Yellow in Different Languages
Discover 'Yellow' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Yellow
Afrikaans geel | ||
Albanian e verdhe | ||
Amharic ቢጫ | ||
Arabic الأصفر | ||
Armenian դեղին | ||
Assamese হালধীয়া | ||
Aymara q'illu | ||
Azerbaijani sarı | ||
Bambara nɛrɛmuguman | ||
Basque horia | ||
Belarusian жоўты | ||
Bengali হলুদ | ||
Bhojpuri पियर | ||
Bosnian žuto | ||
Bulgarian жълт | ||
Catalan groc | ||
Cebuano dalag | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 黄色 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 黃色 | ||
Corsican ghjallu | ||
Croatian žuta boja | ||
Czech žlutá | ||
Danish gul | ||
Dhivehi ރީނދޫ | ||
Dogri पीला | ||
Dutch geel | ||
English yellow | ||
Esperanto flava | ||
Estonian kollane | ||
Ewe aŋgbaɖiɖi | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) dilaw | ||
Finnish keltainen | ||
French jaune | ||
Frisian giel | ||
Galician amarelo | ||
Georgian ყვითელი | ||
German gelb | ||
Greek κίτρινος | ||
Guarani sa'yju | ||
Gujarati પીળો | ||
Haitian Creole jòn | ||
Hausa rawaya | ||
Hawaiian melemele | ||
Hebrew צהוב | ||
Hindi पीला | ||
Hmong daj | ||
Hungarian sárga | ||
Icelandic gulur | ||
Igbo edo edo | ||
Ilocano duyaw | ||
Indonesian kuning | ||
Irish buí | ||
Italian giallo | ||
Japanese 黄 | ||
Javanese kuning | ||
Kannada ಹಳದಿ | ||
Kazakh сары | ||
Khmer លឿង | ||
Kinyarwanda umuhondo | ||
Konkani हळदुवें | ||
Korean 노랑 | ||
Krio yala | ||
Kurdish zer | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) زەرد | ||
Kyrgyz сары | ||
Lao ສີເຫຼືອງ | ||
Latin flavo | ||
Latvian dzeltens | ||
Lingala jaune | ||
Lithuanian geltona | ||
Luganda kyenvu | ||
Luxembourgish giel | ||
Macedonian жолто | ||
Maithili पीयर | ||
Malagasy mavo | ||
Malay kuning | ||
Malayalam മഞ്ഞ | ||
Maltese isfar | ||
Maori kōwhai | ||
Marathi पिवळा | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯅꯥꯄꯨ ꯃꯆꯨ | ||
Mizo eng | ||
Mongolian шар | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) အဝါရောင် | ||
Nepali पहेंलो | ||
Norwegian gul | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) wachikasu | ||
Odia (Oriya) ହଳଦିଆ | ||
Oromo keelloo | ||
Pashto ژیړ | ||
Persian زرد | ||
Polish żółty | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) amarelo | ||
Punjabi ਪੀਲਾ | ||
Quechua qillu | ||
Romanian galben | ||
Russian желтый | ||
Samoan lanu samasama | ||
Sanskrit पीतं | ||
Scots Gaelic buidhe | ||
Sepedi serolane | ||
Serbian жуто | ||
Sesotho bosehla | ||
Shona yero | ||
Sindhi پيلو | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) කහ | ||
Slovak žltá | ||
Slovenian rumena | ||
Somali jaalle | ||
Spanish amarillo | ||
Sundanese koneng | ||
Swahili manjano | ||
Swedish gul | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) dilaw | ||
Tajik зард | ||
Tamil மஞ்சள் | ||
Tatar сары | ||
Telugu పసుపు | ||
Thai สีเหลือง | ||
Tigrinya ብጫ | ||
Tsonga xitshopana | ||
Turkish sarı | ||
Turkmen sary | ||
Twi (Akan) yɛlo | ||
Ukrainian жовтий | ||
Urdu پیلا | ||
Uyghur سېرىق | ||
Uzbek sariq | ||
Vietnamese màu vàng | ||
Welsh melyn | ||
Xhosa lubhelu | ||
Yiddish געל | ||
Yoruba ofeefee | ||
Zulu ophuzi |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | The word “geel” can also mean “happy” or “excited” and is cognate with the Dutch word “geel” (“yellow”) and the German word “gelb” (“yellow”). |
| Albanian | The word "e verdhe" in Albanian is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʰel-, meaning "to shine" or "to be bright" |
| Amharic | The word 'ቢጫ' is also used to describe a light-skinned person. |
| Arabic | The word "الأصفر" is derived from the root word "صفر" which also means "empty" or "zero" in Arabic. |
| Armenian | The Armenian word "դեղին" ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰel- meaning "to shine", and is cognate with the Greek word "χλωρός" (chloros) "greenish-yellow". |
| Azerbaijani | The word "sarı" also means "drunk" or "tipsy" in Azerbaijani, originating from the yellowish hue of a drunk person's face. |
| Basque | The word "horia" also refers to a type of bird and the color of ripe wheat. |
| Belarusian | The word "жоўты" comes from the Proto-Slavic word *žьl̥tъ, which also means "bile". |
| Bengali | হলুদ (halud) comes from Sanskrit 'haridra', meaning 'a yellow pigment or dye'. |
| Bosnian | "Žuto" in Bosnian can also mean "pale", "sickly", or "cowardly". |
| Bulgarian | The Bulgarian word "жълт" is a false cognate of the Russian word "желтый" which indeed means "yellow". In Russian, "ж" stands for the consonant we typically spell in English with "zh". In Bulgarian, however, this letter denotes the consonant we typically spell with "y". |
| Catalan | The word “groc” may also refer to the yellow-green part of a plant or to the yolk of an egg. |
