How to say “master” in 46 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.
- maestro/maˈestɾo/ Spanish
- سيد/saj.jid/ Arabic
- 主人/ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɻən³⁵/ Chinese
- प्रभु/pɾə.bʱuː/ Hindi
- בעל/ˈbaː.ʕal/ Hebrew
- ուստա/usˈtɑ/ Armenian
“master” in Spanish: maestro · French: maître · Portuguese: mestre · Chinese: 主人 · Arabic: سيد · Hindi: प्रभु · Turkish: efendim
It is commonest in Turkish, where efendim is the 104th most used word.
Master in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans meester/ˈmɪə̯stər/ A master #482
- Albanian zot/zɔt/ master, headman #118
- Arabic سيد/saj.jid/ master, lord, prince #106
- Armenian ուստա/usˈtɑ/ master, expert, ustad, craftsman, foreman,… #1,616
- Bengali স্যার/saɾ/ sir, master #56
- Bosnian gospodar/ɡospǒdaːr/ master, lord #1,739
- Bulgarian господар[ɡospoˈdar] master, lord #2,426
- Catalan senyor[səˈɲo] lord, master #95
- Chinese 主人/ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɻən³⁵/ master; owner #447
- Croatian gospodar/ɡospǒdaːr/ master, lord #1,763
- Czech mistr[ˈmɪstr̩] #2,230
- Danish mester/ˈmɛstər/ #1,287
- Dutch heren/ˈhɪːrən/ a lord; master #647
- Esperanto majstro/ˈmai̯stro/ #960
- Estonian isand/ˈisɑnd̥/ lord, master #650
- Finnish mestari/ˈmestɑri/ #1,611
- French maître/mɛtʁ/ #719
- Galician mestre/ˈmɛstɾe/ #1,068
- Greek αφεντικό/afendiˈko/ owner, master #558
- Hebrew בעל/ˈbaː.ʕal/ master, owner #550
- Hindi प्रभु/pɾə.bʱuː/ master, lord #747
- Hungarian uram[ˈurɒm] my master #90
- Icelandic herra[ˈhɛrːa] lord, master #76
- Indonesian master/ˈmastər/ to master #1,273
- Italian campione/kamˈpjo.ne/ champion, ace, master #1,715
- Korean 주인[t͡ɕuin] master or owner #1,381
- Latvian pavēlnieks/ˈpaʋeːllnieks/ #2,167
- Macedonian капетан[ˈkapɛtan] captain, commander, master, skipper #834
- Malay pengacara/pəŋaˈt͡ʃara/ master of ceremonies #2,273
- Malayalam യജമാനൻ/jɐd͡ʒɐmaːnɐn/ #1,409
- Persian خدای[xo.d̪ɒːj] lord, patron, master, owner #501
- Polish mistrzu/ˈmis.tʂu/ #2,338
- Portuguese mestre/ˈmɛs.tɾi/ #1,110
- Romanian controla[kon.troˈla] to control, to master #1,817
- Russian капитан[kəpʲɪˈtan] captain, commander, master, skipper, team… #522
- Serbian gospodar/ɡospǒdaːr/ master, lord #1,614
- Slovak zvládnuť/zvlaːdnuc/ to master a skill #1,126
- Slovenian gospodar/ɡɔspɔdàːr/ #485
- Spanish maestro/maˈestɾo/ #971
- Swedish mästare/ˈmɛsˌtarɛ/ a master #1,917
- Tagalog panginoon/paŋinoˈʔon/ lord; master #429
- Telugu భర్త/bʱaɾt̪a/ husband, lord, master #216
- Turkish efendim/efenˈdim/ master, sir #104
- Ukrainian пане[ˈpane] lord, master, mister, sir #174
- Urdu ماسٹر/mɑːs.ʈəɾ/ #951
- Vietnamese trạng[t͡ɕaːŋ˧˨ʔ] master; expert #1,017
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), 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.