How to say “male” in 45 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 Vietnamese, where anh is the 4th most used word.
- Afrikaans eggenoot husband, male spouse #1,079
- Albanian shoku male friend #191
- Arabic مني male ejaculation, semen; sperm #134
- Armenian տղամարդ man, adult male #476
- Basque ar #1,732
- Bengali ভগবান a god; male deity; lord #709
- Bosnian muškarac male, man #823
- Bulgarian боже god → the God / male deity #176
- Catalan nens boy, male child #379
- Chinese 男子 man; male #803
- Croatian muškarac male, man #818
- Czech gay gay male #1,465
- Danish galt a castrated male pig #286
- Dutch man man, human male, either adult or… #99
- English he A person who identifies as male, or animal… #18
- Esperanto kaĉjo affectionate name for a male cat, kitty #755
- Estonian pede fag, a homosexual male #1,784
- French dieu a god, male divinity #148
- Galician nenos boy; male child, especially before puberty #292
- German mann man, male human being #102
- Greek πατέρας father; a male parent #257
- Hebrew זכר man, male #1,473
- Hindi भगवान a god; male deity, lord #146
- Icelandic hommi a homosexual male, a gay male #916
- Indonesian raja king, male monarch #384
- Italian cane dog, male dog #717
- Korean 아저씨 middle-aged elder male #329
- Lithuanian draugas male friend #246
- Macedonian сопруг husband, male spouse #622
- Malay lelaki #110
- Malayalam എടാ a term of address to a male of same age or… #232
- Norwegian kongen a male monarch #946
- Persian گی a gay man, a male homosexual #2,052
- Polish mężczyzna man, male #976
- Portuguese homem #140
- Serbian muškarac male, man #816
- Slovak režisér male director #2,000
- Slovenian samec male animal #1,666
- Swedish bög a homosexual male; gay, fag, queer, poof #2,070
- Tagalog pare buddy; close male friend #160
- Tamil ஆண்கள் #174
- Telugu స్నేహితుడు boyfriend, a male friend #115
- Turkish erkek #286
- Urdu پال a male given name from English, equivalent to… #204
- Vietnamese anh I/me, a male who's slightly older than you,… #4
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.