| Cebuano | In Cebuano, the word "dalag" also refers to a type of banana or a type of turmeric. |
| Corsican | Corsican "ghjallu" derives from Late Latin "galbeus", meaning "yellowish". |
| Croatian | In Croatian, "žuta boja" literally means "bitter color," suggesting a historical association between the color yellow and the taste of bitterness. |
| Czech | "Žlutá" is originally a diminutive form of the noun "žluč" ("bile") and is related to the verb "žluknout" ("to turn yellow"). |
| Danish | Danish 'gul' comes from Proto-Germanic 'gela', meaning "glowing". |
| Dutch | Geel also refers to the urine of a pregnant mare, which was used to treat certain diseases in the past. |
| Esperanto | The Esperanto word "flava" is derived from the Latin "flavus" and also means "blond" in addition to "yellow". |
| Estonian | The word "kollane" is etymologically related to the word "kuld" (gold) and the Latvian word "dzeltens" (yellow). |
| Finnish | "Keltainen" derives from "kulta" (gold), and is the root for the name of Estonia (Viron kulta ranta = the Golden Coast of Estonia). |
| French | In heraldry, jaune refers to gold, while 'or' refers to yellow. |
| Frisian | The word "giel" in Frisian is cognate with the English word "yellow", and is also used to describe the color of the yolk of an egg. |
| Galician | The Galician word "amarelo" comes from the Medieval Galician "amarélo," from Latin "amarēllus," which means "slightly bitter". |
| Georgian | The word ყვითელი ( |
| German | In Bavarian and Austrian dialects, "Gelb" can also refer to "envy" or "cowardice". |
| Greek | The word "κίτρινος" (yellow) in Greek is derived from the word "κίτρος" (citron), which refers to the fruit of the citrus tree. |
| Gujarati | The word "પીળો" (yellow) in Gujarati, derived from Sanskrit "पीत" (yellow), also means "pale" or "deteriorated" in some contexts. |
| Haitian Creole | "Jòn" is also a term of address for priests and dignitaries and can mean "master" or "mister." |
| Hausa | Ra'waya can also refer to a type of yellow dye used in traditional Hausa textiles. |
| Hawaiian | The word "melemele" in Hawaiian can also mean "sweet" or "rich". |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word "צהוב" (yellow) is related to the Arabic "صَهَابَة" (companions), as both come from the Semitic root צ-ה-ב, which refers to brightness and companionship. |
| Hindi | पीला is also used to indicate old age or decline in someone's powers or beauty |
| Hmong | The word "daj" can also refer to a type of tree and its fruit |
| Hungarian | The word "sárga" also refers to bile in Hungarian, which contributes to the yellowish colour of urine and feces. |
| Icelandic | It can also mean 'pale' or 'green'. |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "edo edo" may also refer to an infectious skin disorder that manifests as reddish-yellow spots. |
| Indonesian | "Kuning" also refers to the color of the skin of a Southeast Asian person. |
| Irish | The Irish word "buí" is also used figuratively to mean "happy" or "pleasant". |
| Italian | In Italian, 'giallo' also refers to the mystery genre in fiction, due to the yellow covers of popular mystery novels in the 1920s and '30s. |
| Japanese | The Chinese character 黄 (yellow) can also mean 'king' or 'centre' in the context of Chinese astronomy and philosophy. |
| Javanese | The word "kuning" can also refer to the color of ripe banana, which is called "kuning kepok" in Javanese. |
| Kannada | "ಹಳದಿ" also means "turmeric" in Kannada. |
| Kazakh | The word "сары" in Kazakh, meaning "yellow," also denotes the concepts of "pale" and "greenish-yellow". |
| Khmer | "លឿង" (yellow) is a Khmer word also used to refer to the color saffron. |
| Korean | The word "노랑" can also refer to jealousy or envy, and is related to the word "노루" (deer), which were often depicted as yellow in traditional Korean paintings. |
| Kurdish | Zer is cognate with the Persian word 'zar' and the Armenian word 'zarb' meaning 'gold'. |
| Kyrgyz | The Kyrgyz word "Сары" not only means "yellow", but it also refers to "the west" and "autumn". |
| Latin | The word "flavo" is also used to describe a reddish-yellow or orange-yellow shade. |
| Latvian | "Dzeltens" is also related to "dzelt", meaning "to glow", and "dzilna", meaning "spark". |
| Lithuanian | The word "geltona" is derived from Proto-Baltic *gelta, cognate with Latvian "dzeltena" and Prussian "geltans." |
| Luxembourgish | "Giel" also means "jaundice" in Luxembourgish, as it is a yellowish pigment that can result from liver problems. |
| Macedonian | The word "жолто" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *žьltъ, which also meant "green". |
| Malay | "Kuning" comes from Javanese or Sanskrit and originally meant "gold". |
