Write in Different Languages
Discover 'Write' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Write
Afrikaans skryf | ||
Albanian shkruaj | ||
Amharic ፃፍ | ||
Arabic اكتب | ||
Armenian գրել | ||
Assamese লিখা | ||
Aymara qillqaña | ||
Azerbaijani yaz | ||
Bambara ka sɛbɛn | ||
Basque idatzi | ||
Belarusian пісаць | ||
Bengali লিখুন | ||
Bhojpuri लिखीं | ||
Bosnian pisati | ||
Bulgarian пиши | ||
Catalan escriure | ||
Cebuano pagsulat | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 写 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 寫 | ||
Corsican scrive | ||
Croatian pisati | ||
Czech psát si | ||
Danish skrive | ||
Dhivehi ލިޔުން | ||
Dogri लिखो | ||
Dutch schrijven | ||
English write | ||
Esperanto skribi | ||
Estonian kirjutama | ||
Ewe ŋlᴐ | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) magsulat | ||
Finnish kirjoittaa | ||
French écrire | ||
Frisian skriuwe | ||
Galician escribir | ||
Georgian დაწერე | ||
German schreiben | ||
Greek γράφω | ||
Guarani hai | ||
Gujarati લખો | ||
Haitian Creole ekri | ||
Hausa rubuta | ||
Hawaiian kākau | ||
Hebrew לִכתוֹב | ||
Hindi लिखो | ||
Hmong sau | ||
Hungarian ír | ||
Icelandic skrifa | ||
Igbo dee | ||
Ilocano isurat | ||
Indonesian menulis | ||
Irish scríobh | ||
Italian scrivi | ||
Japanese 書く | ||
Javanese nulis | ||
Kannada ಬರೆಯಿರಿ | ||
Kazakh жазу | ||
Khmer សរសេរ | ||
Kinyarwanda andika | ||
Konkani बरोवप | ||
Korean 쓰다 | ||
Krio rayt | ||
Kurdish nivîsîn | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) نووسین | ||
Kyrgyz жазуу | ||
Lao ຂຽນ | ||
Latin scribentes injustitiam | ||
Latvian rakstīt | ||
Lingala kokoma | ||
Lithuanian rašyti | ||
Luganda wandiika | ||
Luxembourgish schreiwen | ||
Macedonian пиши | ||
Maithili लिखू | ||
Malagasy soraty | ||
Malay menulis | ||
Malayalam എഴുതുക | ||
Maltese ikteb | ||
Maori tuhi | ||
Marathi लिहा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯕ | ||
Mizo ziak | ||
Mongolian бичих | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) ရေးလိုက် | ||
Nepali लेख्नुहोस् | ||
Norwegian skrive | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) lembani | ||
Odia (Oriya) ଲେଖ | ||
Oromo barreessuu | ||
Pashto ولیکئ | ||
Persian نوشتن | ||
Polish pisać | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) escreva | ||
Punjabi ਲਿਖੋ | ||
Quechua qillqay | ||
Romanian scrie | ||
Russian записывать | ||
Samoan tusi | ||
Sanskrit लिखतु | ||
Scots Gaelic sgrìobh | ||
Sepedi ngwala | ||
Serbian писати | ||
Sesotho ngola | ||
Shona nyora | ||
Sindhi لکو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ලියන්න | ||
Slovak napíš | ||
Slovenian piši | ||
Somali qor | ||
Spanish escribir | ||
Sundanese nyerat | ||
Swahili andika | ||
Swedish skriva | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) sumulat | ||
Tajik нависед | ||
Tamil எழுதுங்கள் | ||
Tatar яз | ||
Telugu వ్రాయడానికి | ||
Thai เขียน | ||
Tigrinya ፀሓፍ | ||
Tsonga tsala | ||
Turkish yazmak | ||
Turkmen ýaz | ||
Twi (Akan) twerɛ | ||
Ukrainian писати | ||
Urdu لکھیں | ||
Uyghur يېزىڭ | ||
Uzbek yozmoq | ||
Vietnamese viết | ||
Welsh ysgrifennu | ||
Xhosa bhala | ||
Yiddish שרייבן | ||
Yoruba kọ | ||
Zulu bhala |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word 'skryf' in Afrikaans is derived from the Old Norse word 'skrifa' meaning 'to scratch', 'to engrave', or 'to write'. |
| Albanian | The Albanian word "shkruaj" ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *sker-, meaning "to cut, carve, or scratch". |
| Amharic | The Amharic word "ፃፍ" can also refer to "a letter" or "a symbol." |
| Arabic | The noun (كتابة) derives from the verb (كتب), which initially had the specific meaning of writing "a letter". |
| Armenian | The word "գրել" (write) in Armenian can also mean "to draw" or "to paint". |
| Azerbaijani | "Yazmak" kelimesinin Azericedeki "yaxmak" kelimesinden türediği tahmin edilmektedir. |
| Basque | Idatzi also means 'draw' in Basque, which points to the origins of writing as a means to represent both language and images. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word "пісаць" is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *pisati, which also means "to paint" or "to draw" |
| Bengali | বৈদিক সংস্কৃতে (প্রাচীনতম সাহিত্যে) ''লিখুন'' শব্দটির অর্থ ছিল ''খচিত করা''। |
| Bosnian | Pisati also means 'to pee' in Bosnian. |
| Bulgarian | In the past, the Proto-Slavic verb *pisati also meant "to draw", but in Bulgarian and Macedonian its meaning has shifted to "to write" |
| Catalan | "Escriure" derives from the Latin word "scribere", meaning "to write, draw, scratch, or mark." |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, "pagsulat" can also pertain to creating written notes or documents, without the exclusive connotation of authorship. |
