How to say “cry” in 45 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 Georgian, where ყვირილი is the 74th most used word.
- Afrikaans huil to cry; to weep #351
- Albanian qaj to cry, weep, shed tears #1,203
- Arabic نحب to lament, to weep, to cry #1,338
- Armenian ճիչ screech, scream, cry #1,324
- Bengali কান্না cry, crying, weep, sob, lament #899
- Bosnian plakati to cry, weep #2,253
- Bulgarian вик cry, shout #2,131
- Catalan plorar to cry, to weep #1,530
- Chinese 呼叫 to call; to shout; to cry out #654
- Croatian plakati to cry, weep #1,907
- Danish græde cry, weep #1,588
- Dutch huilen to cry, to weep #1,274
- English screaming To cry out with a shrill voice; to utter a… #917
- Esperanto krias to cry, shout, yell #1,235
- Estonian nutma to cry #1,542
- French pleurer to cry, to weep; to shed tears #1,461
- Galician chorar to cry, weep #1,127
- Georgian ყვირილი cry, shout, yell #74
- German ruf to call out, to shout, to cry #653
- Greek κλαις to cry, weep #2,029
- Hebrew הצילו Help: cry of distress or an urgent request… #759
- Hindi रोते to cry, weep #1,138
- Icelandic gráta to cry #764
- Indonesian menangis to cry #547
- Italian piangere to weep, cry #1,350
- Latvian sauc to call, to cry #183
- Lithuanian verkti cry, weep #1,613
- Macedonian викнам to cry, shout #1,467
- Malay menangis To cry #556
- Malayalam നിലവിളി loud scream or cry #1,153
- Norwegian gråt to cry or weep #1,541
- Persian گریه cry, sob #1,391
- Portuguese chorar to cry; to weep #1,164
- Romanian plânge to cry, weep #1,425
- Serbian plače to cry, weep #2,165
- Slovak plakať to weep, to cry #986
- Slovenian jokati to cry #1,040
- Spanish llorar to cry, to weep #1,546
- Swedish gråta to cry, to weep #1,667
- Tagalog umiyak to cry; to weep #1,111
- Tamil அழு to cry, to weep #1,425
- Telugu కేక a loud cry #799
- Turkish ağlama to cry, bewail, wail, weep #2,118
- Urdu رونا to cry, weep #986
- Vietnamese la to cry, to shout #731
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.