The word “jail” refers to a place where people are held as a punishment for crimes or while awaiting trial. The word for “jail” varies across languages, reflecting the rich diversity of linguistic traditions worldwide. In this article, we’ll explore how the word for “jail” is expressed in different languages around the world, from the most commonly spoken languages to some of the lesser-known ones.
Here is a list of how to say “jail” in 70 different languages:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Burg | Pronunciation: Boorg
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – سجن (Sijn) | Pronunciation: Sijn
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – Բանտ (Bant) | Pronunciation: Bahnt
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Həbsxana | Pronunciation: Heb-skhah-nah
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Kartzela | Pronunciation: Kart-zeh-lah
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Турма (Turma) | Pronunciation: Toor-mah
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – জেল (Jel) | Pronunciation: Jel
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Zatvor | Pronunciation: Zaht-vor
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Затвор (Zatvor) | Pronunciation: Zaht-vor
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Presó | Pronunciation: Preh-soh
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Vězení | Pronunciation: Vyeh-zeh-nee
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Fængsel | Pronunciation: Feng-sel
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Gevangenis | Pronunciation: Guh-vahn-gehn-is
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Jail | Pronunciation: Jayl
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Vangla | Pronunciation: Vahng-lah
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – زندان (Zendan) | Pronunciation: Zen-dahn
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Vankila | Pronunciation: Vahn-kee-lah
- French (🇫🇷) – Prison | Pronunciation: Pree-zon
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – ციხე (Tsikhe) | Pronunciation: Tsee-kheh
- German (🇩🇪) – Gefängnis | Pronunciation: Guh-feng-nis
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Φυλακή (Fylaki) | Pronunciation: Fee-lah-kee
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – כלא (Kele) | Pronunciation: Keh-leh
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – जेल (Jel) | Pronunciation: Jel
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Börtön | Pronunciation: Bor-toen
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Fangelsi | Pronunciation: Fang-el-see
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Penjara | Pronunciation: Pen-jah-rah
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Príosún | Pronunciation: Pree-soon
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Carcere | Pronunciation: Car-che-reh
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 刑務所 (Keimusho) | Pronunciation: Kei-mu-sho
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Түрме (Túrme) | Pronunciation: Tur-meh
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ពន្ធនាគារ (Pŏnthneākiă) | Pronunciation: Pon-thnee-ah-kee-ah
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 감옥 (Gamok) | Pronunciation: Gah-mok
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – زندان (Zendân) | Pronunciation: Zen-daan
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Түрмө (Túrmö) | Pronunciation: Tur-moh
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ເຮືອນຄຸກ (Heuan Khuk) | Pronunciation: Heu-an Khuk
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Cietums | Pronunciation: Tse-ah-tums
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Kalėjimas | Pronunciation: Kah-ley-ee-mas
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Prisong | Pronunciation: Pree-zong
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Затвор (Zatvor) | Pronunciation: Zaht-vor
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Penjara | Pronunciation: Pen-jah-rah
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Ħabs | Pronunciation: Habs
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 监狱 (Jiānyù) | Pronunciation: Jian-yoo
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – तुरुंग (Turung) | Pronunciation: Tu-roong
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Шорон (Shoron) | Pronunciation: Sho-ron
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – जेल (Jel) | Pronunciation: Jel
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Fengsel | Pronunciation: Feng-sel
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – زندان (Zendan) | Pronunciation: Zen-dahn
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Więzienie | Pronunciation: Vyen-zhyen-yeh
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Prisão | Pronunciation: Pree-sown
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Închisoare | Pronunciation: Un-khi-so-ah-reh
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Тюрьма (Tyur’ma) | Pronunciation: Tyur-mah
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Затвор (Zatvor) | Pronunciation: Zaht-vor
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – බන්ධනාගාරය (Bandhanāgāraya) | Pronunciation: Ban-dha-na-ga-ra-ya
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Väzenie | Pronunciation: Vye-zen-yeh
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Zapor | Pronunciation: Zah-por
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Xabsi | Pronunciation: Hab-si
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Cárcel | Pronunciation: Kar-sel
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Gereza | Pronunciation: Geh-reh-zah
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Fängelse | Pronunciation: Feng-el-seh
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Зиндон (Zindon) | Pronunciation: Zin-don
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – சிறை (Siṟai) | Pronunciation: Si-rai
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – జైలు (Jailu) | Pronunciation: Jai-loo
- Thai (🇹🇭) – คุก (Khuk) | Pronunciation: Kook
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Hapishane | Pronunciation: Ha-pis-hah-neh
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – В’язниця (V’yaznytsya) | Pronunciation: Vyaz-nyt-sya
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – جیل (Jail) | Pronunciation: Jail
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Qamoqxona | Pronunciation: Kah-mokh-ho-na
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Nhà tù | Pronunciation: Nha too
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Carchar | Pronunciation: Kar-khar
- Yiddish (🇮🇱) – טורמע (Turme) | Pronunciation: Toor-meh