How to say “box” in 43 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.
It is commonest in Arabic, where لكم is the 151st most used word.
- Afrikaans kis chest, box #1,242
- Albanian kuti #805
- Arabic لكم to punch, to box #151
- Basque kaxa #850
- Bengali বাক্স #1,153
- Bosnian kutija box, chest #1,754
- Bulgarian кутия box, case #1,174
- Catalan caixa #963
- Chinese 箱子 box; case; crate; chest #647
- Croatian kutija box, chest #1,853
- Czech krabici #2,282
- Danish kassen #1,821
- Dutch doos #1,456
- English chest A box, now usually a large strong box with a… #1,796
- Esperanto keston box, chest #2,044
- Estonian kast box, chest, crate #2,074
- French boîte #926
- Galician caixa #1,218
- German kiste chest, box #2,237
- Hungarian doboz #2,291
- Icelandic kassa #1,187
- Indonesian kotak box; case #731
- Italian scatola #1,505
- Korean 상자 box; case #1,291
- Latvian kastē #2,134
- Lithuanian dėžė #2,082
- Macedonian кутија #909
- Malay kotak #689
- Malayalam പെട്ടി a box #395
- Persian جعبه #613
- Portuguese caixa #822
- Romanian cutie #1,212
- Serbian kutija box, chest #1,823
- Slovenian škatla #1,135
- Spanish caja box, case #793
- Swedish lådan a box, a case #2,014
- Tagalog suntok punch; box; blow with a fist #1,198
- Tamil பெட்டி chest, trunk, box, case #746
- Telugu సొరుగు the drawer of a table or box #1,425
- Turkish kutu #1,567
- Ukrainian ящик box, case, chest #2,336
- Urdu صندوق box, trunk, coffer, chest, casket #945
- Vietnamese hộp box or carton #899
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.