A king is a male monarch or a sovereign who is the ruler of a kingdom. The word for “king” varies across languages, reflecting the rich diversity of linguistic traditions worldwide. In this article, we’ll explore how the word for “king” 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 “king” in 70 different languages:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Mbret | Pronunciation: M-bret
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – ملك (Malik) | Pronunciation: Ma-lik
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – Թագավոր (Tagavor) | Pronunciation: Ta-ga-vor
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Kral | Pronunciation: Kral
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Errege | Pronunciation: E-rre-ge
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Кароль (Karol) | Pronunciation: Ka-rol
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – রাজা (Raja) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Kralj | Pronunciation: Kral
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Крал (Kral) | Pronunciation: Kral
- Catalan (🇪🇸 – Catalonia) – Rei | Pronunciation: Rey
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Král | Pronunciation: Kral
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Konge | Pronunciation: Kon-ge
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Koning | Pronunciation: Ko-ning
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – King | Pronunciation: King
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Kuningas | Pronunciation: Koo-ning-as
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – شاه (Shah) | Pronunciation: Shah
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Kuningas | Pronunciation: Koo-ning-as
- French (🇫🇷) – Roi | Pronunciation: Rwah
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – მეფე (Mefe) | Pronunciation: Me-feh
- German (🇩🇪) – König | Pronunciation: Kur-nig
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Βασιλιάς (Vasilias) | Pronunciation: Va-sil-yas
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – מלך (Melech) | Pronunciation: Me-lekh
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – राजा (Raja) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Király | Pronunciation: Ki-raly
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Konungur | Pronunciation: Ko-nun-gur
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Raja | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Rí | Pronunciation: Ree
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Re | Pronunciation: Reh
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – 王 (Ō) | Pronunciation: Oh
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Патша (Patsha) | Pronunciation: Pat-sha
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ក្សត្រ (Ksat) | Pronunciation: Ksat
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 왕 (Wang) | Pronunciation: Wahng
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – شاه (Şah) | Pronunciation: Shah
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Падыша (Padishah) | Pronunciation: Pa-di-shah
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ພຣະມະຫາກະສັດ (Phra Maha Kasat) | Pronunciation: Pra Ma-ha Ka-sat
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Karalis | Pronunciation: Ka-ra-lis
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Karalius | Pronunciation: Ka-ra-lee-us
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Kinnek | Pronunciation: Kin-nek
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Крал (Kral) | Pronunciation: Kral
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Raja | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Re | Pronunciation: Reh
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 国王 (Guówáng) | Pronunciation: Gwoh-wang
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – राजा (Raja) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Хаан (Khaan) | Pronunciation: Khaan
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – राजा (Raja) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Konge | Pronunciation: Kon-ge
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – پاچا (Pacha) | Pronunciation: Pa-cha
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Król | Pronunciation: Krol
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Rei | Pronunciation: Rey
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Rege | Pronunciation: Reh-jeh
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Король (Korol) | Pronunciation: Ko-rol
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Краљ (Kralj) | Pronunciation: Kral
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – රජ (Raja) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Kráľ | Pronunciation: Kral
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Kralj | Pronunciation: Kral
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Boqor | Pronunciation: Bo-kor
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Rey | Pronunciation: Rey
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Mfalme | Pronunciation: M-fal-meh
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Kung | Pronunciation: Kung
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Подшоҳ (Podshoh) | Pronunciation: Pod-shoh
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – ராஜா (Rājā) | Pronunciation: Ra-ja
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – రాజు (Rāju) | Pronunciation: Ra-ju
- Thai (🇹🇭) – พระมหากษัตริย์ (Phra Maha Kasat) | Pronunciation: Pra Ma-ha Ka-sat
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Kral | Pronunciation: Kral
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Король (Korol) | Pronunciation: Ko-rol
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – بادشاہ (Badshah) | Pronunciation: Bad-shah
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Podshoh | Pronunciation: Pod-shoh
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Vua | Pronunciation: Voo-ah
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Brenin | Pronunciation: Bre-nin
- Yiddish (🇮🇱) – מלך (Melech) | Pronunciation: Me-lekh