How to say “freedom” in 40 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.
- حرية/ħur.rij.ja/ Arabic
- 자유[t͡ɕa̠ju] Korean
- ελευθερία/e.le.fθeˈɾi.a/ Greek
- חופש/ˈχofeʃ/ Hebrew
- মুক্তি/mukt̪i/ Bengali
- свобода[swɔˈbɔdɐ] Ukrainian
“freedom” in German: freiheit · Italian: libertà · Korean: 자유 · Arabic: حرية · Turkish: özgürlük · Greek: ελευθερία
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where vryheid is the 502nd most used word.
Freedom in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans vryheid/ˈfrɛɪhɛɪt/ #502
- Albanian lirinë/liɾinə/ #1,444
- Arabic حرية/ħur.rij.ja/ freedom, liberty #2,248
- Basque askatasuna/as̺ˈkatas̺uˌna/ freedom, liberty #630
- Bengali মুক্তি/mukt̪i/ freedom; liberation, independence #667
- Bosnian slobodu/ˈslobodʊ/ #1,569
- Catalan llibertat[ʎi.βərˈtat] freedom, liberty #911
- Croatian slobodu/ˈslobodʊ/ #1,626
- Danish frihed/ˈfriːhed/ #1,416
- Dutch vrijheid[ˈfrɛi̯.ɦɛi̯t] #1,436
- Esperanto libereco/libeˈret͡so/ freedom, liberty #1,012
- Estonian vabadus/ˈvɑb̥ɑd̥us/ #1,739
- French liberté/li.bɛʁ.te/ liberty, freedom. 1688, Guy Miège, The Great… #1,148
- Galician liberdade/libeɾˈdade/ liberty; freedom #426
- German freiheit/ˈfʁaɪ̯haɪ̯t/ #1,494
- Greek ελευθερία/e.le.fθeˈɾi.a/ freedom, liberty #1,407
- Hebrew חופש/ˈχofeʃ/ #1,293
- Icelandic frelsi[ˈfrɛlsɪ] freedom, liberty #845
- Indonesian kebebasan/kəbeˈbasan/ freedom, freehood #1,495
- Italian libertà/li.berˈta/ freedom; liberty #1,976
- Korean 자유[t͡ɕa̠ju] freedom, liberty #713
- Latvian brīvību/ˈbriːʋiːbu/ freedom, liberty subordination, dependence #1,513
- Lithuanian laisvė[¹ˈlɑˑɪsʲʋʲeː] #1,472
- Macedonian слобода[ˈsɫɔbɔda] freedom, liberty #906
- Malay kebebasan/kəbeˈbasan/ freedom; liberty #1,142
- Norwegian frihet/friː.heːt/ freedom, liberty #1,507
- Persian آزادی[ʔɒː.zɒː.d̪íː] #1,625
- Polish wolności/vɔlˈnɔɕ.t͡ɕi/ freedom, liberty #2,041
- Portuguese liberdade/li.beʁˈda.d͡ʒi/ liberty, freedom #1,042
- Romanian libertate/li.berˈta.te/ liberty, freedom #1,753
- Serbian slobodu/ˈslobodʊ/ #1,576
- Slovak slobodu/slɔbɔdu/ #1,004
- Slovenian svoboda/sʋɔbɔ̀ːda/ #1,050
- Spanish libertad/libeɾˈta/ liberty, freedom #950
- Swedish frihet/friːheːt/ freedom, liberty #1,621
- Tagalog kalayaan/kalaˈjaʔan/ freedom; liberty #1,852
- Tamil சுதந்திரம்/tʃʊd̪ɐnd̪ɪɾɐm/ independence, freedom #971
- Turkish özgürlük/œz.ɡyɾ.lyc/ freedom, liberty #1,719
- Ukrainian свобода[swɔˈbɔdɐ] freedom, liberty #2,207
- Urdu آزادی/ɑː.zɑː.d̪iː/ freedom, independence #620
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) 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.