How to say “protect” in 36 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.
- proteger/pɾoteˈxeɾ/ Spanish
- պաշտպանել/pɑʃpɑˈnel/ Armenian
- സംരക്ഷിക്കുക/samrakʂikːuɡa/ Malayalam
- بپا[bé.pʰɒː] Persian
“protect” in Spanish: proteger · German: beschützen · Portuguese: proteger · Turkish: korumak
It is commonest in Basque, where babestu is the 459th most used word.
Protect in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian mbroj/mbɾɔj/ to protect; to defend #1,151
- Armenian պաշտպանել/pɑʃpɑˈnel/ to protect, to defend #1,823
- Basque babestu/babes̺tu/ to protect #459
- Bosnian zaštititi/zaʃtǐːtiti/ to defend, protect #1,708
- Bulgarian пазя[ˈpazʲɐ] to guard, to protect #1,452
- Catalan protegir[pɾu.təˈʒi] to protect, defend #927
- Chinese 保佑/pɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ joʊ̯⁵¹/ to bless and protect; to be safeguarded #940
- Croatian zaštititi/zaʃtǐːtiti/ to defend, protect #1,250
- Czech chránit[ˈxraːɲɪt] to protect #1,307
- Danish beskytte/beˈsɡødə/ to defend, protect #587
- Dutch beschermen/bəˈsxɛrmə(n)/ to protect #632
- Esperanto protekti/proˈtekti/ to protect #1,485
- Finnish suojella/ˈsuo̯jelːɑˣ/ to protect, shelter, ward #1,252
- French sauver/so.ve/ to save, rescue; to protect #610
- Galician protexer/pɾoteˈʃeɾ/ to protect #1,412
- German beschützen[bəˈʃʏt͡sn̩] to protect, to guard, to defend #1,143
- Hungarian védeni[ˈveːdɛni] to protect, guard #2,199
- Icelandic vernda[ˈvɛ(r)nta] to protect, to shield #606
- Indonesian melindungi/məlinˈduŋi/ to protect #560
- Italian proteggere/proˈtɛd.d͡ʒe.re/ to shield or protect #1,429
- Latvian glābt[ɡlâːpt] to save death; to protect from death #933
- Lithuanian apsaugoti[ɐp¹ˈsɑˑʊɡoːtʲɪ] to protect #828
- Macedonian заштити[ˈzaʃtiti] to protect, shield #1,210
- Malayalam സംരക്ഷിക്കുക/samrakʂikːuɡa/ to protect #2,211
- Norwegian beskytte/bəˈʃʏtə/ to protect #621
- Persian بپا[bé.pʰɒː] to protect, guard #2,371
- Polish chronić/ˈxrɔ.ɲit͡ɕ/ to protect #1,174
- Portuguese proteger/pɾo.teˈʒe(ʁ)/ to protect #900
- Romanian proteja[proteˈʒa] to protect #1,438
- Russian защитить[zəɕːɪˈtʲitʲ] to defend, to guard, to protect #1,109
- Serbian čuva/ˈtʃuvɐ/ to guard, protect #1,761
- Slovak kryť/kric/ to cover, protect #1,570
- Spanish proteger/pɾoteˈxeɾ/ to protect, to defend #1,687
- Swedish skyddar/ˈsxydar/ #1,483
- Telugu రక్షించు/ˈrakʂincu/ to save, protect #1,584
- Turkish korumak/ko.ɾu.ˈmak/ to protect, to shield #892
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 Catalan (upc_ona (ca_ES), CC BY-SA 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.