How to say “universe” in 31 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.
- universo/uniˈbeɾso/ Spanish
- 宇宙/y²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵¹/ Chinese
- विश्व/ʋɪʃ.ʋə/ Hindi
- κόσμο/ˈkosmo/ Greek
- মহাবিশ্ব/mɔhabiʃːo/ Bengali
- பிரபஞ்சம்/pɪɾɐbɐɲdʒɐm/ Tamil
“universe” in Spanish: universo · French: univers · Italian: universo · Portuguese: universo · Chinese: 宇宙 · Hindi: विश्व · Greek: κόσμο
It is commonest in Greek, where κόσμο is the 262nd most used word.
Universe in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans heelal/ɦɪə̯lˈal/ #1,718
- Armenian աշխարհ/ɑʃˈχɑɾ/ world, universe #1,466
- Basque unibertso/uˈniβeɾtˌs̺o/ #1,548
- Bengali মহাবিশ্ব/mɔhabiʃːo/ #2,390
- Bosnian svemir/sʋêmiːr/ space, universe #1,800
- Bulgarian свят[svʲa̟t] world, earth, universe #359
- Catalan univers[u.niˈβɛrs] #1,274
- Chinese 宇宙/y²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵¹/ universe; cosmos; macrocosm; space #463
- Croatian svemir/sʋêmiːr/ space, universe #1,697
- Danish universet/uniˈvɛɐ̯səð/ #2,374
- Dutch universum/ˌy.niˈvɛr.zʏm/ #2,176
- Esperanto universo/uniˈverso/ #1,371
- Estonian universumi/ˈuniversumi/ #1,770
- French univers/y.ni.vɛʁ/ #1,731
- Galician universo/u.niˈβɛɾ.so̝/ #2,177
- Georgian სამყარო[sämχʼäɾo̞] world, Universe #528
- Greek κόσμο/ˈkosmo/ Universe, cosmos #262
- Hindi विश्व/ʋɪʃ.ʋə/ #1,166
- Indonesian alam/ˈalam/ universe: the sum of everything that exists… #735
- Italian universo/u.niˈvɛr.so/ #1,927
- Latvian kosmosa/ˈkosmosa/ cosmos, universe, outer space #1,768
- Malayalam പ്രപഞ്ചം/prɐbɐɲt͡ʃɐm/ The Universe, cosmos #1,219
- Persian جهان[d͡ʒæ.ɦɒ́ːn] world, universe #593
- Portuguese universo/u.niˈvɛʁ.su/ #1,809
- Romanian univers/ˌuniˈvers/ #2,294
- Serbian svemir/sʋêmiːr/ space, universe #1,876
- Spanish universo/uniˈbeɾso/ #1,637
- Swedish universum/ˈɵniːˌvɛʂʉm/ #2,125
- Tamil பிரபஞ்சம்/pɪɾɐbɐɲdʒɐm/ the universe, cosmos #1,937
- Ukrainian всесвіт[ˈʍsɛsʲʋʲit] #1,644
- Urdu کائنات/kɑː.ɪ.nɑːt̪/ the universe #912
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) and Estonian (news (et_EE), CC BY 4.0).
Knowing the word is the easy half.
Using it with someone who speaks the language is the half that sticks.