How to say “clothing” in 34 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.
- 衣服/i⁵⁵ fu²/ Chinese
- 옷[o̞t̚] Korean
- कपड़े/kəp.ɽeː/ Hindi
- לבוש/leˈvuʃ/ Hebrew
- ഉടുപ്പ്/uɖupːɨ̆/ Malayalam
- لباس[le.bɒːs] Persian
“clothing” in German: kleidung · Portuguese: roupa · Chinese: 衣服 · Korean: 옷 · Hindi: कपड़े
It is commonest in Chinese, where 衣服 is the 121st most used word.
Clothing 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
- Bulgarian дрехи[ˈdrɛxi] indefinite plural of дре́ха: clothing; clothes #894
- Catalan vestit[bəsˈtit] dress, apparel, clothing #762
- Chinese 衣服/i⁵⁵ fu²/ clothing; clothes; laundry #121
- Croatian odjeća/ôdjet͡ɕa/ #2,033
- Czech oblečení[ˈoblɛt͡ʃɛɲiː] #999
- Dutch kleding/ˈkleːdɪŋ/ #2,043
- English clothes/kloʊ(ð)z/ Items of clothing; apparel #780
- Esperanto vestaĵojn/vesˈtaʒoɪn/ garment, article of clothing, piece of… #1,633
- Finnish vaatteet/ˈvaːtːeːt/ piece of clothing, garment #1,567
- French vêtements/vɛt.mɑ̃/ garment, item of clothing #1,197
- Galician roupa[ˈrowpɐ] clothing, clothes #599
- German kleidung/ˈklaɪ̯dʊŋ/ clothing; apparel #2,363
- Hebrew לבוש/leˈvuʃ/ #1,753
- Hindi कपड़े/kəp.ɽeː/ clothing; article of clothing #702
- Indonesian pakaian/paˈkajan/ clothes; clothing #659
- Korean 옷[o̞t̚] clothing; clothes #363
- Macedonian облека[ˈɔblɛka] clothing, clothes #717
- Malay pakaian/pakai̯an/ clothes; clothing #502
- Malayalam ഉടുപ്പ്/uɖupːɨ̆/ #1,263
- Persian لباس[le.bɒːs] #264
- Polish ubrania/uˈbra.ɲa/ piece of clothing #1,866
- Portuguese roupa/ˈʁo(w).pɐ/ clothing, clothes #841
- Serbian odeća/ôdet͡ɕa/ #2,298
- Slovak oblečenie/ɔbʎet͡ʃeɲɪ̯e/ #801
- Spanish ropa/ˈropa/ garment, clothing, clothes, robes #645
- Tagalog suot/suˈʔot/ clothing; clothes; what one is wearing #539
- Tamil ஆடை/ɑːɖɐɪ̯/ cloth, clothing, dress, garment #546
- 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
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.