| Chinese (Simplified) | In addition to its literal meaning, "写" can also refer to painting or drawing, capturing moments or depicting objects. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | The character "寫" (xiě) contains a phonetic component "舍" (shè), indicating that its pronunciation was influenced by the word "舌" (shé), which means "tongue". |
| Corsican | The verb "scrive" in Corsican comes from the Latin verb "scribere" and also means "to draw". |
| Croatian | The word 'pisati' also has the meaning of 'to whistle' in Croatian. |
| Czech | "Psát si" in Czech means "to write to each other", implying correspondence or exchange of letters or other written communication. |
| Danish | "Skrive" comes from the Old Norse word "skrifa", meaning "to cut" or "to scratch". |
| Dutch | Schrijven is derived from the Old Dutch word 'scríban' meaning 'to scrape' or 'to scratch'. |
| Estonian | Kirjutama shares its root with "kirj" (book), referring to writing in the original sense of "etching into a tablet". |
| Finnish | Kirjoittaa is also the root word for kirja (book). |
| French | "Écrire" derives from Old French "escrire," from Latin "scribere," and also means "to subscribe to". |
| Frisian | The Frisian word 'skriuwe' is derived from the Old Frisian word 'skriuwan', which means 'to scratch' or 'to carve'. |
| Galician | The verb «escribir» also means «subscribe». |
| Georgian | The word "დაწერე" also means "to paint" or "to draw" in Georgian. |
| German | The word 'schreiben' in German also means 'to scratch', hinting at its historical usage on wax tablets. |
| Greek | The root of the word 'γράφω' is 'γρᾰ́φ-ω' which means 'to scratch' or 'to scrape'. |
| Gujarati | "લખો" also means "to compose" as in "लखो रे रघुवीर" (compose, O Raghuveera) from Ramcharitmanas. |
| Haitian Creole | Ekri derives from the French word écrire and is also used as a verb meaning 'to draw' or 'to design' in Haitian Creole. |
| Hausa | The word "rubuta" in Hausa, meaning "to write," can also refer to "painting" or "carving" |
| Hawaiian | In Hawaiian, "kākau" can also mean "to tattoo" or "to draw a line". |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "לִכתוֹב" can also mean "to inscribe" or "to draw a line". |
| Hindi | The word "लिखो" can also mean "to draw" or "to paint" in Hindi. |
| Hmong | In addition to write, "sau" also means "to sow". The "u" in "sau" is pronounced in a high falling tone to distinguish it from the word "saw" (pronounced with a mid falling tone), which means "to chop". |
| Hungarian | The word "ír" comes from the Proto-Finno-Ugric word "*kir-/*kyr-", meaning "to scratch," as writing was originally done by scratching symbols into surfaces. |
| Icelandic | The Old Norse origin of "skrifa" is also found in "skrive" (Danish), "skriver" (Swedish) and "skrive" (Norwegian). |
| Igbo | "Dee" can also mean "send a letter" or "send a message" in Igbo. |
| Indonesian | The word "menulis" in Indonesian also has the alternate meanings of "to write down" and "to compose". |
| Italian | "Scrivi" derives from the Latin "scribere" (write, scratch), which is also the origin of the English "scribe" and "script". |
| Japanese | "書く" also means "to draw" when used in the context of "絵を書く" (to draw a picture). |
| Javanese | "Nulis" comes from the word "nulisi" which means "to scratch", a reference to the way traditional Javanese writing was inscribed on palm leaves. |
| Kannada | The word "ಬರೆಯಿರಿ" comes from the Sanskrit word "वृ" (vr.) which means "to choose" or "to select." |
| Kazakh | The word "жазу" (write) in Kazakh is also used to refer to the process of creating written communication, such as a letter or a book. |
| Khmer | "សរសេរ" can also refer to "drawing" or "engraving". |
| Korean | The word "쓰다" also means "to draw" or "to paint" |
| Kyrgyz | The word "жазуу" also means "letter" or "script" in Kyrgyz. |
| Lao | The word ຂຽນ also can mean "to draw or paint" and is related to other Tai languages' words for the same concept. |
| Latvian | The word "rakstīt" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *reǵ-, meaning "to set in order, arrange" and is also cognate with Russian word "растить" (rastit), meaning "to grow" or "to raise." |
| Lithuanian | "Rašyti" is derived from Proto-Indo-European root "*reg-" meaning "to draw, to scratch, to mark out". |
| Luxembourgish | "Schreiwen" is also used in the sense of "to cry" or "to scream" in Luxembourgish. |
| Macedonian | The word |
| Malagasy | "Soraty" derives from "tsoraka," meaning "mark" or "draw a line." |
| Malay | Menulis also has an archaic meaning of “to weave” in the context of making mats, baskets or cloth, which are traditionally made by women. |
