How to say “suicide” 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.
- 자살[t͡ɕa̠sʰa̠ɭ] Korean
- आत्महत्या/ɑːt̪.mᵊ.ɦət̪.jɑː/ Hindi
- αυτοκτονία/aftoktoˈnia/ Greek
- התאבדות/hit(ʔ)abˈdut/ Hebrew
- ինքնասպանություն/inkʰnɑspɑnuˈtʰjun/ Armenian
- আত্মহত্যা/ˌat̪.t̪oˈhot̪.t̪a/ Bengali
“suicide” in German: selbstmord · Portuguese: suicídio · Korean: 자살 · Hindi: आत्महत्या · Turkish: intihar · Greek: αυτοκτονία
It is commonest in Malayalam, where ആത്മഹത്യ is the 405th most used word.
Suicide in other languages, A to Z
- Albanian vetëvrasje/vetəˈvɾasje/ #1,932
- Armenian ինքնասպանություն/inkʰnɑspɑnuˈtʰjun/ #1,667
- Basque suizidio/s̺uˈis̻iðiˌo/ #1,595
- Bengali আত্মহত্যা/ˌat̪.t̪oˈhot̪.t̪a/ #768
- Bosnian samoubistvo/ˈsamoʊˌbɪstvo/ #2,171
- Bulgarian самоубийство[sɐmooˈbijstvo] #1,836
- Catalan suïcidi[su.iˈsi.ði] #2,109
- Chinese 自殺/t͡sɹ̩⁵¹ ʂä⁵⁵/ to commit suicide; to kill oneself; to take… #2,227
- Croatian samoubojstvo/samoǔboːjstʋo/ #1,654
- Czech sebevraždu[ˈsɛbɛvraʒdu] #2,437
- Danish selvmord/ˈsɛlˌmoɐ̯ˀ/ #1,156
- Dutch zelfmoord/ˈzɛlf.moːrt/ #1,068
- Estonian enesetapp/ˈenesetɑpː/ #1,791
- French suicide/sɥi.sid/ to commit suicide, to kill oneself, suicide #1,899
- German selbstmord/ˈzɛlps(t)ˌmɔʁt/ #2,076
- Greek αυτοκτονία/aftoktoˈnia/ #2,224
- Hebrew התאבדות/hit(ʔ)abˈdut/ #1,535
- Hindi आत्महत्या/ɑːt̪.mᵊ.ɦət̪.jɑː/ #2,116
- Korean 자살[t͡ɕa̠sʰa̠ɭ] #1,077
- Lithuanian savižudybė[sɐʋʲɪʒʊ¹ˈdʲiːbʲeː] #2,017
- Macedonian самоубиство[samɔˈubistvɔ] #1,566
- Malayalam ആത്മഹത്യ/aːt̪mɐhɐt̪jɐ/ #405
- Norwegian selvmord/ˈsɛlˌmʊrd/ #1,381
- Polish samobójstwo/sa.mɔˈbuj.stfɔ/ #2,181
- Portuguese suicídio/su.iˈsi.d͡ʒju/ #2,231
- Romanian sinucidere/si.nuˈt͡ʃi.de.re/ #2,254
- Serbian samoubistvo/ˈsamoʊˌbɪstvo/ #1,831
- Slovak samovražda/samɔvraʒda/ #1,440
- Slovenian samomor/samɔmɔ́r/ #678
- Swedish självmord/ˈsxɛlvmuːrd/ #1,477
- Tagalog magpakamatay/maɡpakamaˈtaj/ to commit suicide #1,006
- Tamil தற்கொலை/t̪ɐrkolɐɪ̯/ #1,740
- Telugu ఆత్మహత్య/aːt̪mahat̪ja/ #653
- Turkish intihar/in.ti.haɾ/ #1,321
- Ukrainian самогубство[sɐmoˈɦubstwɔ] #2,435
- Urdu خودکشی/xʊd̪.kʊ.ʃiː/ #1,328
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.