How to say “lady” in 42 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.
It is commonest in Chinese, where 夫人 is the 116th most used word.
- Afrikaans mevrou madam, lady #335
- Albanian zonja lady in a wealthy family with servants #321
- Armenian տիկին married woman; lady, madam #136
- Bengali বিবি woman, gentlewoman, lady #2,352
- Bosnian dama #1,197
- Bulgarian дама #1,129
- Catalan senyoreta girl; young lady #638
- Chinese 夫人 lady; madam; Mrs #116
- Croatian dama #1,227
- Czech madam madam, lady #630
- Danish damer lady, woman #722
- French dame #965
- Galician dama lady, dame, woman of high status #1,573
- Georgian ლედი #179
- German dame #1,021
- Greek λαίδη #2,019
- Hebrew גברת lady, madam #246
- Hindi महिला lady, female, woman #247
- Hungarian asszonyom my lady #655
- Icelandic frú madam, lady #191
- Indonesian wanita woman; lady #170
- Italian signore #168
- Korean 숙녀 #892
- Latvian dāma #1,480
- Lithuanian dama #1,866
- Macedonian дами #504
- Malay wanita A female person; woman, lady #236
- Malayalam യുവതി young lady #1,727
- Norwegian damer a lady, woman #635
- Persian بانو #964
- Portuguese senhora #362
- Romanian doamnă lady, polite term for a woman, madam, ma'am #441
- Russian леди #777
- Serbian dama #1,147
- Slovak pani #211
- Slovenian dama #602
- Spanish damas lady, dame #1,412
- Swedish damer a lady woman – similar tone to English in… #937
- Tagalog binibini maiden; young lady; unmarried woman #2,212
- Tamil கிழவி old lady, grandmother #1,563
- Ukrainian пані lady, madam, Mrs #265
- Urdu محترمہ #562
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.