How to say “period” in 43 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.
- срок[srok] Russian
- περίοδο/pe.ri.ˈo.ðo/ Greek
- مدت/mʊd̪.d̪ət̪/ Urdu
“period” in German: system · Italian: periodo · Russian: срок · Turkish: devre · Greek: περίοδο
It is commonest in Urdu, where مدت is the 725th most used word.
Period in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans nag/naχ/ The period between sunset and sunrise, when… #207
- Arabic فترة/fatra/ interval, a while, a period of time #319
- Basque isilune/is̺ilune/ a period of silence #2,288
- Bengali ধরে/d̪ʱɔɾe/ for a period of time #134
- Bulgarian период[pɛriˈɔt] #1,829
- Catalan tarda[ˈtar.də] the period of time between noon and dusk, or… #815
- Chinese 時候/ʂɻ̩³⁵ xoʊ̯³/ period of time #186
- Croatian točka/tôt͡ʃka/ dot, period #1,908
- Czech období[ˈobdobiː] #1,883
- Dutch uur/yr/ an hour, a period of time #201
- English years/jɪɹz/ A period of time akin to the time taken for… #181
- Estonian hooaeg/hoːɑ̯e̯ɡ̊/ season, period, epoch #1,694
- French longtemps/lɔ̃.tɑ̃/ for a long time; over a long period #334
- Galician noite/ˈnojte/ night; period of dark, when the sun is below… #113
- Georgian ხანი[χäni] A period of time; time #435
- German system/zɪsˈteːm/ #1,643
- Greek περίοδο/pe.ri.ˈo.ðo/ period, phase, epoch #2,197
- Hebrew יום/joːm/ Day: the period between dawn and dusk #132
- Hindi देर/d̪eːɾ/ period of time; a while #320
- Icelandic punktur[ˈpʰuŋ̊(k)tʏr] dot, point, period, full stop #1,758
- Indonesian hari/ˈhari/ any period of 24 hours #67
- Italian periodo/peˈri.o.do/ #1,294
- Korean 동안[to̞ŋa̠n] interval, period of time #169
- Latvian punktu/ˈpuŋktu/ stop/full stop, period #1,216
- Lithuanian metas[²ˈmʲæːtɐs] time, period #336
- Macedonian период[pɛɾiˈɔt] #1,532
- Malay hari/ˈhari/ day: A period of time equal or almost equal… #64
- Malayalam കാലാവധി/kaːlaːʋɐd̪(ʱ)i/ lifespan; time period #1,646
- Persian زمان[zæ.mɒ́ːn] time, epoch, period, age, season #172
- Polish okres/ˈɔ.krɛs/ #2,497
- Portuguese dia/ˈd͡ʒi.ɐ/ period between sunrise and sunset #126
- Romanian perioadă[pe.riˈo̯a.də] period, age #1,316
- Russian срок[srok] period, span #2,041
- Serbian tačka/tât͡ʃka/ dot, period #2,227
- Slovak obdobie/ˈɔbdɔbi̯ɛ/ #1,284
- Slovenian doba/dɔ̀ːba/ #1,472
- Spanish temporada/tempoˈɾada/ season, period, span of time #2,018
- Swedish veckor/ˈvɛkːuːr/ a week, a period of 7 days #601
- Telugu వయస్సు/ˈʋajassu/ age, time or period of life, stage of… #305
- Turkish devre/devˈɾe/ period; cycle; revolution #2,134
- Ukrainian за[za] indicating period or circumstance in which… #18
- Urdu مدت/mʊd̪.d̪ət̪/ period, duration #725
- Vietnamese tiết[tiət̚˧˦] a period #781
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.