| Malayalam | "எழுதുക" is derived from the Proto-Dravidian root *eḻu, meaning "to write, draw, or mark". |
| Maltese | "Iktieb" also means "to print" or "to type" in Maltese, but its root is in the Arabic word "kataba," meaning "to inscribe" or "to correspond." |
| Maori | The Maori word "tuhi" can also mean "to draw" or "to paint." |
| Marathi | In Sanskrit, the word 'लिख्' has several meanings, such as 'to engrave', 'to draw', 'to compose' and 'to mark' |
| Mongolian | "Бичлэх" is derived from the verb "бичихуй", which means to "mark", "draw", or "carve". |
| Nepali | The Nepali word "लेख्नुहोस्" is derived from the Sanskrit word "lipi," meaning "script" or "writing." |
| Norwegian | The Norwegian word "skrive" is also cognate with the Proto-Germanic word "skriban", meaning "to scratch or engrave". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | Lembani is an archaic term for writing or drawing, and also means 'to paint' or 'to sketch'. |
| Pashto | The word "ولیکئ" can also mean "to type" or "to compose" in Pashto. |
| Persian | The Persian word "نوشتن" (write) is derived from the Proto-Indo-Iranian root "*nekʷ -", which also means "draw" and "paint." |
| Polish | "Pisać" comes from the Proto-Slavic word "pisati", which means "to write, draw, or scratch". |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | Escreva can also mean a piece of writing (esp. a handwritten draft) |
| Punjabi | The Punjabi word "ਲਿਖੋ" ("likho") is related to the Sanskrit word "लेखन" ("lekhan") and the Old Persian word "ni-piš" ("to write"). |
| Romanian | The Romanian word "scrie" originates from "exscribere", meaning to "copy out of" or "transcribe" in Latin. |
| Russian | "Записывать" also means "to sign up" or "to enroll" in Russian. |
| Samoan | The word "tusi" also means "to write a letter" or "to draw a picture" in Samoan. |
| Serbian | The root word 'pis' in 'pisati' suggests that writing is like drawing or marking in Old Church Slavonic. |
| Sesotho | In addition to 'write', 'ngola' also means to 'draw' and 'paint' in Sesotho. |
| Shona | The word "nyora" in Shona is related to the word "nyoro," which means "water". This is because writing was traditionally done on wet clay tablets. |
| Sindhi | The word 'لکو' is also used in the sense of 'to compose' or 'to paint'. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The word "ලියන්න" can also mean "to compose" or "to draw". |
| Slovak | The word "napíš" in Slovak also has the secondary meaning of "to type". |
| Slovenian | Slovenian "piši" can also refer to urinating and is etymologically related to similar words across Slavic languages such as Russian "писа́ть" (pisát'). |
| Somali | The verb "qor" is also used in the Somali language to mean "record" or "register". |
| Spanish | The Spanish verb "escribir" originates from the Latin word "scribere", meaning "to scratch". |
| Sundanese | The Sundanese word 'nyerat' originates from the Javanese word 'nyerat', derived from 'serat' meaning 'letter'. |
| Swahili | In certain contexts, 'andika' can also mean 'to draw', 'to publish', or 'to print'. |
| Swedish | In the Swedish Dalarna dialect, "skriva" also means "roost", likely originating from the action of birds scratching the ground before settling down to sleep. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | The word “sumulat” comes from the Spanish word “escribir”, which also means “write”. |
| Tajik | The Russian word "навес" (canopy) shares the same root as Tajik "нависед". That means that the Tajik word originally referred to a "canopy" before it started meaning "to write". |
| Thai | The word "เขียน" also means "draw" or "paint" in Thai. |
| Turkish | "Yazmak" in Turkish also refers to "to register", as in with the authorities, or "to record". |
| Ukrainian | "Писати" is an antonym of "терти" ("erase"). |
| Urdu | The Urdu word "لکھیں" is derived from the Sanskrit word "likhati", which also means "to write". |
| Uzbek | The word "yozmoq" in Uzbek is derived from the Proto-Turkic verb *yaz- and also means "to draw" or "to paint". |
| Vietnamese | "Viết" also means "to draw", especially lines or letters. |
| Welsh | The word 'ysgrifennu' is cognate with the English word 'scribe' and can also mean 'to inscribe' or 'to engrave'. |
| Xhosa | The Xhosa word 'bhala' originates from the Nguni root '-bhala' meaning 'to scratch, write, draw, carve' |
| Yiddish | In Yiddish, "שרייבן" can also be used to refer to writing poetry or composing music. |
| Yoruba | The verb "kọ" can also mean "to learn" or "to be born". |
| Zulu | In addition to meaning "write," the word "bhala" can also mean "mark," or "draw." |
| English | The word "write" is derived from the Old English word "writan", which meant "to scratch" or "to carve". |