How to say “lunch” in 35 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.
- обед[ɐˈbʲet] Russian
- غداء/ɣa.daːʔ/ Arabic
- 午餐/u²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰän⁵⁵/ Chinese
- 점심[ˈt͡ɕɘ(ː)mɕʰim] Korean
- სადილის[sädilis] Georgian
- লাঞ্চ/lant͡ʃ/ Bengali
“lunch” in French: déjeuner · German: mittagessen · Chinese: 午餐 · Korean: 점심 · Russian: обед · Arabic: غداء
It is commonest in Slovenian, where kosilo is the 428th most used word.
Lunch in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans middagete/ˈmədɐˌxiətə/ lunch, luncheon #1,353
- Albanian drekë/dɾɛkə/ #1,075
- Arabic غداء/ɣa.daːʔ/ #2,250
- Basque bazkaldu/bas̻kaldu/ to have lunch #1,362
- Bengali লাঞ্চ/lant͡ʃ/ #1,078
- Bosnian ručak/rǔːt͡ʃak/ lunch, dinner, usually the main meal of the… #991
- Catalan dinar[diˈnar] #1,456
- Chinese 午餐/u²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sʰän⁵⁵/ #702
- Croatian ručak/rǔːt͡ʃak/ lunch, dinner, usually the main meal of the… #916
- Czech oběd[ˈobjɛt] lunch, meal eaten in the middle of the day #1,053
- Danish frokost/ˈfʁoɡɔsd/ #996
- Dutch lunch/lʏnʃ/ to lunch #1,331
- French déjeuner/de.ʒœ.ne/ to lunch, to eat lunch, to have lunch #980
- Galician almorzo/alˈmoɾθo/ breakfast; lunch #1,923
- Georgian სადილის[sädilis] #1,438
- German mittagessen/ˈmɪtakʔɛsn̩/ #2,332
- Greek γεύμα/ˈʝev.ma/ meal, especially lunch #1,295
- Italian pranzo/ˈpran.d͡zo/ lunch or dinner #993
- Korean 점심[ˈt͡ɕɘ(ː)mɕʰim] lunch, luncheon #620
- Latvian pusdienas[ˈpuzdìɛnas] #1,194
- Lithuanian pietūs[²ˈpʲiɛtuːs] lunch, dinner #1,455
- Macedonian ручек[ˈrut͡ʃɛk] #826
- Norwegian lunsj/lœnʃ/ lunch; a meal eaten between breakfast and… #1,058
- Persian ناهار[nɒː.ɦɒ́ːɹ] #974
- Polish obiad/ˈɔ.bjat/ dinner, lunch #1,195
- Portuguese almoço/awˈmo.su/ to have lunch #1,196
- Romanian dejun/deˈʒun/ #1,194
- Russian обед[ɐˈbʲet] lunch, dinner #1,320
- Serbian ručak/rǔːt͡ʃak/ lunch, dinner, usually the main meal of the… #871
- Slovak obed/ɔbet/ #564
- Slovenian kosilo/kɔsìːlɔ/ #428
- Spanish comida/koˈmida/ having had lunch; having already eaten #481
- Swedish lunch/ˈlɵnɧ/ lunch, a meal eaten around noon #1,041
- Tagalog pananghalian/panaŋhaˈliʔan/ food eaten at lunch #1,679
- Ukrainian обід[oˈbʲid] dinner, lunch #1,344
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 Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.