How to say “enemy” in 46 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.
- عدو/ʕa.duww/ Arabic
- 敵人/ti³⁵ ɻən³⁵/ Chinese
- 적[t͡ɕʌ̹k̚] Korean
- दुश्मन/d̪ʊʃ.mən/ Hindi
- εχθρός/exˈθɾos/ Greek
- მტერი[mtʼe̞ɾi] Georgian
“enemy” in French: ennemi · German: feind · Italian: nemico · Portuguese: inimigo · Chinese: 敵人 · Korean: 적 · Arabic: عدو · Hindi: दुश्मन
It is commonest in Korean, where 적 is the 195th most used word.
Enemy in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans vyand/ˈfəi̯.ant/ An enemy, a host, a foe #668
- Albanian armik[äɹˈmik] #1,748
- Arabic عدو/ʕa.duww/ enemy; foe #2,140
- Armenian թշնամի/tʰəʃnɑˈmi/ #592
- Basque etsai/et͡s̺ai̯/ enemy, opponent, adversary #951
- Bengali শত্রু/ʃot̪ɾu/ enemy, foe #560
- Bosnian neprijatelj/něprijateʎ/ #1,493
- Bulgarian враг[vrak] enemy, foe, fiend, nemesis #1,567
- Catalan enemic[ə.nəˈmik] #880
- Chinese 敵人/ti³⁵ ɻən³⁵/ enemy; foe #2,374
- Croatian neprijatelj/něprijateʎ/ #1,554
- Czech nepřítel[ˈnɛpr̝̊iːtɛl] enemy, foe #2,087
- Danish fjender/ˈfjenɐ/ enemy, adversary, foe #1,531
- Dutch vijand/ˈvɛi̯ˌ(j)ɑnt/ #1,129
- Esperanto malamiko/malaˈmiko/ enemy, foe #904
- Estonian vaenlane/ˈvɑe̯nlɑne/ #1,223
- French ennemi/ɛn.mi/ #1,316
- Galician inimigo[iniˈmiɣʊ] #831
- Georgian მტერი[mtʼe̞ɾi] enemy, foe #732
- German feind/faɪ̯nt/ enemy, fiend, foe #1,470
- Greek εχθρός/exˈθɾos/ #1,950
- Hebrew שונא/ɬoːˈniʔu/ hater, enemy #538
- Hindi दुश्मन/d̪ʊʃ.mən/ enemy, foe #601
- Hungarian ellenség[ˈɛlːɛnʃeːɡ] #2,117
- Indonesian musuh/ˈmusuh/ enemy, foe #655
- Italian nemico/neˈmi.ko/ enemy, foe #1,495
- Korean 적[t͡ɕʌ̹k̚] enemy; opponent; adversary #195
- Latvian ienaidnieks/ˈieːnaidnieks/ enemy, opponent, adversary, foe #1,439
- Lithuanian priešas[¹ˈpʲrʲiɛʃɐs] enemy, foe #1,004
- Macedonian непријатели[nɛpriˈjatɛli] #1,096
- Malay musuh/ˈmusuh/ enemy, foe #508
- Malayalam ശത്രു/ʃɐt̪ru/ #585
- Norwegian fienden/ˈfiːəndn̩/ an enemy #1,476
- Persian دشمن[d̪oʃ.mǽn] #656
- Portuguese inimigo/i.niˈmi.ɡu/ #1,314
- Serbian neprijatelj/něprijateʎ/ #1,564
- Slovak nepriateľ/ɲeprɪ̯aceʎ/ #1,093
- Slovenian sovražnik/sɔʋráːʒnik/ #693
- Swedish fiender/ˈfiːɛndɛr/ an enemy #1,716
- Tagalog kalaban/kaˈlaban/ #484
- Tamil எதிரி/ɛd̪ɪɾiː/ enemy, opponent, rival, nemesis #403
- Telugu శత్రువు/ɕat̪ɾuʋu/ #331
- Turkish düşman/dyʃˈman/ #1,239
- Ukrainian ворог[ˈwɔrɔɦ] enemy, foe #1,718
- Urdu دشمن/d̪ʊʃ.mən/ enemy, foe #568
- Vietnamese địch[ʔɗïk̟̚˧˨ʔ] an enemy; adversary; opponent; foe #1,107
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), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 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.