How to say “authority” in 30 different languages
Every one of these is a word that turns up in ordinary speech, not a dictionary curiosity — the number beside it is where it ranks in that language.
- власти[ˈvɫasʲtʲɪ] Russian
- εξουσία/ˌeksuˈsia/ Greek
- סמכות/samˈχut/ Hebrew
- അധികാരം/ad̪(ʱ)iɡaːɾam/ Malayalam
- అమలు/ˈamalu/ Telugu
“authority” in Russian: власти · Greek: εξουσία
It is commonest in Telugu, where అమలు is the 181st most used word.
Authority in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans gesag/xəˈsɐx/ authority, power #1,195
- Arabic حكم/ħa.ka.ma/ to exercise authority, command, bid, to rule,… #1,403
- Armenian իշխանություն/iʃχɑnuˈtʰjun/ power, authority, rule #1,221
- Basque indar/indar/ strength, authority #501
- Bengali প্রভাব/pɾobʱab/ influence, authority, power, dominance #830
- Bulgarian власт[vɫast] power, authority, influence #1,405
- Catalan autoritat[əw.tu.ɾiˈtat] #1,923
- Dutch rechten/ˈrɛxtən/ a right, competence, authority, privilege #2,022
- English officer/ˈɔ.fɪ.sɚ/ One who has a position of authority in a… #734
- Esperanto rajton/ˈrai̯ton/ right, authority #2,143
- Estonian võim/ˈvɤi̯m/ #1,406
- French empire/ɑ̃.piʁ/ influence, authority, dominion #2,342
- Galician autoridade/awtoɾiˈdade/ #1,347
- Greek εξουσία/ˌeksuˈsia/ authority, power #1,801
- Hebrew סמכות/samˈχut/ #2,331
- Hindi अधिकारी/ə.d̪ʱɪ.kɑː.ɾiː/ officer, one with authority #1,024
- Icelandic vald[ˈvalt] power, authority #1,149
- Indonesian kontrol/ˈkontrol/ control, influence or authority over something #1,577
- Italian sissignore/ˌsis.siɲˈɲo.re/ "yessir!" in accepting an authority figure's,… #2,251
- Latvian iestādes/ˈiestaːdes/ institution, office, authority #2,367
- Lithuanian valdžia/vɐlˈd͡ʒʲɐ/ authority, power #1,034
- Malayalam അധികാരം/ad̪(ʱ)iɡaːɾam/ #461
- Norwegian myndighetene/ˈmʏndɪˌheːtn̩ə/ #1,854
- Persian قدرت[qod̪.ɹǽt̪ʰ] power, authority #335
- Russian власти[ˈvɫasʲtʲɪ] authority, authorities, power #1,885
- Swedish bestämmer/bɛsˈtɛmɛr/ to decide from a position of authority #1,148
- Tagalog karapatan/kaɾapaˈtan/ right; authority #585
- Tamil ஆணையம்/ɑːɳɐɪ̯jɐm/ commission, authority, board, council #1,658
- Telugu అమలు/ˈamalu/ authority, reign, government #181
- Urdu اختیار/ɪx.t̪ɪ.jɑːɾ/ power, authority, jurisdiction #555
The speaker reads the word in the voice the LangX app uses for that language — synthesised, not a recording of a native speaker, so treat it as a guide. A row without a button has no reading we are free to use, or none we trust, yet. Voices for Bengali (google (bn_BD), CC BY-SA 4.0), Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.