“Adopt” is a profound word that conveys the action of legally taking another’s child and bringing it up as one’s own, or to accept or start to use something new. Like many terms we use daily, the expression varies intriguingly across different languages and cultures. This linguistic variation provides a unique window into how different societies perceive and incorporate the concept of adoption into their language and social norms.
In this article, we’ll explore how the word “adopt” is expressed in 70 different languages, ranging from the most commonly spoken to some of the more obscure ones. Here is how to say “adopt” around the globe:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Adoptoj | Pronunciation: Ad-op-toy
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – يتبنى (Yatabanna) | Pronunciation: Ya-ta-ban-na
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – ընդունել (Yndunel) | Pronunciation: Un-doo-nel
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Qəbul etmək | Pronunciation: Ga-bul et-mek
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Adoptatu | Pronunciation: Ad-op-ta-tu
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Усыновіць (Usynovits) | Pronunciation: U-sy-no-vits
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – দত্তক নেওয়া (Dottok Newa) | Pronunciation: Dot-tok Ne-wa
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Usvojiti | Pronunciation: U-svo-yi-ti
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Осиновявам (Osinovyavam) | Pronunciation: O-si-no-vya-vam
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Adoptar | Pronunciation: Ad-op-tar
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Adoptovat | Pronunciation: Ad-op-to-vat
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Adoptere | Pronunciation: Ad-op-te-re
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Adopteren | Pronunciation: Ad-op-te-ren
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Adopt | Pronunciation: A-dopt
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Adopteerima | Pronunciation: Ad-op-te-ri-ma
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – به فرزندی پذیرفتن (Be farzandi paziroftan) | Pronunciation: Be far-zan-di pa-zi-rof-tan
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Adoptoida | Pronunciation: Ad-op-toi-da
- French (🇫🇷) – Adopter | Pronunciation: Ad-op-te
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – შეიწირა (Sheitsira) | Pronunciation: Shei-tsi-ra
- German (🇩🇪) – Adoptieren | Pronunciation: Ad-op-tie-ren
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Υιοθετώ (Yiothetó) | Pronunciation: Yio-the-to
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – לאמץ (L’emetz) | Pronunciation: Le-amets
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – गोद लेना (God lena) | Pronunciation: God le-na
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Örökbe fogad | Pronunciation: Ur-ok-be fo-gad
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Ættleiða | Pronunciation: Iet-lay-tha
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Mengadopsi | Pronunciation: Meng-ad-op-si
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Uchtú | Pronunciation: Ukh-too
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Adottare | Pronunciation: Ad-ot-ta-re
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 養子にする (Yōshi ni suru) | Pronunciation: Yo-shi ni su-ru
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Асырап алу (Asyrap alu) | Pronunciation: A-sy-rap a-lu
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ធ្វើជាកូនចិញ្ចឹម (Tver chea kon chinhchum) | Pronunciation: Tver chea kon chin-chum
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 입양하다 (Ibyanghada) | Pronunciation: Ib-yang-ha-da
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Balakirin | Pronunciation: Ba-la-ki-rin
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Балалуу кылуу (Balaluu kyluu) | Pronunciation: Ba-la-luu kyl-uu
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ເອື່ອນ (Euon) | Pronunciation: E-u-on
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Adoptēt | Pronunciation: Ad-op-tet
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Įvaikinti | Pronunciation: Ee-vai-kin-ti
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Adoptéieren | Pronunciation: Ad-op-te-yeren
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Усвојува (Usvojuva) | Pronunciation: Us-vo-yu-va
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Mengambil anak angkat | Pronunciation: Meng-am-bil anak ang-kat
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Jaddotta | Pronunciation: Ya-dot-ta
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 收养 (Shōuyǎng) | Pronunciation: Shou-yang
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – दत्तक घेणे (Dattak Ghene) | Pronunciation: Dat-tak Ghe-ne
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Хүүхэд авах (Khükhed avakh) | Pronunciation: Khue-khed a-vakh
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – गोद लिनु (God Linu) | Pronunciation: God Li-nu
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Adoptere | Pronunciation: A-dop-te-re
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – طفل وړل (Tifl Waral) | Pronunciation: Tif-l Wa-ral
- Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – فرزندخواندگی کردن (Farzandkhwandegi kardan) | Pronunciation: Far-zand-khwan-de-gi kar-dan
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Adoptować | Pronunciation: Ad-op-to-vach
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Adotar | Pronunciation: A-do-tar
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Adopta | Pronunciation: A-dop-ta
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Усыновить (Usynovit’) | Pronunciation: U-sy-no-vit
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Усвојити (Usvojiti) | Pronunciation: Us-vo-ji-ti
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – දරු බාර ගැනීම (Daru Baara Gaaneema) | Pronunciation: Da-ru Ba-ra Ga-ne-ma
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Adoptovať | Pronunciation: Ad-op-to-vat
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Posvojiti | Pronunciation: Po-svo-ji-ti
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Korsado | Pronunciation: Kor-sa-do
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Adoptar | Pronunciation: Ad-op-tar
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Kuasili | Pronunciation: Ku-a-si-li
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Adoptera | Pronunciation: A-dop-te-ra
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Фарзандӣ кардан (Farzandī kardan) | Pronunciation: Far-zan-di kar-dan
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – தத்தெடு (Thattheddu) | Pronunciation: Tha-thed-du
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – దత్తత చేసుకోవడం (Dattata Chesukovadam) | Pronunciation: Dat-ta-ta Che-su-ko-vadam
- Thai (🇹🇭) – รับเลี้ยงเด็ก (Rap lieng dek) | Pronunciation: Rap lieng dek
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Evlat edinmek | Pronunciation: Ev-lat ed-in-mek
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Усиновити (Usynovyty) | Pronunciation: U-sy-no-vy-ty
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – گود لینا (God lena) | Pronunciation: God le-na
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Asrab olish | Pronunciation: As-rab o-lish
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Nhận nuôi | Pronunciation: Nhan nuoi
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Mabwysiadu | Pronunciation: Mab-wy-si-a-du