How to say “silence” 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.
- silencio/siˈlenθjo/ Spanish
- سكوت/su.kuːt/ Arabic
- σιωπή/sjoˈpi/ Greek
- լռության/ləruˈtʰjɑn/ Armenian
- নীরবতা/niɾɔbɔt̪a/ Bengali
- നിശ്ശബ്ദം/n̪iʃːɐbd̪ɐm/ Malayalam
“silence” in Spanish: silencio · French: silence · Portuguese: silêncio · Arabic: سكوت · Turkish: sessizlik · Greek: σιωπή
It is commonest in Afrikaans, where stilte is the 456th most used word.
Silence in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans stilte/ˈstəl.tə/ #456
- Albanian heshtje/hɛʃtjɛ/ #1,962
- Arabic سكوت/su.kuːt/ #653
- Armenian լռության/ləruˈtʰjɑn/ #1,601
- Basque isiltasun/is̺iltas̺un/ #1,407
- Bengali নীরবতা/niɾɔbɔt̪a/ #1,945
- Bosnian tišina/ˈtiʃɪnɐ/ #1,301
- Bulgarian тишина[tiʃiˈna] silence, quiet #1,518
- Catalan silenci[siˈlɛn.si] #948
- Croatian tišina/ˈtiʃɪnɐ/ #1,418
- Czech ticho[ˈcɪxo] quiet, silence #987
- Dutch stilte/ˈstɪl.tə/ #1,876
- English shh/ʃ̩ː/ Demanding silence #1,132
- Esperanto silenton/siˈlenton/ #1,126
- Estonian vaikus/ˈvɑi̯kus/ #2,185
- French silence/si.lɑ̃s/ #1,030
- Galician silencio/siˈlɛnθjo/ #605
- Greek σιωπή/sjoˈpi/ silence, quiet #2,199
- Hungarian csendben[ˈt͡ʃɛndbɛn] in silence, quietly #1,796
- Italian silenzio/siˈlɛn.t͡sjo/ silence!; shut up!; stop talking!; hush! #1,031
- Lithuanian tylėk[tʲiː¹ˈlʲeːk] to silence #1,069
- Macedonian тишина[ˈtiʃina] #905
- Malay kesunyian/kəˈsuɲian/ silence; quietness; stillness #2,026
- Malayalam നിശ്ശബ്ദം/n̪iʃːɐbd̪ɐm/ #1,854
- Persian سکوت[so.kʰúːt̪ʰ] #1,465
- Polish cisza/ˈt͡ɕi.ʂa/ silence, quiet, quietness #2,220
- Portuguese silêncio/siˈlẽ.sju/ #1,267
- Romanian st/ˌseˈte/ expressing a sudden desire for silence #1,833
- Russian тише[ˈtʲiʂɨ] silence! #1,654
- Serbian tišina/ˈtiʃɪnɐ/ #1,154
- Slovenian tišina/tiʃìːna/ #636
- Spanish silencio/siˈlenθjo/ #885
- Swedish tystnad/ˈtystnad/ #2,455
- Tagalog katahimikan/katahiˈmikan/ #1,647
- Turkish sessizlik[ses.siz.lic] #1,959
- Urdu خاموشی/xɑː.moː.ʃiː/ #1,492
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 Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.