ||
Tatar су | ||
Telugu నీటి | ||
Thai น้ำ | ||
Tigrinya ማይ | ||
Tsonga mati | ||
Turkish su | ||
Turkmen suw | ||
Twi (Akan) nsuo | ||
Ukrainian води | ||
Urdu پانی | ||
Uyghur water | ||
Uzbek suv | ||
Vietnamese nước | ||
Welsh dwr | ||
Xhosa amanzi | ||
Yiddish וואַסער | ||
Yoruba omi | ||
Zulu amanzi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word "water" in Afrikaans comes from the Dutch word "water" and also means "to water". |
| Albanian | The Albanian word for water "ujë" is thought to be of Illyrian origin. |
| Arabic | Etymology: Alternative meanings in Quran: "semen" (of man) |
| Azerbaijani | The word "su" in Azerbaijani also has meanings such as "aqua", "liquid" and "juice", and is the root word of the Turkic word "suda" meaning "to wash". |
| Basque | The Basque word ura has a cognate in the Indo-European |
| Belarusian | The word "вада" is a cognate of the Indo-European root "*wed-", which means "wet" or "water". |
| Bengali | জল, which means "water" in Bengali, is cognate with the English "gel", indicating the fluid quality shared by the two terms. |
| Bosnian | The word "vode" is a Slavic word that is also used in other languages, such as Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian. |
| Bulgarian | The word "вода" (water) in Bulgarian is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *voda and is related to words like "wet" and "wash". |
| Catalan | 'Aigua' originates from Latin 'aqua' and shares roots with 'eau' in French and 'acqua' in Italian, and can also refer to the juice inside a watermelon or melon in Catalan. |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, the word "tubig" can also refer to a well. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | “水” originally meant liquid but later got applied to many other meanings like time, money, and desire. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The Chinese character 水 (water) also means "level" or "horizontal", as in 水平 (horizontal). |
| Corsican | The Corsican word |
| Croatian | The word "voda" originates from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wed-" meaning "to wet" and has cognates in many Slavic languages. |
| Czech | In Proto-Slavic, *voda meant "that which washes, water"; it also developed meanings like "flood" or "river". |
| Danish | In Old Norse, "vand" referred to the sea specifically and not to bodies of freshwater |
| Dutch | The Dutch word "water" is thought to derive from an Indo-European root meaning "to flow" or "to be wet." |
| Esperanto | The word "akvo" is derived from the Latin "aqua" and also means "life's fluid" in Esperanto. |
| Estonian | The word "vesi" may also be related to the Proto-Finnic word meaning "liquid" or "fluid." |
| Finnish | The word 'vettä' (water) is etymologically related to 'vesi' and 'veistos', which mean 'water' and 'sculpture' respectively. |
| French | The word "eau" in French derives from the Latin word "aqua" and also means "a body of water" like a lake or river. |
| Frisian | The word "wetter" in Frisian also means "weather". |
| Galician | Galician word "auga" comes from Latin "aqua" and can also mean "rain" in some Galician dialects. |
| Georgian | The word "წყალი" is derived from the Proto-Kartvelian root *kʷa-/*kʷe-, meaning "liquid, water". |
| German | The Old German word |
| Greek | In some archaic Greek dialects, such as Lesbian, "νερό" also meant "grape juice". |
| Gujarati | The Gujarati word "પાણી" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wed-", which meant "wet". |
| Haitian Creole | "Dlo" comes from the French word "eau", which in turn comes from the Latin word "aqua". |
| Hausa | In Hausa, 'ruwa' can also refer to a type of traditional beer or an aqueous potion used in traditional medicine. |
| Hawaiian | The word "wai" in Hawaiian can also mean "liquid" or "sap", and is related to the Proto-Austronesian word *wai "water".} |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word 'מים' ('water') may also refer to the amniotic fluid in which a fetus develops. |
| Hindi | The Hindi word 'पानी' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'पानीय' and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root 'pa-,' meaning 'to drink'. |
| Hmong | "Dej" means "water" in the Green Hmong dialect, but "river" in the White Hmong dialect. |
| Hungarian | Hungarian "víz" derives from Proto-Uralic "wete" and can also mean "urine" in Hungarian dialect. |
| Icelandic | Cognate to the Irish word "uisce" (meaning "water") and possibly related to the Latin word "aqua" (also meaning "water"). |
| Igbo | The Igbo word for water, mmiri, also means 'life', denoting its essential nature to all living things. |
| Indonesian | "Air" means "water" in Indonesian but also means "melody" and "song". |
| Irish | The word "uisce" is cognate with the Latin word "aqua" and the Greek word "hydor". |
| Italian | The Italian word "acqua" (water) derives from the Latin "aqua" and Proto-Indo-European "*akʷā"} |
| Japanese | The character 水 (read as sui) also means "liquid" or "fluid" in both Japanese and Chinese. |
| Javanese | In Balinese, "banyu" specifically refers to river water, as opposed to "toya" which is used for well or spring water. |
| Kannada | The word "ನೀರು," meaning "water" in Kannada, shares a possible etymological root with the Sanskrit word "नीर," which also means "water." |
| Kazakh | In some dialects, "су" can also refer to milk, while in others it means "liquid" in general. |
| Khmer | The word "ទឹក" (water) also means "river" or "lake" in Khmer. |
| Korean | The Korean word '물' can also mean 'liquid' or 'juice'. |
| Kurdish | Av also means 'dew' or 'rain' and is related to the Farsi 'ab' (water). |
| Kyrgyz | "Суу" has also been translated as "river" and has its origins in the Turkic languages. |
| Lao | The Lao word "ນ້ໍາ" can also refer to a sauce, juice, or broth. |
