How to say “idea” in 43 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.
- ideas/iˈdeas/ Spanish
- идея[ɪˈdʲejə] Russian
- 主意/ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵¹/ Chinese
- 아이디어[a̠idiʌ̹] Korean
- ιδέα/iˈðea/ Greek
- רעיון/ʁa(.a)ˈjon/ Hebrew
“idea” in Spanish: ideas · French: idée · German: idee · Italian: idee · Portuguese: ideia · Chinese: 主意 · Korean: 아이디어 · Russian: идея
It is commonest in Chinese, where 主意 is the 173rd most used word.
Idea in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans idee/iˈdiə/ #302
- Arabic مفهوم/maf.huːm/ concept; notion; idea #446
- Bengali ধারণা/d̪ʱaɾona/ idea, thought, perception #371
- Bosnian ideja/iděːja/ #449
- Bulgarian идея[iˈdɛjɐ] idea, notion #320
- Catalan idea[iˈðe.ə] An idea, a mental representation of a real or… #265
- Chinese 主意/ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵¹/ idea; plan #173
- Croatian ideja/iděːja/ #477
- Czech nápad[ˈnaːpat] #434
- Danish idé[iˈd̥eˀ] #507
- Dutch idee/iˈdeː/ #230
- Esperanto ideo/iˈdeo/ idea, thought, concept #482
- Estonian mõte/ˈmɤte/ thought, idea #421
- Finnish idea/ˈideɑ/ #829
- French idée/i.de/ #260
- Galician ideas/iˈdɛas/ #1,090
- Georgian იდეა[ide̞ä] #698
- German idee/iˈdeː/ #426
- Greek ιδέα/iˈðea/ idea, concept, notion #237
- Hebrew רעיון/ʁa(.a)ˈjon/ #359
- Hungarian ötlet[ˈøtlɛt] #524
- Icelandic hugmynd[ˈhʏɣ.mɪnt] #250
- Indonesian ide/ˈide/ #424
- Italian idee/iˈdɛ.e/ #1,512
- Korean 아이디어[a̠idiʌ̹] #2,095
- Latvian ideja/ˈideja/ #601
- Lithuanian idėja[ɪ¹ˈdʲeːjɛ] #679
- Macedonian идеја[iˈdɛja] #345
- Malay idea/ˈajdiə/ #404
- Norwegian idé/ɪˈdeː/ idea, theory #567
- Persian ایده[ʔiː.d̪é] #1,155
- Polish pomysł/ˈpɔ.mɘsw/ #378
- Portuguese ideia/iˈdɛj.ɐ/ #256
- Romanian idee/iˈde.e/ #333
- Russian идея[ɪˈdʲejə] idea, thought, notion #495
- Serbian ideja/iděːja/ #445
- Spanish ideas/iˈdeas/ #1,538
- Swedish idé/ɪˈdeː/ an idea #481
- Tagalog ideya/ʔideˈa/ alternative form of idea #530
- Tamil யோசனை/joːtʃɐnɐɪ̯/ thought, idea #691
- Turkish fikir/fiˈciɾ/ thought, idea #487
- Ukrainian ідея[iˈdɛjɐ] idea, notion, concept #583
- Urdu خیال/xə.jɑːl/ thought, idea, opinion; reasoning,… #105
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) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.