Without in Different Languages
Discover 'Without' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'without' is a small but powerful term, indicating the absence or lack of something. Its significance goes beyond grammar, as it subtly shapes our perception of the world and our interactions with others.
Culturally, 'without' has been a catalyst for countless expressions and idioms across languages. For instance, in French, 'sans' (without) is used in the phrase 'sans façon' (without ceremony), reflecting their appreciation for politeness and etiquette. Similarly, in Spanish, 'sin' (without) appears in 'sin querer' (unintentionally), highlighting the language's emphasis on intent and responsibility.
Understanding the translation of 'without' in different languages can enrich your communication skills and cultural awareness. It can also provide insights into the unique ways various cultures view and express the concept of absence.
Here are a few translations of 'without' to pique your curiosity:
- German: 'ohne'
- Italian: 'senza'
- Russian: 'без' (bezz)
- Japanese: '無' (mu)
- Chinese: '无' (wú)
Without
Without in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | sonder | ||
| The Afrikaans word 'sonder' can also mean 'apart' or 'separate'. | |||
| Amharic | ያለ | ||
| The word "ያለ" ("without") in Amharic is cognate with the word "wal" ("and, but") in Arabic and "well" in Ge'ez. | |||
| Hausa | ba tare da | ||
| In colloquial use, "ba tare da" can mean "except" or "apart from". | |||
| Igbo | na-enweghị | ||
| The phrase "na enweghị" can also mean "not to have something" or "to be without something". | |||
| Malagasy | tsy | ||
| Malagasy “tsy” derives from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *ti, meaning “not,” and also may be related to Arabic “shī” (something). | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | wopanda | ||
| The word "wopanda" can also mean "lacking" or "free from" in Nyanja. | |||
| Shona | pasina | ||
| A more archaic meaning of pasina was 'the other part' or 'apart from', but now 'separate from' is expressed by zvimwe. | |||
| Somali | la'aan | ||
| The word "la'aan" in Somali can also mean "lacking" or "devoid of". | |||
| Sesotho | ntle le | ||
| In the negative form of the copula, ntle le signifies non-existence or absence, while in the positive, it connotes exemption or exclusion. | |||
| Swahili | bila | ||
| The root 'bila' in 'bilauri' (cup) carries similar implications of absence or exclusion, like 'bila' meaning 'lacking'. | |||
| Xhosa | ngaphandle | ||
| Ngaphandle's primary meaning is 'without,' but it also implies a distance or gap between two things. | |||
| Yoruba | lai | ||
| The word "lai" in Yoruba can also mean "outside" or "away from". | |||
| Zulu | ngaphandle | ||
| The word 'ngaphandle' is also used in Xhosa and means 'without', and in Nguni languages including Swati it can refer to the 'empty' state, such as an empty container. | |||
| Bambara | -bali | ||
| Ewe | manᴐmee | ||
| Kinyarwanda | hanze | ||
| Lingala | kozanga | ||
| Luganda | obubeera na | ||
| Sepedi | ntle le | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nka ho | ||
Without in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | بدون | ||
| The Arabic word "بدون" can also mean "except for" or "unless". | |||
| Hebrew | לְלֹא | ||
| Hebrew "לְלֹא" also appears in biblical texts to denote exemption from divine commandments | |||
| Pashto | بې له | ||
| The Pashto word “بې له” (bēla) can also mean "except" or "other than." | |||
| Arabic | بدون | ||
| The Arabic word "بدون" can also mean "except for" or "unless". | |||
Without in Western European Languages
| Albanian | pa | ||
| The Albanian word "pa" can also mean "not" or "no." | |||
| Basque | gabe | ||
| In Basque, "gabe" has alternate meanings such as "lack" or "absence". | |||
| Catalan | sense | ||
| The Catalan word "sense" originates from the Latin word "sine", meaning "without". | |||
| Croatian | bez | ||
| The word 'bez' can also be a preposition used to express 'from' or 'by means of'. | |||
| Danish | uden | ||
| In Old English, "unden" meant the first part of the day before 9 AM, from which "uden" in modern Danish likely derives its prepositional sense. | |||
| Dutch | zonder | ||
| The Dutch word 'zonder' originated from the Old High German 'sundar' referring to 'separation'. | |||
| English | without | ||
| The word 'without' originates from the Old English word 'wiðūtan,' which means 'outside' or 'on the outside.' | |||
| French | sans pour autant | ||
| "Sans pour autant" literally means "without for all that" and implies a nuance of reservation or concession. | |||
| Frisian | sûnder | ||
| The word 'sûnder' also means 'separate' or 'apart', and is related to the Old English word 'sunder', meaning 'to divide or separate'. | |||
| Galician | sen | ||
| Galician "sen" possibly derives from the Latin "sine," meaning "apart" or "lacking." | |||
