The word “friend” denotes a person with whom one shares mutual affection and trust, distinct from family or romantic relationships. People often search for the term “friend in other languages” to understand how this concept is expressed across different cultures, reflecting the universal value of companionship. Understanding the word “friend” in different languages can provide insights into diverse cultural perspectives on friendship and highlight the unique ways different societies value these relationships.
Learn how to say “friend” in 100 different languages, arranged alphabetically, with pronunciation guides:
Afrikaans: Vriend (freent)
Albanian: Mik (meek)
Amharic: መሃብር (meh-hab-re)
Arabic: صديق (sa-deeq)
Armenian: Ընկեր (uhn-kair)
Azerbaijani: Dost (dohst)
Basque: Lagun (lah-goon)
Belarusian: Сябар (syah-bar)
Bengali: বন্ধু (bon-dhoo)
Bosnian: Prijatelj (pree-yah-teel)
Bulgarian: Приятел (pree-yah-tehl)
Catalan: Amic (ah-meek)
Cebuano: Higala (hee-gah-lah)
Chichewa: Mnzanga (mn-zan-gah)
Chinese (Mandarin): 朋友 (péng-yǒu)
Corsican: Amicu (ah-mee-coo)
Croatian: Prijatelj (pree-yah-teel)
Czech: Přítel (přee-tehl)
Danish: Ven (venn)
Dutch: Vriend (freent)
Esperanto: Amiko (ah-mee-ko)
Estonian: Sõber (suh-ber)
Finnish: Ystävä (ews-tah-vah)
French: Ami (ah-mee)
Frisian: Freon (fray-on)
Galician: Amigo (ah-mee-go)
Georgian: მეგობარი (me-go-ba-ri)
German: Freund (froy-nt)
Greek: Φίλος (fee-los)
Gujarati: મિત્ર (mit-ra)
Haitian Creole: Zanmi (zan-mee)
Hausa: Aboki (ah-bo-kee)
Hawaiian: Hoaloha (hoh-ah-loh-hah)
Hebrew: חבר (cha-ver)
Hindi: दोस्त (dohst)
Hmong: Phooj ywg (poh-j yueg)
Hungarian: Barát (bah-raht)
Icelandic: Vinur (vin-ur)
Igbo: Enyi (en-yee)
Indonesian: Teman (teh-mahn)
Irish: Cara (kah-rah)
Italian: Amico (ah-mee-ko)
Japanese: 友達 (toh-mo-da-chi)
Javanese: Kanca (kan-cha)
Kannada: ಸ್ನೇಹಿತ (sneh-hit)
Kazakh: Дос (dohs)
Khmer: មិត្ត (mit)
Korean: 친구 (chin-goo)
Kurdish (Kurmanji): Heval (heh-val)
Kyrgyz: Дос (dohs)
Lao: ໝູ່ (muu)
Latin: Amicus (ah-mee-koos)
Latvian: Draugs (drah-oo-gs)
Lithuanian: Draugas (drau-gahs)
Luxembourgish: Frënd (frent)
Macedonian: Пријател (pree-yah-tehl)
Malagasy: Namana (nah-mah-nah)
Malay: Kawan (kah-wahn)
Malayalam: സുഹൃത്ത് (su-hrut)
Maltese: Ħabib (hah-beeb)
Maori: Hoa (hoh-ah)
Marathi: मित्र (mit-ra)
Mongolian: Найз (na-eez)
Myanmar (Burmese): မိတ်ဆွေ (meit-sway)
Nepali: साथी (sah-thee)
Norwegian: Venn (venn)
Odia: ମିତ୍ର (mit-ra)
Pashto: دوست (doost)
Persian: دوست (doost)
Polish: Przyjaciel (pshih-yah-tyel)
Portuguese: Amigo (ah-mee-go)
Punjabi: ਦੋਸਤ (doast)
Romanian: Prieten (pree-yeh-ten)
Russian: Друг (droog)
Samoan: Uo (oo-oh)
Scots Gaelic: Caraid (kah-rahch)
Serbian: Пријатељ (pree-yah-tehl)
Sesotho: Motsoalle (moh-tswah-lay)
Shona: Shamwari (shahm-wah-ree)
Sindhi: دوست (doost)
Sinhala: යහළුවා (yah-ha-loo-wah)
Slovak: Priateľ (pree-yah-tehl)
Slovenian: Prijatelj (pree-yah-tehl)
Somali: Saaxiib (sah-akh-eeb)
Spanish: Amigo (ah-mee-go)
Sundanese: Babaturan (bah-bah-too-rahn)
Swahili: Rafiki (rah-fee-kee)
Swedish: Vän (venn)
Tajik: Дӯст (doost)
Tamil: நண்பன் (nan-ban)
Telugu: స్నేహితుడు (snehitu-du)
Thai: เพื่อน (pheu-an)
Turkish: Arkadaş (ahr-ka-dahsh)
Ukrainian: Друг (droog)
Urdu: دوست (doost)
Uzbek: Do’st (dohst)
Vietnamese: Bạn (bahn)
Welsh: Ffrind (frind)
Xhosa: Umhlobo (oom-hloh-boh)
Yoruba: Ọrẹ (oh-ray)