| Malayalam | The word "മഞ്ഞ" in Malayalam also means "turmeric", which is a spice that gives food a yellow color. |
| Maltese | The Maltese word "isfar" also refers to a type of dye or pigment, particularly a yellow or golden color. |
| Maori | The Māori word "kōwhai" also refers to the native New Zealand tree Sophora microphylla, known for its bright yellow flowers. |
| Mongolian | Шар ("yellow") comes from a Middle Mongolian root also meaning "gold," but derives from Proto-Mongolic for "white." |
| Nepali | "पहेंलो" is derived from the Sanskrit word "पिंगल," which also means "tawny" or "brownish-yellow." |
| Norwegian | The word "gul" in Norwegian also means "gold". |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | The Nyanja word "wachikasu" originally referred to the color of ripe sorghum, which is yellowish-brown. |
| Persian | The word "زرد" can also refer to "cowardice" or "treachery" in Persian due to its association with the color yellow, which in Persian culture is often seen as a symbol of weakness or fear. |
| Polish | The word "żółty" derives from the Proto-Slavic "*žьltъ", meaning "bile". Bile is a greenish-yellow substance produced by the liver that aids in digestion. Thus, "żółty" also refers to the greenish-yellow color of bile. |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Portuguese, "amarelo" can also mean "cowardly" or "jealous", deriving from the verb "amar" (to love), hence indicating a lack thereof. |
| Punjabi | The word "ਪੀਲਾ" also means "green" in Old Punjabi and some other Indian languages. |
| Romanian | The word "galben" is also used in Romanian for the color pale yellow and sometimes yellowed due to sickness. |
| Russian | The word "желтый" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "*žьltъ", meaning "bile". It is also related to the English word "gall" and the Latin word "fel", both of which refer to bile. |
| Samoan | The Samoan word "lanu samasama" also refers to a person with a fair skin complexion. |
| Scots Gaelic | The word 'buidhe' in Scots Gaelic also refers to a blonde or fair person. |
| Shona | The word "yero" in Shona may also refer to a type of bird or a person with a light complexion. |
| Sindhi | پيلو is also used in Sindhi as an affectionate term of endearment for a loved one, and sometimes as a name for a pet. |
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | The Sinhalese word "කහ" also refers to the colour "golden", and is likely related to the Sanskrit term "कनक" (kanaka) which has the same double meaning. |
| Slovak | The Slovak word 'žltá' is likely derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'žьltъ', meaning 'golden' or 'green'. |
| Slovenian | The word "rumena" derives from the Proto-Slavic word "ruměnъ" meaning "red" or "yellow" and is related to the Lithuanian word "raũdonas" meaning "red". |
| Somali | The word 'jaalle' can also refer to a type of traditional Somali dance. |
| Spanish | The name of the city of Amarillo, Texas, derives from the Spanish word for yellow and refers to the area's distinctive soil color. |
| Sundanese | In the Sundanese language, "koneng" also refers to the colour of turmeric or saffron. |
| Swahili | "Manjano" is also the Swahili word for turmeric, a spice that is also yellow. |
| Swedish | In older Swedish, 'gul' could also refer to gold or a golden hue. |
| Tajik | The word «зард» can also mean «pale» or «greenish», and is sometimes used to describe an unhealthy complexion. |
| Telugu | "Pasupu" (turmeric) and "pasupu" (gold) are cognate words in Telugu, both derived from the Sanskrit word "pishu", meaning "to be yellow." |
| Thai | In Thai, "สีเหลือง" does not only refer to the color, but also to the revered royal color of the Thai monarchy. |
| Turkish | The word "Sarı" in Turkish, meaning "yellow," also has alternate meanings such as "blonde" and "cowardly."} |
| Ukrainian | The word |
| Urdu | The word 'پیلا' can also mean 'pale' or 'faded' in Urdu. |
| Uzbek | In Uzbek, “sariq” also means “jealous,” “envious,” or “pale.” |
| Vietnamese | The word màu vàng derives from the Sanskrit word "varna" which also refers to gold, gold color, and light. |
| Welsh | Melyn can also refer to honey, butter, or egg yolk because of their yellow colour. |
| Xhosa | "Lubhelu" can also mean "autumn" in Xhosa |
| Yiddish | The Yiddish word "געל" (gel) is also related to the German word "gelb" (yellow), which is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "gelwaz" (yellow). |
| Yoruba | "Ofeefee" is a Yoruba word that can also refer to the color of urine or someone who is sickly or pale. |
| Zulu | The word "ophuzi" can also refer to a type of grass or a yellowish-green colour. |
| English | "Yellow" is derived from the Old English word "geolu" meaning yellow and gold. |