How to say “boss” in 37 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.
- босс[bos] Russian
- رئيس/ra.ʔiːs/ Arabic
- 上司/ʂɑŋ⁵¹ sɹ̩⁵⁵/ Chinese
- 보스[po̞sʰɯ] Korean
- מנהל/me.naˈ(h)el/ Hebrew
- বস/bɔs/ Bengali
“boss” in French: patron · German: boss · Italian: capo · Chinese: 上司 · Korean: 보스 · Russian: босс · Arabic: رئيس · Turkish: patron
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where baas is the 278th most used word.
Boss in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans baas/bɑːs/ #278
- Arabic رئيس/ra.ʔiːs/ boss, chief, leader #309
- Bengali বস/bɔs/ #288
- Bosnian šef/ʃêf/ chief, boss, manager, director, head #771
- Bulgarian шеф[ʃɛf] male boss, male leader, male chief, male… #1,127
- Catalan patró[pəˈtɾo] boss, owner #2,121
- Chinese 上司/ʂɑŋ⁵¹ sɹ̩⁵⁵/ boss; superior #1,335
- Croatian šef/ʃêf/ chief, boss, manager, director, head #787
- Czech šéfe/ˈʃeːfe/ boss, chief #784
- Danish chef/ˈsjɛːˀf/ A boss; person in charge, person who directly… #545
- Dutch baas/baːs/ boss, chief, superior #495
- Esperanto mastro/ˈmastro/ #621
- Finnish pomo/ˈpomo/ #872
- French patron/pa.tʁɔ̃/ a boss, employer #732
- Galician xefe/ˈʃefe/ #335
- German boss/bɔs/ #831
- Greek αφέντη/aˈfedi/ master, boss #1,890
- Hebrew מנהל/me.naˈ(h)el/ #706
- Hungarian főnök[ˈføːnøk] chief, boss #431
- Icelandic stjóri[ˈstjouːrɪ] boss, executive #2,108
- Italian capo/ˈka.po/ boss, chief, leader #338
- Korean 보스[po̞sʰɯ] #661
- Latvian priekšnieks/ˈpriekʃnieks/ #1,991
- Lithuanian viršininkas[²ˈʋʲɪrʲˑʃʲɪnʲɪŋkɐs] head, chief, boss #1,170
- Macedonian шеф[ʃɛf] #686
- Malayalam ബോസ്സ്/boːsːɨ̆/ #428
- Norwegian sjefen/ˈʃeːfən/ chief, boss, head #744
- Persian ارباب[ʔæɹ.bɒ́ːb̥] #738
- Polish szefie/ˈʂɛ.fjɛ/ #933
- Portuguese patrão/paˈtɾɐ̃w̃/ master, boss #1,829
- Russian босс[bos] #940
- Serbian šef/ʃêf/ chief, boss, manager, director, head #787
- Swedish chefen/ˈsxɛːfɛn/ A boss, manager; person in charge, person who… #735
- Telugu యజమాని/ˈjaɟaˌmaːni/ master, lord, boss #612
- Turkish patron/pat.ɾɔn/ #672
- Ukrainian шеф[ʃɛf] chief, head, boss #1,606
- Vietnamese chủ[t͡ɕu˧˩] boss; head; manager; master #377
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 Vietnamese (vais1000 (vi_VN), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.