The word “animal” is used across the globe to describe living creatures, but its pronunciation and spelling vary beautifully across cultures and languages. From the French “animal” to the Japanese “動物 (dōbutsu)” and the Swahili “mnyama,” each language brings its own flavor and phonetic charm to the word. Learning how to say “animal” in different languages not only expands your vocabulary but also deepens your appreciation for linguistic diversity and global communication. Whether you’re a language enthusiast, traveler, or student, this simple word is a perfect starting point for connecting with cultures around the world.
- Afrikaans: dier
- Albanian: kafshë
- Amharic: እንስሳ
- Arabic: حيوان (hayawan)
- Armenian: կենդանի
- Azerbaijani: heyvan
- Basque: animalia
- Belarusian: жывёла
- Bengali: পশু (pośu)
- Bosnian: životinja
- Bulgarian: животно
- Catalan: animal
- Cebuano: hayop
- Chinese (Simplified): 动物 (dòngwù)
- Chinese (Traditional): 動物 (dòngwù)
- Corsican: animale
- Croatian: životinja
- Czech: zvíře
- Danish: dyr
- Dutch: dier
- English: animal
- Esperanto: besto
- Estonian: loom
- Finnish: eläin
- French: animal
- Frisian: bist
- Galician: animal
- Georgian: ცხოველი
- German: Tier
- Greek: ζώο
- Gujarati: પ્રાણી (prāṇī)
- Haitian Creole: bèt
- Hausa: dabba
- Hawaiian: holoholona
- Hebrew: בעל חיים
- Hindi: जानवर (jānvar)
- Hmong: tsiaj
- Hungarian: állat
- Icelandic: dýr
- Igbo: anụmanụ
- Indonesian: satwa
- Irish: ainmhí
- Italian: animale
- Japanese: 動物 (dōbutsu)
- Javanese: kewan
- Kannada: ಪ್ರಾಣಿ (prāṇi)
- Kazakh: жануар
- Khmer: សត្វ (sat)
- Korean: 동물 (dongmul)
- Kurdish: teba
- Kyrgyz: жаныбар
- Lao: ສັດ (sat)
- Latin: animalis
- Latvian: dzīvnieks
- Lithuanian: gyvūnas
- Luxembourgish: Déier
- Macedonian: животно
- Malagasy: biby
- Malay: haiwan
- Malayalam: മൃഗം (mṛgaṁ)
- Maltese: annimal
- Maori: kararehe
- Marathi: प्राणी (prāṇī)
- Mongolian: амьтан (am’tan)
- Myanmar (Burmese): တိရိစ္ဆာန် (tiri’ic’san)
- Nepali: जनावर (janāwar)
- Norwegian: dyr
- Pashto: ځناور (zənāwar)
- Persian: حیوان (heyvān)
- Polish: zwierzę
- Portuguese: animal
- Punjabi: ਜਾਨਵਰ (jānavar)
- Romanian: animal
- Russian: животное (zhivotnoye)
- Samoan: manu
- Scots Gaelic: beathach
- Serbian: животinja
- Sesotho: phoofolo
- Shona: mhuka
- Sindhi: حيوان (ḥaywān)
- Sinhala: සත්ව (sathva)
- Slovak: zviera
- Slovenian: žival
- Somali: xayawaan
- Spanish: animal
- Sundanese: sato
- Swahili: mnyama
- Swedish: djur
- Tagalog (Filipino): hayop
- Tajik: ҳайвон (hayvon)
- Tamil: விலங்கு (viḷaṅku)
- Telugu: జంతువు (jantuva)
- Thai: สัตว์ (sàt)
- Turkish: hayvan
- Ukrainian: тварина (tvaryna)
- Urdu: جانور (jānwar)
- Uzbek: hayvon
- Vietnamese: động vật
- Welsh: anifail
- Xhosa: isilwanyana
- Yiddish: כייַע (khaye)
- Yoruba: ẹranko
- Zulu: isilwane