How to say “leader” in 41 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 Tamil, where தலைவர் is the 226th most used word.
- Afrikaans leier #640
- Albanian udhëheqës #2,105
- Arabic رئيس boss, chief, leader #309
- Armenian առաջնորդ leader, chief #1,737
- Bosnian vođa leader, guide #1,445
- Bulgarian шеф male boss, male leader, male chief, male… #1,127
- Catalan líder #1,188
- Chinese 主席 chairperson; leader of meeting #914
- Croatian vođa leader, guide #1,336
- Czech vůdce #1,667
- Dutch leider leader, head, chief #1,403
- English captain A chief or leader #537
- Esperanto gvidanto #296
- Estonian juhul #460
- Finnish johtaja leader, commander, chief #1,018
- French capitaine captain, leader #475
- Georgian მეთაური leader, head #922
- German anführer leader, head, chief, commander; person in… #2,394
- Greek αρχηγός #1,045
- Hebrew נגיד a prince, leader, ruler, commander, chief #1,108
- Hindi राष्ट्रपति leader of a country, president #617
- Indonesian pemimpin #886
- Italian capo boss, chief, leader #338
- Korean 장군 The leader or commander of an army #1,084
- Latvian vadītājs leader, head, chief #1,164
- Lithuanian vadas #742
- Macedonian лидер #2,450
- Malay ketua A chief, leader or head man #427
- Malayalam നേതാവ് leader, politician, neta #754
- Persian رهبر leader, conductor, guide #1,172
- Portuguese general chief, leader #858
- Romanian lider #2,437
- Serbian vođa leader, guide #1,427
- Slovak vodca #1,055
- Slovenian vodja #446
- Spanish líder #1,708
- Tagalog lider #718
- Tamil தலைவர் leader, chief, lord #226
- Telugu నాయకులు #516
- Turkish şef boss, leader #773
- Vietnamese trưởng head; leader #385
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.