How to say “guard” in 41 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.
- שמר/ʃaˈmaʁ/ Hebrew
- պահապան/pɑhɑˈpɑn/ Armenian
- প্রহরী/pɾohoɾi/ Bengali
- കാവൽ/käːʋɐl/ Malayalam
- نگهبان[ne.ɡʲæɦ.bɒ́ːn] Persian
“guard” in Italian: guardia · Portuguese: guardas
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where wag is the 103rd most used word.
Guard in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans wag/vaχ/ #103
- Albanian ruaj/ɾuaj/ to watch over, to observe, to guard #1,159
- Arabic انتبه/in.ta.ba.ha/ to be careful, to be on one's guard, to think… #1,004
- Armenian պահապան/pɑhɑˈpɑn/ guard, keeper, protector, sentinel, watchman #851
- Bengali প্রহরী/pɾohoɾi/ guard, watchman #1,452
- Bosnian čuva/ˈtʃuvɐ/ to guard, protect #1,912
- Bulgarian пазя[ˈpazʲɐ] to guard, to protect #1,452
- Chinese 保守/pɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to keep; to guard #1,433
- Croatian čuvati/t͡ʃǔːʋati/ to guard, protect #1,661
- Czech hlídat[ˈɦliːdat] to watch, to guard #2,249
- Danish vagt[ˈvɑɡ̊d̥] guard, watch #1,177
- Dutch bewakers/bəˈʋaːkərs/ #2,338
- English aware/əˈwɛɚ/ Vigilant or on one's guard against danger or… #1,614
- Esperanto gardisto/ɡarˈdisto/ a guard #2,051
- Estonian valve/ˈvɑlve/ guard, watch #1,793
- French gardes/ɡaʁd/ a watch, guard #1,590
- Galician garda[ˈɡaɾðɐ] guard, watchman, escort #470
- German beschützen[bəˈʃʏt͡sn̩] to protect, to guard, to defend #1,143
- Hebrew שמר/ʃaˈmaʁ/ to guard #1,315
- Hungarian védeni[ˈveːdɛni] to protect, guard #2,199
- Icelandic verja[ˈvɛrja] to defend, guard, protect #817
- Indonesian jaga/ˈd͡ʒaɡa/ to watch over, to keep, to guard #687
- Italian guardia/ˈɡwar.dja/ #1,083
- Korean 경비원[ˈkjɘ(ː)ŋbiwʌ̹n] watchman, guard, security guard #2,479
- Latvian sargi/ˈsarɡi/ to protect, to guard #1,579
- Macedonian стража[ˈstraʒa] guard, watch #1,117
- Malay kawalan/kaˈwalan/ guard, protection #617
- Malayalam കാവൽ/käːʋɐl/ guard, safety #1,313
- Norwegian vaktene/ˈvɑktn̩ə/ a guard #2,068
- Persian نگهبان[ne.ɡʲæɦ.bɒ́ːn] guard, watchman #831
- Portuguese guardas/ˈɡwaɾdɐs/ #1,842
- Romanian pază/ˈpa.zə/ #2,274
- Russian защитить[zəɕːɪˈtʲitʲ] to defend, to guard, to protect #1,109
- Serbian čuva/ˈtʃuvɐ/ to guard, protect #1,761
- Slovak strážiť/ˈstraːʒic/ to guard #1,494
- Swedish vakt/ˈvakt/ a guard #1,921
- Tagalog bantay/banˈtaj/ guard; escort; watch #670
- Tamil பாதுகாப்பு/pɑːd̪ʊɡɑːpːɯ/ protection, guard, watch #160
- Turkish boş/ˈboʃ/ unprepared, off guard #402
- Urdu محافظ/mʊ.ɦɑː.fɪz/ protector; guard #1,316
- Vietnamese thủ[tʰu˧˩] to guard; to keep #423
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) 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.