How to say “brain” in 42 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.
- cerebro/θeˈɾebɾo/ Spanish
- мозг[mosk] Russian
- 뇌[nwe̞(ː)] Korean
- मस्तिष्क/məs.t̪ɪʂk/ Hindi
- μυαλό/mɲaˈlo/ Greek
- ուղեղ/uˈʁeʁ/ Armenian
“brain” in Spanish: cerebro · French: cerveau · German: gehirn · Portuguese: cérebro · Korean: 뇌 · Russian: мозг · Hindi: मस्तिष्क · Greek: μυαλό
It is commonest in Telugu, where మెదడు is the 390th most used word.
Brain in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian tru/tɾũ/ #1,451
- Armenian ուղեղ/uˈʁeʁ/ #1,416
- Basque garun/ɡaɾun/ #1,410
- Bengali মস্তিষ্ক/most̪iʃko/ #1,121
- Bosnian mozak/môzak/ #840
- Bulgarian мозък[ˈmɔzɐk] brain, marrow #1,606
- Catalan cervell[sərˈbeʎ] #809
- Croatian mozak/môzak/ #849
- Czech mozek[ˈmozɛk] #1,165
- Danish hjerne/jɛrnə/ #1,134
- Dutch hersenen/ˈɦɛr.sə.nə(n)/ #1,449
- English memory/ˈmɛm.ə.ɹi/ The ability of the brain to record… #1,280
- Esperanto cerbo/ˈt͡serbo/ #1,298
- Estonian aju/ˈɑju/ #977
- French cerveau/sɛʁ.vo/ #1,016
- German gehirn/ɡəˈhɪʁn/ #1,637
- Greek μυαλό/mɲaˈlo/ #449
- Hindi मस्तिष्क/məs.t̪ɪʂk/ brain, cerebrum #990
- Indonesian memori[mɛˈmori] the ability of the brain to record… #2,303
- Korean 뇌[nwe̞(ː)] #917
- Latvian smadzenes/ˈsmadzenes/ #1,044
- Lithuanian smegenys[²ˈsʲmʲæːɡʲɛnʲiːs] #980
- Macedonian мозок[ˈmɔzɔk] #1,023
- Malay otak/ˈotak/ #712
- Malayalam തലച്ചോറ്/t̪ɐlɐt͡ʃt͡ʃoːrɨ/ #1,565
- Norwegian hjernen/ˈjæːɳɳ̩/ #1,064
- Persian مغز[mæɢz] #733
- Polish mózgu/ˈmuz.ɡu/ #1,346
- Portuguese cérebro/ˈsɛ.ɾe.bɾu/ brain, cerebrum #1,052
- Romanian creier/ˈkrejer/ #1,611
- Russian мозг[mosk] brain; marrow #1,566
- Serbian mozak/môzak/ #825
- Slovak mozog/mɔzɔk/ #622
- Slovenian možgani/mɔʒɡáːni/ #691
- Spanish cerebro/θeˈɾebɾo/ #992
- Swedish hjärna/²jɛːɳa/ a brain #1,326
- Tagalog utak/ˈʔutak/ brain; encephalon #620
- Tamil மூளை/muːɭɐɪ̯/ #666
- Telugu మెదడు/med̪aɖu/ #390
- Ukrainian мозок[ˈmɔzɔk] #1,443
- Urdu دماغ/d̪ɪ.mɑːɣ/ brain, cerebrum #590
- Vietnamese não[naːw˦ˀ˥] brain, cerebrum #894
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.