“Cold” is a term that evokes a specific physical sensation, universally experienced but described differently across languages. Whether it’s the brisk winds of winter, the chill of an air-conditioned room, or the refreshing coolness of a cold drink, cultures around the world have their own word to describe this sensation. Below, we explore how to say “cold” in 70 different languages, offering a glimpse into the linguistic diversity that exists globally.
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Ftohtë | Pronunciation: F-toh-tuh
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – بارد (Bārid) | Pronunciation: Bah-reed
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – սառը (Sarry) | Pronunciation: Sah-ree
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Soyug | Pronunciation: So-yoogh
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Hotza | Pronunciation: Hot-za
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Халодны (Khalodny) | Pronunciation: Ha-lo-dny
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – ঠান্ডা (Ṭhānḍā) | Pronunciation: Thanda
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Hladno | Pronunciation: Hlad-no
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Студено (Studeno) | Pronunciation: Stu-de-no
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Fred | Pronunciation: Fred
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Studený | Pronunciation: Stu-den-ee
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Kold | Pronunciation: Kold
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Koud | Pronunciation: Kow-d
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Cold | Pronunciation: Cold
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Külm | Pronunciation: Kylm
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – سرد (Sard) | Pronunciation: Sard
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Kylmä | Pronunciation: Kul-ma
- French (🇫🇷) – Froid | Pronunciation: Fwa
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – ცივი (Tsivi) | Pronunciation: Tsi-vi
- German (🇩🇪) – Kalt | Pronunciation: Kalt
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Κρύο (Kryo) | Pronunciation: Kree-o
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – קר (Kar) | Pronunciation: Kar
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – ठंडा (Ṭhaṇḍā) | Pronunciation: Thanda
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Hideg | Pronunciation: Hee-deg
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Kalt | Pronunciation: Kalt
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Dingin | Pronunciation: Din-gin
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Fuar | Pronunciation: Foo-ar
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Freddo | Pronunciation: Freh-doh
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 寒い (Samui) | Pronunciation: Sah-moo-ee
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Суық (Suyq) | Pronunciation: Soo-yk
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ត្រជាក់ (Trachak) | Pronunciation: Tra-chak
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 추운 (Chuun) | Pronunciation: Choo-oon
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – Sar | Pronunciation: Sar
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Суук (Suuk) | Pronunciation: Soo-uk
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ຢູ່ຢາງ (Yū yāng) | Pronunciation: Yu yang
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Auksts | Pronunciation: Owk-sts
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Šaltas | Pronunciation: Shal-tas
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Kal | Pronunciation: Kal
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Студено (Studeno) | Pronunciation: Stu-de-no
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Sejuk | Pronunciation: Say-jook
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Kiesaħ | Pronunciation: Kee-sah
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 冷 (Lěng) | Pronunciation: Leng
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – थंड (Thaṇḍ) | Pronunciation: Thand
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Хүйтэн (Khüiten) | Pronunciation: Huy-ten
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – चिसो (Chiso) | Pronunciation: Chee-so
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Kald | Pronunciation: Kald
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – یخ (Yakh) | Pronunciation: Yakh
- Persian (Farsi) (🇮🇷) – سرد (Sard) | Pronunciation: Sard
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Zimno | Pronunciation: Zim-no
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Frio | Pronunciation: Free-o
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Rece | Pronunciation: Re-che
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Холодно (Kholodno) | Pronunciation: Kho-lod-no
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Хладно (Hladno) | Pronunciation: Hlad-no
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – සීතල (Sītala) | Pronunciation: See-tha-la
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Studený | Pronunciation: Stu-den-ee
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Mrzlo | Pronunciation: Mrz-lo
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Qabow | Pronunciation: Qa-bow
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Frío | Pronunciation: Free-o
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Baridi | Pronunciation: Bah-ree-dee
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Kall | Pronunciation: Kahl
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Сард (Sard) | Pronunciation: Sard
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – குளிர் (Kuḷir) | Pronunciation: Ku-lir
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – చల్లని (Callani) | Pronunciation: Chal-lah-nee
- Thai (🇹🇭) – หนาว (Nao) | Pronunciation: Now
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Soğuk | Pronunciation: So-ook
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Холодно (Kholodno) | Pronunciation: Kho-lod-no
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – سرد (Sard) | Pronunciation: Sard
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Sovuq | Pronunciation: So-vuq
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Lạnh | Pronunciation: Lanh
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Oer | Pronunciation: Oy-r