| Latin | Aqua, Latin for "water," shares a root with "aqueduct" and "aquarium," highlighting its historical significance in managing water resources and creating aquatic habitats. |
| Latvian | In Latvian, the word "ūdens" not only means "water" but also can refer to the amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus. |
| Lithuanian | The Lithuanian word "vandens" is related to the Latin word "unda" (wave) and the Sanskrit word "ud" (water). |
| Luxembourgish | The Luxembourgish word "Waasser" shares the root with the English "wash", as both originate from an Indo-European base word referring to "liquid"} |
| Macedonian | Macedonian "вода" comes from the Proto-Slavic *voda, like other Slavic languages, but is also related to words like "guide" and "leader" in other Indo-European languages. |
| Malagasy | The Malagasy word "rano" also means "rain" or "liquid". |
| Malay | In Malay, "air" can also refer to water currents, bubbles, or tears. |
| Maltese | Ilma is the Semitic cognate of the Arabic root w-d-y, meaning "water" or "river". |
| Maori | The Maori word "wai" also means "essence" or "spirit". |
| Marathi | The Marathi word "पाणी" derives from the Sanskrit word "पानीय" meaning "drinkable" or "liquid". |
| Mongolian | The word "ус" is a homonym in Mongolian, with distinct meanings in different contexts, such as "water," "intelligence," and "scent." |
| Myanmar (Burmese) | The word ရေ in Burmese comes from the Proto-Sino-Tibetan word *rek, meaning 'moisture', 'juice', or 'broth'. |
| Norwegian | Vann is also a Norwegian name for men and means 'hope'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | "Madzi" also means "rain" or "river" in Chichewa, and is derived from the Proto-Bantu root "*maji" meaning "liquid". |
| Pashto | The word "اوبه" is derived from the Proto-Iranian word *hapu- and is cognate with the Sanskrit word "अप" (ápa) meaning "water." |
| Polish | In old Polish, "woda" could also mean "river" or "creek". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | "Água" can also refer to the clear liquid part of another drink, like tea or coffee. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਪਾਣੀ" ("water") is cognate with the Sanskrit word "पानी" ("water") and the Iranian word "ap" ("water"). |
| Romanian | "Apă" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "voda", also meaning "water", and is related to the Latin "aqua" and Greek "ὕδωρ" (húdōr). |
| Russian | The Russian word "вода" (water) comes from the Proto-Slavic *voda, which is related to the Latin "unda" (wave) and the Greek "ὕδωρ" (water). |
| Samoan | The word 'vaī', which comes as a root in many Samoan words related to water (such as 'vaisa', 'vaisalo', and 'vaiumu') also means to 'break' |
| Scots Gaelic | In Scots Gaelic, «uisge» may refer to water of any kind, but the term can also mean a spirit or liquor. |
| Serbian | The word "воде" in Serbian is a noun with a singular feminine form and is used to refer to water. |
| Sesotho | "Metsi" in Sesotho also refers to a river, and it can be used figuratively to symbolize life. |
| Shona | "Mvura" is also the name of a river god in Shona mythology. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word for "water", "پاڻي", is also the word for "life" as water is the source of all life on Earth. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | In Sinhala, the word "ජලය" (jala) is derived from the Sanskrit word "जल" (jala), which also means "water". It is cognate with the English word "jelly" and the Latin word "gelu", both of which refer to a substance that is semisolid or liquid. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word "voda" is likely derived from the Proto-Indo-European root "*wed-", meaning "wet" or "to moisten". |
| Slovenian | "Vode" in Slovene language also means "flood". |
| Spanish | ''Agua'' ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European ''*h₂ékʷeh₂, referring to both ''water'' and ''aqueous liquids''. |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word "cai" originally meant "liquid" and was later applied specifically to water. |
| Swahili | The Swahili word 'maji' is derived from the Bantu word 'ma' which means 'to flow'. |
| Swedish | The Swedish word 'vatten' is derived from the Proto-Germanic word 'watar', meaning 'water' or 'liquid'. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Tubig" is derived from the Proto-Austronesian word "*tabiŋ" which also means "water". |
| Tajik | The word "об" can also mean "irrigation canal" in Tajik. |
| Tamil | தண்ணீர் comes from the Dravidian word, "tanni" meaning "coolness". |
| Thai | The Thai word "น้ำ" (nam) also means "saliva" or "juice", and is related to the Khmer word "nam" (water). |
| Turkish | "Su" (water) comes from the Proto-Turkic "*suw" and also means "liquid", "fluid", or "juice" in the Turkic languages. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word "води" is derived from an Old Slavonic root that also means "to lead" or "to guide". |
| Uzbek | The Uzbek word "suv" is cognate with the Turkish "su" and the Mongolian "us", all of which derive from the Proto-Altaic root *su-. |
| Vietnamese | The Sino-Vietnamese word 'nước' also refers to a nation, country, or state. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "dwr" is also found in the names of many rivers, lakes, and other water bodies in Wales. |
| Xhosa | Although |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "וואַסער" (water) is derived from the Proto-Germanic "watraz," also the source of the English word "water." |
| Yoruba | It is a prefix in many Yoruba words that include "water" or "liquid" (e.g. "omi-omi" for "ocean". |
| Zulu | The etymology of "amanzi" traces back to the proto-Bantu word "*máː́nzí", which originated from the root "*-nzí" meaning "to flow or pour". |
| English | The word "water" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *wed-, meaning "wet". |