| German | ohne | ||
| The etymology of the German word "ohne" can be traced back to the Middle High German "ān" or "ân", which meant "only" or "alone". | |||
| Icelandic | án | ||
| Án may come from Old Norse óán, meaning malice, ill will, or envy. | |||
| Irish | sin | ||
| In Irish, 'sin' (literally 'without') also refers to the weather, specifically the absence of rain or snow. | |||
| Italian | senza | ||
| The word "senza" in Italian derives from the Latin adverb "sine", meaning "apart" or "away from". | |||
| Luxembourgish | ouni | ||
| Despite its meaning "without", "ouni" can be used to mean "with", typically something negative, e.g. "ouni Schold", meaning "with scoldings." | |||
| Maltese | mingħajr | ||
| The word "mingħajr" is derived from the Arabic word "min ghair", which also means "without". | |||
| Norwegian | uten | ||
| Uten can also mean "out", "out of", or "without" in Norwegian. | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | sem | ||
| In Portuguese, "sem" also means "sign" or "trace" and is cognate with the French "signe". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | sin | ||
| In Scots Gaelic, the word "sin" can also mean "since" or "then" | |||
| Spanish | sin | ||
| The word 'sin' in Spanish derives from the Latin word 'sine', meaning 'without' or 'lacking', and is cognate with the English word 'sin'. | |||
| Swedish | utan | ||
| The word 'utan' can also mean 'outside' or 'except' in Swedish. | |||
| Welsh | heb | ||
| The Welsh word 'heb' is derived from the earlier word 'hepi', which meant 'separate' or 'apart'. | |||
Without in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | без | ||
| The Belarusian word "без" can be used to mean "without", "lacking", or "except for". | |||
| Bosnian | bez | ||
| The word "bez" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "bezъ", meaning "apart" or "away". | |||
| Bulgarian | без | ||
| The word "без" in Bulgarian can also mean "out" or "lacking". | |||
| Czech | bez | ||
| The word "bez" can also mean "elderberry" or "elderberry bush" in Czech. | |||
| Estonian | ilma | ||
| The Estonian word "ilma" shares a common origin with the Finnish word "ilman", meaning "in the absence of" or "outside of." | |||
| Finnish | ilman | ||
| The word "ilman" originally meant "outside". In modern Finnish, it also means "without". | |||
| Hungarian | nélkül | ||
| The word "nélkül" in Hungarian is a compound of "nel" (meaning "non-being") and "kül" (meaning "outside"), thus literally meaning "non-being outside." | |||
| Latvian | bez | ||
| Latvian "bez" also means “near" or "close" in Polish, Russian, and Serbian | |||
| Lithuanian | be | ||
| The word "be" in Lithuanian originated from the Proto-Indo-European word "*bʰéh₂-,*bʰéh₂ǵ-", which also exists in various forms in other Indo-European languages, such as Sanskrit "bahiṣ-", Latin "foris", and English "be" and "by". | |||
| Macedonian | без | ||
| The word "без" is also used as a noun meaning "lack" or "deficiency". | |||
| Polish | bez | ||
| The word "bez" in Polish is Slavic in origin and shares an etymology with the word "bet" in Old Church Slavonic, meaning "lacking" or "without". | |||
| Romanian | fără | ||
| The word "fără" is thought to derive from the Slavic preposition "bezъ" meaning "without", and can also be used to mean "outside", "beyond", or "lacking". | |||
| Russian | без | ||
| The word "без" ("without") is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *bьzь meaning "devoid of, lacking". It is also an element in compound nouns, e.g. "безделье" (idleness), "безумие" (madness), "беспокойство" (anxiety). | |||
| Serbian | без | ||
| "Без" can also mean "outside" or "away from." | |||
| Slovak | bez | ||
| The word "bez" also means "elder" in Slovak. | |||
| Slovenian | brez | ||
| The word "brez" is also used to mean "beyond" or "outside of" | |||
| Ukrainian | без | ||
| "Без" in Ukrainian has an alternate meaning of "near" or "next to" akin to Russian "подле". | |||
Without in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | বিনা | ||
| বিনা can also mean "to exclude or to separate" and is used to form compound words like "`বিনা কারণে`" (without reason) and "`বিনা প্রতিদানে`" (without any return). | |||
| Gujarati | વગર | ||
| The word "વગર" can also mean "except" or "besides" in Gujarati. | |||
| Hindi | के बिना | ||
| The Hindi word के बिना has roots in Sanskrit, and it also means "by means of" or "through the instrumentality of". | |||
| Kannada | ಇಲ್ಲದೆ | ||
| ಇಲ್ಲದೆ, which means "without" in Kannada, has alternate meanings such as "except" and "apart from". | |||
| Malayalam | കൂടാതെ | ||
| Marathi | विना | ||
| The Marathi word "विना" comes from the Sanskrit word "विना" with the same meaning, and is sometimes used as an alternative to the word "शिवाय" | |||
| Nepali | बिना | ||
| The word "बिना" is derived from the Sanskrit prefix "वि" which means "away", "devoid of", or "different", and is used to create negative or opposite meanings. | |||
