How to say “silence” in 36 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 Afrikaans, where stilte is the 456th most used word.
- Afrikaans stilte #456
- Albanian heshtje #1,962
- Arabic سكوت #653
- Armenian լռության #1,601
- Basque isiltasun #1,407
- Bengali নীরবতা #1,945
- Bosnian tišina #1,301
- Bulgarian тишина silence, quiet #1,518
- Catalan silenci #948
- Croatian tišina #1,418
- Czech ticho quiet, silence #987
- Dutch stilte #1,876
- English shh Demanding silence #1,132
- Esperanto silenton #1,126
- Estonian vaikus #2,185
- French silence #1,030
- Galician silencio #605
- Greek σιωπή silence, quiet #2,199
- Hungarian csendben in silence, quietly #1,796
- Italian silenzio silence!; shut up!; stop talking!; hush! #1,031
- Lithuanian tylėk to silence #1,069
- Macedonian тишина #905
- Malay kesunyian silence; quietness; stillness #2,026
- Malayalam നിശ്ശബ്ദം #1,854
- Persian سکوت #1,465
- Polish cisza silence, quiet, quietness #2,220
- Portuguese silêncio #1,267
- Romanian st expressing a sudden desire for silence #1,833
- Russian тише silence! #1,654
- Serbian tišina #1,154
- Slovenian tišina #636
- Spanish silencio #885
- Swedish tystnad #2,455
- Tagalog katahimikan #1,647
- Turkish sessizlik #1,959
- Urdu خاموشی #1,492
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.