How to say “leader” 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.
- líder/ˈlideɾ/ Spanish
- αρχηγός/aɾçiˈɣos/ Greek
- მეთაური[me̞tʰäuɾi] Georgian
- առաջնորդ/ɑrɑt͡ʃʰˈnoɾtʰ/ Armenian
- தலைவர்/t̪ɐlɐɪ̯ʋɐɾ/ Tamil
- നേതാവ്/n̪eːd̪aːʋə/ Malayalam
“leader” in Spanish: líder · German: anführer · Greek: αρχηγός
It is commonest in Tamil, where தலைவர் is the 226th most used word.
Leader in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans leier/ˈləi̯.ər/ #640
- Albanian udhëheqës/uðəhɛcəs/ #2,105
- Arabic رئيس/ra.ʔiːs/ boss, chief, leader #309
- Armenian առաջնորդ/ɑrɑt͡ʃʰˈnoɾtʰ/ leader, chief #1,737
- Bosnian vođa/ˈvodʑɐ/ leader, guide #1,445
- Bulgarian шеф[ʃɛf] male boss, male leader, male chief, male… #1,127
- Catalan líder[ˈli.ðər] #1,188
- Chinese 主席/ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi³⁵/ chairperson; leader of meeting #914
- Croatian vođa/ˈvodʑɐ/ leader, guide #1,336
- Czech vůdce[ˈvuːt͡sɛ] #1,667
- Dutch leider/ˈlɛi̯.dər/ leader, head, chief #1,403
- English captain/ˈkæp.tən/ A chief or leader #537
- Esperanto gvidanto/ɡviˈdanto/ #296
- Estonian juhul/ˈjuhul/ #460
- Finnish johtaja/ˈjohtɑjɑ/ leader, commander, chief #1,018
- French capitaine/ka.pi.tɛn/ captain, leader #475
- Georgian მეთაური[me̞tʰäuɾi] leader, head #922
- German anführer/ˈan.fyːrɐ/ leader, head, chief, commander; person in… #2,394
- Greek αρχηγός/aɾçiˈɣos/ #1,045
- Hebrew נגיד/naˈɡid/ a prince, leader, ruler, commander, chief #1,108
- Hindi राष्ट्रपति/ɾɑːʂ.ʈɾə.pə.t̪iː/ leader of a country, president #617
- Indonesian pemimpin/pəˈmimpin/ #886
- Italian capo/ˈka.po/ boss, chief, leader #338
- Korean 장군[t͡ɕa̠ŋɡun] The leader or commander of an army #1,084
- Latvian vadītājs/ˈʋadiːtaːjs/ leader, head, chief #1,164
- Lithuanian vadas/ˈväː.dɐs/ #742
- Macedonian лидер[ˈlidɛr] #2,450
- Malay ketua[kə.tu.wə] A chief, leader or head man #427
- Malayalam നേതാവ്/n̪eːd̪aːʋə/ leader, politician, neta #754
- Persian رهبر[ɹæɦ.bǽɹ] leader, conductor, guide #1,172
- Portuguese general/ʒe.neˈɾaw/ chief, leader #858
- Romanian lider/ˈlider/ #2,437
- Serbian vođa/ˈvodʑɐ/ leader, guide #1,427
- Slovak vodca/vɔt͡sːa/ #1,055
- Slovenian vodja/ʋóːdja/ #446
- Spanish líder/ˈlideɾ/ #1,708
- Tagalog lider/ˈlideɾ/ #718
- Tamil தலைவர்/t̪ɐlɐɪ̯ʋɐɾ/ leader, chief, lord #226
- Telugu నాయకులు/naːjakulu/ #516
- Turkish şef/ʃef/ boss, leader #773
- Vietnamese trưởng[t͡ɕɨəŋ˧˩] head; leader #385
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0), Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), 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.