How to say “destiny” in 32 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.
- destino/desˈtino/ Spanish
- судьба[sʊdʲˈba] Russian
- 운명[ˈu(ː)nmjʌ̹ŋ] Korean
- ճակատագիր/t͡ʃɑkɑtɑˈɡiɾ/ Armenian
- سرنوشت[sæɹ.ne.veʃt̪ʰ] Persian
“destiny” in Spanish: destino · French: destin · German: schicksal · Italian: destino · Portuguese: destino · Korean: 운명 · Russian: судьба · Turkish: kader
It is commonest in Slovenian, where usoda is the 588th most used word.
Destiny in other languages, A to Z
- Armenian ճակատագիր/t͡ʃɑkɑtɑˈɡiɾ/ destiny, fate #1,182
- Basque halabehar/halabehar/ destiny, fate #2,351
- Bosnian sudbina/sudbǐna/ fate, destiny #1,433
- Catalan destí[dəsˈti] destiny, destination #1,194
- Croatian sudbina/sudbǐna/ fate, destiny #1,520
- Danish skæbne/skɛːbnə/ #1,325
- Dutch lot/lɔt/ destiny, fate, lot #1,214
- English fortune/ˈfoɹt͡ʃən/ Destiny, especially favorable #1,947
- Esperanto sorto/ˈsorto/ fate, destiny #1,196
- Estonian saatus/ˈsɑːtus/ destiny, fate #1,015
- French destin/dɛs.tɛ̃/ destiny, fate #1,522
- German schicksal/ˈʃɪk.zaːl/ destiny, fate #1,294
- Greek μοίρα/ˈmira/ fate; destiny #1,351
- Icelandic örlög[ˈœr.lœːɣ] #1,081
- Indonesian takdir/ˈtakdir/ destiny, fate #1,306
- Italian destino/desˈti.no/ destiny, fate #1,392
- Korean 운명[ˈu(ː)nmjʌ̹ŋ] destiny, fate; fortune #2,261
- Latvian liktenis/ˈliktenis/ destiny, fate, fortune #1,626
- Lithuanian likimas[lʲɪˈkʲɪmɐs] fate, destiny #889
- Macedonian судбина[ˈsudbina] fate, destiny #935
- Malay nasib/ˈnasib/ fate, destiny, luck #654
- Norwegian skjebne/ˈʃɛbnə/ fate, destiny #1,701
- Persian سرنوشت[sæɹ.ne.veʃt̪ʰ] destiny; fate #847
- Portuguese destino/desˈt͡ʃĩ.nu/ destiny, fate #1,015
- Russian судьба[sʊdʲˈba] destiny, fate, doom, fortune, predestination #1,949
- Serbian sudbina/sudbǐna/ fate, destiny #1,411
- Slovenian usoda/usóːda/ #588
- Spanish destino/desˈtino/ destiny, fate #1,085
- Swedish ödet/ˈøːdɛt/ destiny, fate #2,299
- Tamil விதி/ʋɪd̪iː/ fate, destiny #631
- Turkish kader/kaˈder/ destiny, fate #2,163
- Urdu قسمت/qɪs.mət̪/ fate, destiny #419
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0) and Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.