How to say “cake” in 33 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.
- كعك/kaʕk/ Arabic
- 蛋糕/tän⁵¹ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵/ Chinese
- 케이크[kʰe̞ikxɯ] Korean
- केक/keːk/ Hindi
- עוגה/(ʕ)uˈɡa/ Hebrew
- কেক/kek/ Bengali
“cake” in Chinese: 蛋糕 · Korean: 케이크 · Arabic: كعك · Hindi: केक · Turkish: pasta
It is commonest in Chinese, where 蛋糕 is the 479th most used word.
Cake in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans koek/kuk/ #1,168
- Albanian tortë/tɔɾtə/ #1,929
- Arabic كعك/kaʕk/ #1,881
- Bengali কেক/kek/ #922
- Bosnian kolač/kǒlaːt͡ʃ/ #2,432
- Bulgarian пита[ˈpitɐ] round loaf, cake, pie #1,367
- Catalan pastís[pəsˈtis] pie, cake, pastry #1,420
- Chinese 蛋糕/tän⁵¹ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵/ #479
- Croatian kolač/kǒlaːt͡ʃ/ #2,442
- Czech dort[ˈdort] #2,031
- Danish kage/ˈkaːjə/ #1,853
- Dutch taart/taːrt/ a pie, large cake, or cobbler #1,698
- Esperanto kukon/ˈkukon/ #2,361
- Estonian kook/koːk/ #2,287
- French gâteau/ɡa.to/ a sponge cake, i.e. a cake made with a… #1,581
- German kuchen/ˈkuːxən/ pie; cake; tart #1,774
- Greek τούρτα/ˈtuɾ.ta/ cake with layers of filling and icing,… #2,351
- Hebrew עוגה/(ʕ)uˈɡa/ #1,530
- Hindi केक/keːk/ #1,953
- Icelandic köku/ˈkʰœːkʏ/ a cake #1,839
- Italian torta/ˈtor.ta/ pie, tart, cake or similar #1,465
- Korean 케이크[kʰe̞ikxɯ] #1,443
- Lithuanian torto[¹ˈtɔrtoː] torte, cake #2,075
- Macedonian торта[ˈtɔrta] #1,727
- Malay kek/ˈkek/ #1,180
- Malayalam കേക്ക്/keːkːi/ #703
- Norwegian kake/ˈkɑːkə/ a cake #2,304
- Persian کیک[kʰʲejkʰʲ] #2,000
- Serbian kolač/kǒlaːt͡ʃ/ #2,377
- Tagalog kakanin/kakaˈnin/ rice cake, usually one served with shredded… #2,406
- Tamil கேக்/keːk/ #1,920
- Turkish pasta/pɑs.tɑ/ #1,881
- Urdu کیک/keːk/ #1,045
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.