How to say “clothes” in 31 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.
- שלמה/salˈma/ Hebrew
- ტანსაცმელი[tʼänsät͡sʰme̞li] Georgian
- հագուստ/hɑˈkʰust/ Armenian
- পোশাক/poʃak/ Bengali
- உடை/ʊɖɐɪ̯/ Tamil
- దుస్తులు/d̪ust̪ulu/ Telugu
“clothes” in Turkish: elbise
It is commonest in Telugu, where దుస్తులు is the 265th most used word.
Clothes in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans klere/ˈkliərə/ clothes, clothing #656
- Armenian հագուստ/hɑˈkʰust/ clothes, clothing #843
- Basque jantzi/ɟant͡s̻i/ clothes, clothing #354
- Bengali পোশাক/poʃak/ clothes, clothing #680
- Bosnian veš/ʋêʃ/ clothes, especially underwear #2,495
- Chinese 衣服/i⁵⁵ fu²/ clothing; clothes; laundry #121
- Dutch kleren/ˈkleː.rən/ #877
- English dress/dɹɛs/ To put clothes on; to clothe #928
- Esperanto vestojn/ˈvestoi̯n/ clothing, clothes, outfit #1,642
- Galician roupa[ˈrowpɐ] clothing, clothes #599
- Georgian ტანსაცმელი[tʼänsät͡sʰme̞li] clothes, attire #1,018
- Hebrew שלמה/salˈma/ clothes, dress #1,267
- Hungarian ruhát[ˈruɦaːt] #1,642
- Icelandic föt[ˈfœːt] #688
- Indonesian pakaian/paˈkajan/ clothes; clothing #659
- Korean 옷[o̞t̚] clothing; clothes #363
- Latvian drēbes/ˈdreːbes/ #1,144
- Macedonian облека[ˈɔblɛka] clothing, clothes #717
- Malay pakaian/pakai̯an/ clothes; clothing #502
- Norwegian klær/klæːr/ #1,030
- Portuguese roupa/ˈʁo(w).pɐ/ clothing, clothes #841
- Serbian veš/ʋêʃ/ clothes, especially underwear #2,155
- Spanish ropa/ˈropa/ garment, clothing, clothes, robes #645
- Swedish kläder/ˈklɛːdɛr/ clothes, garments, items of clothing #848
- Tagalog lampin/lamˈpin/ swaddling clothes; baby's breechcloth #426
- Tamil உடை/ʊɖɐɪ̯/ clothes, garment, dress #1,012
- Telugu దుస్తులు/d̪ust̪ulu/ #265
- Turkish elbise/el.bi.ˈse/ piece of clothing, clothes #1,406
- Ukrainian одяг[ˈɔdʲɐɦ] clothes, clothing, garments #1,367
- Urdu لباس/lɪ.bɑːs/ clothes, clothing, attire #619
- Vietnamese lột[lot̚˧˨ʔ] to strip off clothes #1,905
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) 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.