How to say “witness” in 39 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.
- testigo/tesˈtiɡo/ Spanish
- 目睹/mu⁵¹ tu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ Chinese
- गवाह/ɡə.ʋɑːɦ/ Hindi
- μάρτυρας/ˈmaɾ.ti.ɾas/ Greek
- সাক্ষী/ʃakʰːi/ Bengali
- சாட்சி/tʃɑːʈtʃiː/ Tamil
“witness” in Spanish: testigo · French: témoin · German: zeugen · Italian: testimone · Portuguese: testemunha · Chinese: 目睹 · Hindi: गवाह · Turkish: tanık
It is commonest in Urdu, where گواہ is the 369th most used word.
Witness in other languages, A to Z
- Afrikaans getuie/xəˈtøyə/ #918
- Arabic حي/ħajj/ to experience, to witness #815
- Armenian վկա/vəˈkɑ/ eyewitness, witness #267
- Bengali সাক্ষী/ʃakʰːi/ witness, eye-witness #974
- Bosnian svjedok/sʋjědok/ #2,180
- Bulgarian свидетел[sviˈdɛtɛɫ] #1,206
- Catalan testimoni[təs.tiˈmɔ.ni] #1,306
- Chinese 目睹/mu⁵¹ tu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/ to witness; to see with one's own eyes #2,223
- Croatian svjedok/sʋjědok/ #1,553
- Czech svědek[ˈsvjɛdɛk] #2,225
- Danish vidne/ˈviðnə/ #1,269
- Dutch getuige/ɣəˈtœy̯.ɣə/ as shown by, judging by, witness #1,030
- Estonian tunnistaja/ˈtunːistɑjɑ/ #1,418
- French témoin/te.mwɛ̃/ #1,114
- Galician testemuña[testeˈmuɲɐ] #1,570
- German zeugen/ˈt͡sɔʏ̯ɡən/ witness, wit, deponent, attestor, voucher #1,707
- Greek μάρτυρας/ˈmaɾ.ti.ɾas/ #1,723
- Hindi गवाह/ɡə.ʋɑːɦ/ #2,197
- Icelandic vitni[ˈvɪhtnɪ] #690
- Indonesian saksi/ˈsaksi/ #1,064
- Italian testimone/tes.tiˈmɔ.ne/ #1,337
- Lithuanian liudininkas[ˈlʲʊ̟dʲɪnʲɪŋkɐs] #2,187
- Macedonian сведок[ˈsvɛdɔk] #1,144
- Malay saksi/ˈsaksi/ #973
- Malayalam സാക്ഷി/saːkʂi/ #671
- Norwegian vitne/ˈvɪtnə/ a witness #1,279
- Persian شاهد[ʃɒː.ɦéd̪̥] witness; eyewitness; testifier #807
- Portuguese testemunha/tes.teˈmũ.ɲɐ/ #1,515
- Romanian martor/ˈmar.tor/ witness, onlooker, voucher #1,404
- Russian свидетель[svʲɪˈdʲetʲɪlʲ] eyewitness, witness #2,370
- Serbian svedok/ˈsvɛdok/ #1,755
- Slovenian priča/prìːt͡ʃa/ #501
- Spanish testigo/tesˈtiɡo/ #1,384
- Swedish vittne/ˈvɪtnɛ/ a witness #2,123
- Tagalog saksi/sakˈsi/ eyewitness; witness #1,367
- Tamil சாட்சி/tʃɑːʈtʃiː/ witness, testament, eye-witness #1,329
- Telugu సాక్షి/saːkʂi/ #1,008
- Turkish tanık/taˈnɯk/ #1,309
- Urdu گواہ/ɡəʋɑːɦ/ #369
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.