How to say “smell” in 43 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.
- huele/ˈw̝ele/ Spanish
- запах[ˈzapəx] Russian
- رائحة/raː.ʔi.ħa/ Arabic
- 냄새[ˈnɛ(ː)msʰɛ] Korean
- गंध/ɡənd̪ʱ/ Hindi
- μυρωδιά/miɾoˈðʝa/ Greek
“smell” in Spanish: huele · French: sens · German: riecht · Italian: odore · Portuguese: cheiro · Korean: 냄새 · Russian: запах · Arabic: رائحة
It is commonest in French, where sens is the 282nd most used word.
Smell in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans ruik/ˈrøyk/ to smell #586
- Albanian qelbësirë/cɛlbəsiɾə/ something smell bad #1,257
- Arabic رائحة/raː.ʔi.ħa/ smell, scent; odor #577
- Armenian հոտ/hot/ smell, odor; scent #1,279
- Bengali গন্ধ/ɡɔnd̪ʱo/ smell, scent, odor, aroma #562
- Bosnian miris/mîriːs/ smell, odor #1,417
- Catalan olor[uˈlo] #1,066
- Croatian miris/mîriːs/ smell, odor #1,377
- Danish lugter/ˈlɔɡdɐ/ #1,249
- Dutch ruikt/rœy̯kt/ to smell #1,552
- Esperanto odoras/oˈdoras/ to smell #1,649
- Estonian lõhn/ˈlɤhn/ smell, scent, fragrance, odour #1,594
- Finnish haista/ˈhɑi̯stɑˣ/ to smell, to have a smell/scent/odor; to stink #1,143
- French sens/sɑ̃s/ to smell #282
- Galician cheiro/ˈt͡ʃej.ɾo̝/ scent, odour, smell #1,812
- Georgian სუნი[suni] smell, scent, odour, odor #441
- German riecht[ʁiːçt] to smell; to sniff #1,765
- Greek μυρωδιά/miɾoˈðʝa/ smell, scent, odour, odor #1,784
- Hebrew ריח/ˈʁe.aχ/ odor, scent, smell #1,162
- Hindi गंध/ɡənd̪ʱ/ smell; odour; scent #1,377
- Icelandic lykt[ˈlɪxt] smell, odour #1,058
- Indonesian bau[ˈbau̯] smell; odor #800
- Italian odore/oˈdo.re/ smell, odour, odor, aroma, fragrance, scent #1,437
- Korean 냄새[ˈnɛ(ː)msʰɛ] a smell, whether fragrant or offensive;… #631
- Macedonian мириса[ˈmiɾisa] to smell #1,079
- Malay bau/ˈbaw/ A smell; odour; stench; stink #747
- Malayalam മണം/mɐɳɐm/ #478
- Norwegian lukter/ˈlʊktər/ smell, odour, odor, scent #941
- Persian بو[buː] smell, scent #843
- Polish czuję/ˈt͡ʂu.jɛ/ to smell #312
- Portuguese cheiro/ˈʃe(j).ɾu/ #1,368
- Romanian miros/miˈros/ smell, odor, scent #1,690
- Russian запах[ˈzapəx] smell, odor, scent #1,612
- Serbian miris/mîriːs/ smell, odor #1,347
- Slovenian vonj/ʋóːn/ odor, smell #646
- Spanish huele/ˈw̝ele/ to smell #1,830
- Swedish luktar/ˈlɵktar/ to smell; to use one’s nose #1,091
- Tagalog baho/ˈbahoʔ/ bad smell; stench; stink #1,699
- Tamil வாசனை/ʋɑːtʃɐnɐɪ̯/ smell, scent, odor #443
- Telugu వాసన/ʋaːsana/ #299
- Turkish koku/koˈku/ smell, odor/odour #1,785
- Ukrainian запах[ˈzapɐx] smell, odor, scent #1,116
- Vietnamese mùi[muj˨˩] smell; odor; scent #880
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), Slovenian (artur (sl_SI), 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.