How to say “food” in 50 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.
- еда[(j)ɪˈda] Russian
- طعام/tˤa.ʕaːm/ Arabic
- 食物/ʂɻ̩³⁵ u⁵¹/ Chinese
- 음식[ˈɯ(ː)mɕʰik̚] Korean
- खाने/kʰɑː.neː/ Hindi
- φαγητό/fa.ʝiˈto/ Greek
“food” in French: nourriture · Italian: cibo · Portuguese: comida · Chinese: 食物 · Korean: 음식 · Russian: еда · Arabic: طعام · Hindi: खाने
It is commonest in Malayalam, where ഭക്ഷണം is the 120th most used word.
Food in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans kos/kɔs/ #263
- Albanian ushqim/uʃˈcim/ #561
- Arabic طعام/tˤa.ʕaːm/ #615
- Armenian ուտելիք/uteˈlikʰ/ #1,744
- Basque jan/ɟan/ #205
- Bengali খাবার/kʰabaɾ/ #271
- Bosnian hranu/ˈxranʊ/ #715
- Bulgarian храна[xrɐˈna] food, foodstuff, provisions; nourishment,… #520
- Chinese 食物/ʂɻ̩³⁵ u⁵¹/ #269
- Croatian hranu/ˈxranʊ/ #795
- Danish mad/mað/ #415
- Dutch voedsel/ˈvut.səl/ #1,480
- English keeps/kiːps/ The food or money required to keep someone… #1,321
- Esperanto manĝaĵo/manˈd͡ʒaʒo/ #681
- Estonian toitu/ˈtoi̯tu/ #855
- Finnish ruokaa/ˈruokaː/ #667
- French nourriture/nu.ʁi.tyʁ/ food, nourishment #1,134
- Galician comida/koˈmida/ #434
- Georgian საკვები[säkʼʷe̞bi] #1,077
- German kochen/ˈkɔχən/ to cook, to prepare food #1,922
- Greek φαγητό/fa.ʝiˈto/ #514
- Hebrew מזון/maˈzon/ food, nourishment #1,099
- Hindi खाने/kʰɑː.neː/ food, meal #428
- Hungarian ételt[ˈeːtɛlt] food, dish #2,245
- Icelandic mat[ˈmaːt] #420
- Indonesian makanan/maˈkanan/ food, meal #388
- Italian cibo/ˈt͡ʃi.bo/ #755
- Korean 음식[ˈɯ(ː)mɕʰik̚] food, including drink #685
- Latvian ēdienu/ˈeːdieːnu/ food prepared for consumption; meal; dish #1,120
- Lithuanian maistas[²ˈmɐɪˑstɐs] #822
- Macedonian храна[ˈxrana] #398
- Malay makanan/maˈkanan/ food; meal #346
- Malayalam ഭക്ഷണം/b(ʱ)ɐkʂɐɳɐm/ #120
- Norwegian mat/maːt/ #445
- Persian غذا[qe.zɒ́ː] #325
- Polish jedzenie/jɛˈd͡zɛ.ɲɛ/ #1,019
- Portuguese comida/koˈmi.dɐ/ food, something edible #542
- Romanian mâncare/mɨnˈka.re/ #707
- Russian еда[(j)ɪˈda] #1,736
- Serbian hranu/ˈxranʊ/ #744
- Slovak jedla/jedla/ #799
- Slovenian hrana/xràːna/ #504
- Swedish mat/mɑːt/ #477
- Tagalog pagkain/paɡˈkaʔin/ #212
- Tamil உணவு/ʊɳɐʋɯ/ #217
- Telugu ఆకలి/aːkali/ a need or desire for food - hunger, appetite #898
- Turkish yemeği/jemeˈi/ meal, food #649
- Ukrainian їжа[ˈjiʒɐ] #1,784
- Urdu خوراک/xʊ.ɾɑːk/ victuals, meal, food #1,047
- Vietnamese thức[tʰɨk̚˧˦] food; drink #395
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), 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.