How to say “respect” in 39 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.
- احترام/iħ.ti.raːm/ Arabic
- 尊重/t͡su̯ən⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹/ Chinese
- सम्मान/səm.mɑːn/ Hindi
- հարգանք/hɑɾˈɡɑnkʰ/ Armenian
- மதிப்பு/mɐd̪ɪpːɯ/ Tamil
- ബഹുമാനം/bɐhumaːnɐm/ Malayalam
“respect” in French: respect · German: respekt · Italian: riguardo · Portuguese: respeito · Chinese: 尊重 · Arabic: احترام · Hindi: सम्मान · Turkish: saygı
It is commonest in Hindi, where सम्मान is the 375th most used word.
Respect in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans respek/rəˈspɛk/ #723
- Arabic احترام/iħ.ti.raːm/ #2,213
- Armenian հարգանք/hɑɾˈɡɑnkʰ/ respect, esteem #1,455
- Bengali সম্মান/ʃɔmːan/ honour, respect #436
- Bosnian obzirom/ˈobzɪrom/ consideration, care, respect #1,178
- Bulgarian уважение/uvɐˈʒɛniɛ/ respect, esteem #1,171
- Catalan respecte/rəsˈpektə/ #885
- Chinese 尊重/t͡su̯ən⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹/ to respect; to hold in high esteem #486
- Croatian obzirom/ˈobzɪrom/ consideration, care, respect #1,084
- Danish respekt/ʁeˈsbɛɡd/ #992
- Dutch hoezo/ɦuˈzoː/ in what way, in what respect #657
- Esperanto respekto/resˈpekto/ #1,812
- Estonian au/ɑu̯/ honour/honor, respect #676
- French respect/ʁɛs.pɛ/ #1,277
- Galician respecto/resˈpekto/ #699
- German respekt/ʁəˈspɛkt/ respect, regard, reverence #1,395
- Greek εκτιμώ/e.ktiˈmo/ to appreciate, respect #1,172
- Hebrew לגבי/lɡaˈbe/ About, regarding, in connection with, with… #236
- Hindi सम्मान/səm.mɑːn/ respect, deference, honor #375
- Icelandic virtist/ˈvɪr̥tɪst/ to respect, to show respect #745
- Italian riguardo/riˈɡwar.do/ respect, connection, regard #774
- Lithuanian pagarba[pɐɡɐrˈbɐ] #1,143
- Macedonian почит[ˈpɔt͡ʃit] #714
- Malayalam ബഹുമാനം/bɐhumaːnɐm/ #794
- Norwegian respekt/rəˈspɛkt/ #996
- Persian احترام[ʔeɦ.t̪ʰe.ɹɒ́ːm] respect, deference #535
- Polish szacunku/ʂaˈt͡suŋ.ku/ #2,408
- Portuguese respeito/ʁesˈpej.tu/ #736
- Romanian respect/resˈpekt/ respect, consideration, deference, esteem,… #1,063
- Serbian obzirom/ˈobzɪrom/ consideration, care, respect #1,146
- Slovak počesť/pɔt͡ʃesc/ honor, respect #2,277
- Spanish don/ˈdon/ a title of respect to a man, prefixed to… #862
- Swedish respekt/ˈrɛspɛkt/ #1,185
- Tagalog po/ˈpoʔ/ marks respect toward the person the speaker… #85
- Tamil மதிப்பு/mɐd̪ɪpːɯ/ #426
- Telugu మన్నించు/manːiɲt͡ɕu/ to respect #619
- Turkish saygı/sajˈɡɯ/ respect, consideration, esteem #863
- Urdu احترام/ɪɦ.t̪ɪ.ɾɑːm/ respect, honour #781
- Vietnamese tôn[ton˧˧] to revere, to respect, to honor #891
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) 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.