How to say “loss” in 32 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.
- pérdida/ˈpeɾdida/ Spanish
- فقدان/fiq.daːn/ Arabic
- απώλεια/aˈpo.li.a/ Greek
- இழப்பு/ɪɻɐpːɯ/ Tamil
- നഷ്ടം/n̪ɐʂʈɐm/ Malayalam
“loss” in Spanish: pérdida · French: perte · Italian: perdita · Portuguese: perda · Arabic: فقدان · Turkish: kaybı · Greek: απώλεια
It is commonest in Indonesian, where kehilangan is the 265th most used word.
Loss in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans verlies/fərˈlis/ #1,193
- Albanian humbje/humbjɛ/ #1,098
- Arabic فقدان/fiq.daːn/ #1,125
- Bengali লোকসান/loksan/ damage, loss, harm #1,645
- Bosnian gubitak/ɡubǐːtak/ #1,654
- Bulgarian загуба[ˈzaɡobɐ] loss, waste #1,481
- Catalan pèrdua[ˈpɛr.du.ə] #1,432
- Croatian gubitak/ɡubǐːtak/ #1,548
- Czech ztráta[ˈstraːta] #2,084
- Estonian kaotus/ˈkɑo̯tus/ #1,902
- French perte/pɛʁt/ #1,757
- Greek απώλεια/aˈpo.li.a/ #2,141
- Hindi ऋण/ɾɪɳ/ debt, loss #1,239
- Hungarian kár[ˈkaːr] damage, loss, detriment #1,060
- Icelandic missi/ˈmɪsɪ/ #1,141
- Indonesian kehilangan/kəhiˈlaŋan/ #265
- Italian perdita/ˈpɛr.di.ta/ loss, waste, deprivation #1,776
- Macedonian загуба[ˈzaɡuba] #2,092
- Malay kehilangan/kə.hi.la.ŋan/ #306
- Malayalam നഷ്ടം/n̪ɐʂʈɐm/ #987
- Norwegian tap/tɑːp/ #2,104
- Persian ضرر[zæ.ɹǽɹ] detriment, loss, disadvantage, deficiency #1,995
- Polish od/ˈɔt/ indicates separation, distance, loss of… #43
- Portuguese perda/ˈpeʁ.dɐ/ #1,703
- Romanian pierdere/pjerˈdeɾe/ #2,025
- Serbian gubitak/ɡubǐːtak/ #1,733
- Spanish pérdida/ˈpeɾdida/ #1,987
- Tagalog kawalan/kawaˈlan/ loss; deprivation; depletion #1,884
- Tamil இழப்பு/ɪɻɐpːɯ/ #681
- Telugu ఓటమి/ˈoːʈami/ failure, loss, defeat #768
- Turkish kaybı/kajˈbɯ/ #2,024
- Urdu نقصان/nʊq.sɑːn/ loss, harm, harmful #407
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.