How to say “spirit” in 40 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.
- espíritu/esˈpiɾitu/ Spanish
- дух[dux] Russian
- روح/ruːħ/ Arabic
- 精神/t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʂən³⁵/ Chinese
- तेज/t̪eːd͡ʒ/ Hindi
- სული[suli] Georgian
“spirit” in Spanish: espíritu · German: geist · Italian: spirito · Portuguese: espírito · Chinese: 精神 · Russian: дух · Arabic: روح · Hindi: तेज
It is commonest in Chinese, where 精神 is the 324th most used word.
Spirit in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans gees/χɪə̯s/ mind, spirit #733
- Albanian shpirt[ʃpiɹt] soul, spirit #380
- Arabic روح/ruːħ/ spirit, ghost #831
- Basque espiritu/es̺ˈpiɾiˌtu/ #1,012
- Bengali ভূত/bʱut̪/ ghost, apparition, spirit #1,211
- Bosnian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #993
- Catalan esperit[əs.pəˈɾit] #1,577
- Chinese 精神/t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʂən³⁵/ spirit; soul; will #324
- Croatian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #975
- Czech duch[ˈdux] #1,533
- Danish ånd/ɔn/ spirit, mind #2,006
- Dutch geest/ɣeːst/ ghost, spirit, immaterial being #838
- English soul/soʊl/ The spirit or essence of a person usually… #921
- Esperanto spiritoj/spiˈritoɪ/ #1,901
- Estonian kurat/ˈkurɑt/ a devil, an evil spirit #178
- Galician espírito/esˈpiɾito/ #918
- Georgian სული[suli] spirit, ghost #728
- German geist/ɡaɪ̯st/ #1,110
- Greek ψυχή/psiˈçi/ soul, spirit usually thought to consist of… #917
- Hindi तेज/t̪eːd͡ʒ/ spirit, vigour, life #704
- Hungarian szellem[ˈsɛlːɛm] spirit, mentality #1,798
- Indonesian setan/ˈsetan/ the supreme evil spirit in the Abrahamic… #1,060
- Italian spirito/ˈspi.ri.to/ spirit, mind #1,454
- Korean 귀신[ˈkɥi(ː)ɕʰin] ghost, spirit #1,641
- Latvian gars/ɡars/ #1,281
- Lithuanian siela[¹ˈsʲiɛlɐ] soul, spirit #1,057
- Norwegian ånd/ɔn/ spirit, mind #2,483
- Persian روح[ɹuːʱ] #469
- Polish duszę/ˈdu.ʂɛ/ soul, spirit #2,255
- Portuguese espírito/isˈpi.ɾi.tu/ #1,323
- Romanian sufletul/ˈsufletul/ soul, spirit #1,022
- Russian дух[dux] #2,046
- Serbian duh/dûx/ ghost, spirit #911
- Spanish espíritu/esˈpiɾitu/ spirit, soul #1,426
- Tagalog kaluluwa/kaluluˈa/ soul; spirit; essence #1,286
- Tamil ஆன்மா/ɑːnmɑː/ soul, self, spirit, as opp. to matter #626
- Turkish ruh/ɾuh/ soul, spirit #1,079
- Ukrainian біса[ˈbʲisɐ] evil spirit, demon #440
- Urdu روح/ɾuːɦ/ soul, spirit #1,301
- Vietnamese vong[vawŋ͡m˧˧] departed soul or spirit #1,742
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.