| Punjabi | ਬਿਨਾ | ||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | තොරව | ||
| The word "තොරව" also means "devoid of" or "free from" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | இல்லாமல் | ||
| Telugu | లేకుండా | ||
| Urdu | بغیر | ||
| The word 'بغیر' has an additional meaning of 'because' or 'due to'. | |||
Without in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 没有 | ||
| 没有 is a negative phrase in Chinese that is often used to negate a verb or adjective. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 沒有 | ||
| "沒有" in Chinese (Traditional) can also mean "no have" or "not have". | |||
| Japanese | なし | ||
| The word なし (nashi) can also mean | |||
| Korean | 없이 | ||
| 없이 also means "lacking" or "in the absence of". | |||
| Mongolian | үгүй | ||
| "үгүй" can also mean "unconscious" or "as if something wasn't there" | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | မရှိ | ||
Without in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | tanpa | ||
| The word 'tanpa' is derived from Sanskrit 'tanpram' meaning 'without' and also 'except' or 'besides'. | |||
| Javanese | tanpa | ||
| Javanese "tanpa" can also mean "apart from", "in addition to", or "excluding". | |||
| Khmer | ដោយគ្មាន | ||
| Lao | ໂດຍບໍ່ມີການ | ||
| Malay | tanpa | ||
| In Sanskrit, 'tanpa' means 'body' and is sometimes used to describe non-material entities like states or conditions. | |||
| Thai | ไม่มี | ||
| "ไม่มี" is a shortened form of "มิมี" (mi mi), meaning "not have" or "there's not." | |||
| Vietnamese | không có | ||
| The word "không có" originally meant "non-existence" in Sino-Vietnamese, and is now commonly used to mean "without". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | walang | ||
Without in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | olmadan | ||
| In Azerbaijani, the word "olmadan" can also mean "lacking," "incomplete," or "deficient." | |||
| Kazakh | жоқ | ||
| The Kazakh word "жоқ" can also mean "no" or "not". | |||
| Kyrgyz | жок | ||
| "Жок" can also derive from the archaic verbal form of "jok" meaning "to lose, to miss" and the negation "ok". Therefore, "жок" can mean "lossless" or "without loss". | |||
| Tajik | бе | ||
| In Tajik, the word "бе" also has an alternate meaning of "without a covering or wrapper"} | |||
| Turkmen | bolmasa | ||
| Uzbek | holda | ||
| The Uzbek word "holda" also means "separate" or "distinct". | |||
| Uyghur | without | ||
Without in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | mawaho | ||
| The Hawaiian word "mawaho" also has a figurative sense meaning "outside of the realm of the sacred, secular". | |||
| Maori | kore | ||
| The word "kore" can also refer to a state of nothingness or emptiness in Maori. | |||
| Samoan | e aunoa ma | ||
| In Samoan, 'e aunoa ma' can also convey the meaning of 'excluding' or 'apart from'. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | wala | ||
| "Wala" can be a shortened form of "walang" with the same meaning. It can also be used in slang to express agreement or affirmation. | |||
Without in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | jani | ||
| Guarani | ỹ | ||
Without in International Languages
| Esperanto | sen | ||
| "Sen" is the equivalent of "un-" in French, "in-" in German, or "a-" in Greek. | |||
| Latin | sine | ||
| The Latin word 'sine' can also mean 'apart from', 'without the help of', or 'except'. | |||
Without in Others Languages
| Greek | χωρίς | ||
| The word 'χωρίς' has its origins in the ancient Greek word 'χώρος', meaning 'space' or 'room'. | |||
| Hmong | tsis muaj | ||
| The word "tsis muaj" in Hmong also means "never" or "not ever". | |||
| Kurdish | bê | ||
| Bê, often used in front of nouns, can also be an adverb or preposition. | |||
| Turkish | olmadan | ||
| Olmadan is also used to express the absence of something or the lack of something in an indirect way. | |||
| Xhosa | ngaphandle | ||
| Ngaphandle's primary meaning is 'without,' but it also implies a distance or gap between two things. | |||
| Yiddish | אָן | ||
| Zulu | ngaphandle | ||
| The word 'ngaphandle' is also used in Xhosa and means 'without', and in Nguni languages including Swati it can refer to the 'empty' state, such as an empty container. | |||
| Assamese | অবিহনে | ||
| Aymara | jani | ||
| Bhojpuri | बिना | ||
| Dhivehi | ނުލާ | ||
| Dogri | बिजन | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | walang | ||
| Guarani | ỹ | ||
| Ilocano | awanan | ||
| Krio | nɔ | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | بەبێ | ||
| Maithili | क' बिना | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯌꯥꯎꯗꯅ | ||
| Mizo | tellovin | ||
| Oromo | ...ala | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ବିନା | ||
| Quechua | mana | ||
| Sanskrit | विना | ||
| Tatar | ансыз | ||
| Tigrinya | ብዘይካ | ||
| Tsonga | kuri hava | ||