How to say “ring” in 43 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 Icelandic, where hringja is the 293rd most used word.
- Afrikaans ring ring, hollow circular object #630
- Albanian unaza #1,529
- Arabic طرق to beat, to knock, to ring, to hammer #1,026
- Basque eraztun #940
- Bengali আংটি #1,020
- Bosnian prsten #1,062
- Bulgarian пръстен #1,676
- Catalan anell #1,647
- Chinese 戒指 finger ring; ring #623
- Croatian prsten #1,053
- Czech prsten #1,481
- Dutch bel to ring, like using a bell #354
- Estonian helistama to ring #1,087
- French bague #1,937
- Galician anel #1,678
- Georgian რეკვა to phone, to toll, to ring, to telephone #594
- German klingt to ring; to clink #602
- Greek δαχτυλίδι ring for the finger #1,444
- Hebrew טבעת ring circular and hollow, looking like an… #1,271
- Hindi अंगूठी #1,264
- Icelandic hringja to ring #293
- Italian anello #1,510
- Korean 반지 finger ring, ring #1,124
- Latvian gredzenu #1,212
- Lithuanian ratas wheel, ring, circle #1,525
- Malayalam മോതിരം ring worn around finger #429
- Norwegian ringer ring; a circular piece of material #375
- Persian حلقه #676
- Polish zadzwonić to ring, jangle, clink #878
- Portuguese anel #1,654
- Romanian sun to ring or produce a sound in general #565
- Russian кольцо #1,482
- Serbian prsten #1,080
- Slovak prsteň #728
- Slovenian prstan #487
- Spanish suena to sound, to ring #632
- Swedish ringer to ring; to make a bell produce a sound #390
- Tagalog singsing #1,068
- Tamil வட்டம் circle, ring, halo #1,312
- Turkish yüzük ring, a round piece of metal worn around the… #2,098
- Ukrainian подзвонити to ring, to clang #1,489
- Urdu انگوٹھی a ring #1,787
- Vietnamese vòng circle; ring #576
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.