How to say “box” in 43 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.
- caja/ˈkaxa/ Spanish
- 箱子/ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ d͡z̥ɹ̩²/ Chinese
- 상자[sʰa̠ŋd͡ʑa̠] Korean
- বাক্স/bakʃo/ Bengali
- പെട്ടി/peʈʈi/ Malayalam
- ящик[ˈjaʃt͡ʃek] Ukrainian
“box” in Spanish: caja · French: boîte · Italian: scatola · Portuguese: caixa · Chinese: 箱子 · Korean: 상자 · Turkish: kutu
It is commonest in Malayalam, where പെട്ടി is the 395th most used word.
Box in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans kis/ˈkəs/ chest, box #1,242
- Albanian kuti/kuti/ #805
- Arabic لكم/la.ka.ma/ to punch, to box #151
- Basque kaxa/kaʃa/ #850
- Bengali বাক্স/bakʃo/ #1,153
- Bosnian kutija/kǔtija/ box, chest #1,754
- Bulgarian кутия[koˈtijɐ] box, case #1,174
- Catalan caixa[ˈka.ʃə] #963
- Chinese 箱子/ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵⁵ d͡z̥ɹ̩²/ box; case; crate; chest #647
- Croatian kutija/kǔtija/ box, chest #1,853
- Czech krabici[ˈkrabɪt͡sɪ] #2,282
- Danish kassen/ˈkasən/ #1,821
- Dutch doos/doːs/ #1,456
- English chest/t͡ʃɛst/ A box, now usually a large strong box with a… #1,796
- Esperanto keston/ˈkeston/ box, chest #2,044
- Estonian kast/kɑst/ box, chest, crate #2,074
- French boîte/bwat/ #926
- Galician caixa/ˈkajʃa/ #1,218
- German kiste/ˈkɪstə/ chest, box #2,237
- Hungarian doboz[ˈdoboz] #2,291
- Icelandic kassa/ˈkʰasa/ #1,187
- Indonesian kotak/ˈkɔtaʔ/ box; case #731
- Italian scatola/ˈska.to.la/ #1,505
- Korean 상자[sʰa̠ŋd͡ʑa̠] box; case #1,291
- Latvian kastē/ˈkasteː/ #2,134
- Lithuanian dėžė[d̪ʲeːˈʑěː] #2,082
- Macedonian кутија[ˈkuti(j)a] #909
- Malay kotak/ˈkotak/ #689
- Malayalam പെട്ടി/peʈʈi/ a box #395
- Persian جعبه[d͡ʒæʔ.bé] #613
- Portuguese caixa/ˈka.ʃɐ/ #822
- Romanian cutie/kuˈti.e/ #1,212
- Serbian kutija/kǔtija/ box, chest #1,823
- Slovenian škatla/ʃkáːtla/ #1,135
- Spanish caja/ˈkaxa/ box, case #793
- Swedish lådan/ˈloːdan/ a box, a case #2,014
- Tagalog suntok/sunˈtok/ punch; box; blow with a fist #1,198
- Tamil பெட்டி/pɛʈːiː/ chest, trunk, box, case #746
- Telugu సొరుగు/soruɡu/ the drawer of a table or box #1,425
- Turkish kutu/kuˈtu/ #1,567
- Ukrainian ящик[ˈjaʃt͡ʃek] box, case, chest #2,336
- Urdu صندوق/sənd̪uːq/ box, trunk, coffer, chest, casket #945
- Vietnamese hộp[hop̚˧˨ʔ] box or carton #899
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), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 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.