Napkins are an essential item for dining, often used for wiping hands and mouths during a meal. The word for “napkin” can differ significantly across languages and cultures, making it an interesting topic of discussion. In this article, we’ll explore how the word for “napkin” 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 “napkin” in 70 different languages:
- Albanian (🇦🇱) – Pecetë | Pronunciation: Peh-cheh-tuh
- Arabic (Standard) (🇸🇦) – منديل (Mandeel) | Pronunciation: Man-deel
- Armenian (🇦🇲) – անձեռոցիկ (Andzerrotsik) | Pronunciation: An-dzer-ro-tsik
- Azerbaijani (🇦🇿) – Salfetka | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Basque (🇪🇸) – Ezpata | Pronunciation: Ez-pa-ta
- Belarusian (🇧🇾) – Сурвэтка (Survetka) | Pronunciation: Sur-vet-ka
- Bengali (🇧🇩) – ন্যাপকিন (Næpkin) | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Bosnian (🇧🇦) – Salveti | Pronunciation: Sal-ve-ti
- Bulgarian (🇧🇬) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Catalan (🇪🇸) – Tovalló | Pronunciation: To-va-lyo
- Czech (🇨🇿) – Ubrousek | Pronunciation: Oo-brou-sek
- Danish (🇩🇰) – Serviet | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et
- Dutch (🇳🇱) – Servet | Pronunciation: Ser-vet
- English (🇺🇸 / 🇬🇧) – Napkin | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Estonian (🇪🇪) – Salvrätik | Pronunciation: Sal-vra-tik
- Farsi (Persian) (🇮🇷) – دستمال سفره (Dastmal Sofreh) | Pronunciation: Dast-mal Sof-reh
- Finnish (🇫🇮) – Lautasliina | Pronunciation: Lau-tas-lee-na
- French (🇫🇷) – Serviette | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et
- Georgian (🇬🇪) – ხელსახოცი (Khelsakhots’i) | Pronunciation: Khel-sa-khot-si
- German (🇩🇪) – Serviette | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et
- Greek (🇬🇷) – Πετσέτα (Petseta) | Pronunciation: Pet-se-ta
- Hebrew (🇮🇱) – מפית (Mapit) | Pronunciation: Ma-peet
- Hindi (🇮🇳) – नैपकिन (Naipkin) | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Hungarian (🇭🇺) – Szalvéta | Pronunciation: Sal-vee-ta
- Icelandic (🇮🇸) – Servíetta | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et-ta
- Indonesian (🇮🇩) – Serbet | Pronunciation: Ser-bet
- Irish Gaelic (🇮🇪) – Fáiscín | Pronunciation: Fash-keen
- Italian (🇮🇹) – Tovagliolo | Pronunciation: To-va-lyo-lo
- Japanese (🇯🇵) – ナプキン (Napukin) | Pronunciation: Na-pu-kin
- Kazakh (🇰🇿) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Khmer (Cambodian) (🇰🇭) – ក្រដាសជូត (Krodaas Chhut) | Pronunciation: Kro-daas Ch-hoot
- Korean (🇰🇷) – 냅킨 (Næpkin) | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Kurdish (🇮🇶 / 🇸🇾 / 🇹🇷 / 🇮🇷) – دەستمال (Dastmal) | Pronunciation: Dast-mal
- Kyrgyz (🇰🇬) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Lao (🇱🇦) – ເຜີຍເຫມາຍ (Phêuaihmāi) | Pronunciation: Phêu-ai-māi
- Latvian (🇱🇻) – Salvetes | Pronunciation: Sal-ve-tes
- Lithuanian (🇱🇹) – Servetėlė | Pronunciation: Ser-ve-te-le
- Luxembourgish (🇱🇺) – Serveitte | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et-te
- Macedonian (🇲🇰) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Malay (🇲🇾 / 🇮🇩) – Serbet | Pronunciation: Ser-bet
- Maltese (🇲🇹) – Srievetta | Pronunciation: Sree-ve-ta
- Mandarin Chinese (🇨🇳) – 餐巾 (Cānjīn) | Pronunciation: Tsan-jeen
- Marathi (🇮🇳) – रुमाल (Rumāl) | Pronunciation: Roo-mal
- Mongolian (🇲🇳) – Амны алчуур (Amny alchuur) | Pronunciation: Am-nee al-choor
- Nepali (🇳🇵) – रुमाल (Rumāl) | Pronunciation: Roo-mal
- Norwegian (🇳🇴) – Serviett | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-et
- Pashto (🇦🇫) – دستمال (Dastmal) | Pronunciation: Dast-mal
- Polish (🇵🇱) – Serwetka | Pronunciation: Ser-vet-ka
- Portuguese (🇵🇹 / 🇧🇷) – Guardanapo | Pronunciation: Guar-da-na-po
- Romanian (🇷🇴) – Șervețel | Pronunciation: Sher-ve-tzel
- Russian (🇷🇺) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Serbian (🇷🇸) – Салвета (Salveta) | Pronunciation: Sal-ve-ta
- Sinhala (🇱🇰) – රෙදිපුටු (Rediputu) | Pronunciation: Re-di-pu-tu
- Slovak (🇸🇰) – Obrúsok | Pronunciation: Ob-roo-sok
- Slovenian (🇸🇮) – Prtiček | Pronunciation: Pr-ti-chek
- Somali (🇸🇴) – Shaash | Pronunciation: Shaash
- Spanish (🇪🇸) – Servilleta | Pronunciation: Ser-vee-ye-ta
- Swahili (🇰🇪 / 🇹🇿) – Kitambaa | Pronunciation: Ki-tam-ba-a
- Swedish (🇸🇪) – Servett | Pronunciation: Ser-vet
- Tajik (🇹🇯) – Салфетка (Salfetka) | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Tamil (🇮🇳) – நாப்கின் (Napkin) | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Telugu (🇮🇳) – నాప్కిన్ (Napkin) | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Thai (🇹🇭) – ผ้าเช็ดปาก (Phâa chét pàak) | Pronunciation: Phâa chét pàak
- Turkish (🇹🇷) – Peçete | Pronunciation: Pe-che-te
- Ukrainian (🇺🇦) – Серветка (Servetka) | Pronunciation: Ser-vet-ka
- Urdu (🇵🇰) – رومال (Rumāl) | Pronunciation: Roo-mal
- Uzbek (🇺🇿) – Salfetka | Pronunciation: Sal-fet-ka
- Vietnamese (🇻🇳) – Khăn ăn | Pronunciation: Khan an
- Welsh (🇬🇧 – Wales) – Napcyn | Pronunciation: Nap-kin
- Zulu (🇿🇦) – Isicoci | Pronunciation: Ee-see-coh-chee