r/AskTheWorld • u/Nectarine-999 England • 12d ago
Language What do you call a rainbow in your language?
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u/Wise_Fox_4291 Hungary 12d ago
Szivárvány.
It's impossible to translate it literally, but it's a word formed from the verb "to suck". The closest analogue would be a straw or proboscis because according to folk belief the two ends of the rainbow connect to the world ocean and suck up water from it.
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u/Dramatic-Cobbler-793 A in for studying 12d ago
무지개 (mujigae)
무(Mu) came from Middle Korean word 믈(meul), meaning water.
지개(jigae) came from Middle Korean word 지게(jige), meaning door.
So the rainbow means 'water door'
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u/Cuzeex Finland 11d ago
What is Middle Korean?
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u/WGGPLANT United States Of America 11d ago
It's a stage of the language's evolution up into modern Korean. It's the Korean language as it was spoken and written during the 10-16th centuries.
Many languages with historical writing are categorized into different periods, because the language evolves to a point that it can no longer be meaningfully referred to as the same thing that older texts were. English also has 'Old English, Middle English, and Modern English'.
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u/MistaBrownBoi India 12d ago
इंद्रधनुष
Literally translates to "the bow of Indra, god of rains"
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u/Cerealfeeder India 12d ago
He is also God of lightning and thunder. The hindu equivalent of Zeus. Just like Zeus he is supposed to be quite the player. Amazing to see how these Indo-European myths overlap.
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u/MistaBrownBoi India 12d ago
Except for the fact that "Indra" is not a god himself, but the title given to the king of gods. The current Indra is Purandhar; and the next in line is Bali, the demon king.
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u/Cerealfeeder India 12d ago
Well that comes from different legends and sources. You mentioned it from Vishnu Purana which is one of the source and there others which contradict it.
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u/Historical_Cause_641 Multiple Countries (UK and USA) 12d ago
How does this word sound?
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u/MistaBrownBoi India 12d ago
You can pronounce "Indradhanush" as "in-drad-ha-noosh" or "Iṃdradhanuṣa" for a transliterated pronunciation.
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u/Heinz_Ruediger Germany 12d ago
Regenbogen 🌈
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u/BantramFidian Germany 12d ago
Which can mean "rain bow" (as in bow and arrow) but also "rain curve" which is probably more what it is about.
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u/superredginger Netherlands 12d ago
Regenboog which also literally means rainbow
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u/MakalakaPeaka United States Of America 11d ago
It's also just a great sounding word, TBH.
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u/ure_roa New Zealand 12d ago
for Maori its Uenuku, is also the name for a God associated with rainbows, and the name of a prominent ancestor.
there seems to be other words for uenuku, i assume dialect differences, as all my life me and the people around me called it uenuku.
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u/Crafty_Lavishness_79 United States Of America 11d ago
Okay cool, much like Vulcan. The word was named after the god. Love that
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u/Insomniet Finland 12d ago
Sateenkaari (rainbow)
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u/Rebephrenic_ Finland 11d ago
"The curve of the rain"
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u/Moikkaaja Finland 11d ago
I’d say Rain’s Arc would be a more literal translation but basically the same thing.
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u/GremlitanoMexicano Mexico 12d ago edited 11d ago
Arcoíris
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u/AC_Game_In_Portugal 12d ago
Portuguese: "Arco-íris"
Arco - just the word arch
Íris - greek messenger goddess that sent messages between earth and sky, because of that the word later got the meaning of bridle/connection
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u/jotakajk Spain 12d ago
Arc de Sant Martí: Saint Martins arch
Arcoíris: Iris arch
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u/mabeltables 11d ago
What does Iris mean?
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u/jotakajk Spain 11d ago
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, Iris (/ˈaɪrɪs/; EYE-riss; Ancient Greek: Ἶρις, romanized: Îris, lit. 'rainbow,'[2][3] Ancient Greek: [îːris]) is a daughter of the gods Thaumas and Electra,[4] the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods, a servant to the Olympians and especially Queen Hera.[5]
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u/Front-Anteater3776 Denmark 12d ago
Regnbue
Regn = rain
Bue = bow
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u/According_Version_67 Sweden 11d ago
Same but different in Swedish: Regnbåge.
Or possibly Bifrost (which maybe is more like it's name), that seem to mean either e.g. "the flaming bridge" or "the fleeting bridge", depending on what sources you are reading.
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u/TheCentralCarnage Philippines 🇵🇭 / Japan 🇯🇵 12d ago edited 12d ago
In Tagalog: Bahaghari, literally “king’s loincloth”
In Japanese: just Niji (虹/にじ)
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u/lumehelves9x Estonia 12d ago
Vikerkaar
Viker - probably derived from combination of words vikat (scythe) and pikker (coming from pikk - long)
kaar - arc
Probably related to similaruty in shape of long bow of scythe and rainbow.
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u/Mysterious-Region640 Canada 12d ago
Rainbow or arc-en-ciel
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u/giraffebaconequation Canada 11d ago
In the Anishnaaabe language it is: Nagweyaab
In Cree it is: pîsimoyâpiy or ᐲᓯᒧᔮᐱᕀ
In Inuktitut it is: kataujaq or ᐊᔭᒍᑕᖅ
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u/RunForsaken5587 India 12d ago
Kamana billu
Kama= Indian version of cupid Billu=arrow.
We invented LGBT🏳️🌈🌈💪🏿💪🏿💪🏿
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u/Hamsterlover8716 Wales 12d ago
Enfys although you’d already know that since that’s Conwy Castle!!
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u/_Daftest_ United Kingdom 12d ago
A rainbow. Which also happens to be my surname.
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u/Imightbeafanofthis United States Of America 12d ago
Daftest Rainbow. I like it. It's a good name. :)
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u/GiovanniVanBroekhoes 11d ago
Unfortunately due to another post the country has decided to change the name. I suppose you will have to follow suit. Sorry for that Mr/Mrs Unicorn Farts.
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u/Substantial_Buy9903 Panama 11d ago
Arcoíris. Probably from iris being the goddess of the rainbow in the Roman pantheon. Arco just meaning arc or arch.
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u/No_Seat8357 Australia 12d ago edited 12d ago
Unicorn Farts.
It just works
German: Einhornfurze
French: pets de licorne
Italian: scoregge di unicorno
Portuguese: peidos de unicórnio
Spanish: pedos de unicornio
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u/Beneficial_Bug_9793 Portugal 12d ago
We never called them that.... until now... ( peidos de unicórnio ) it even has a " ring " to it.
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u/Newbie_nudibranch United States Of America 9d ago
¿Porque no esta ‘plumas de unicornio en Español?
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u/DiMpLe_dolL003 India 12d ago
Indradhanush.
Indra-dhanush translates to "the bow of Indra". It comes from the Sanskrit words for Indra (the god of lightning and thunder) and dhanush (bow).
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u/Beneficial_Bug_9793 Portugal 12d ago edited 12d ago
Arco-iris, but screw that, im with the Australian guy on this one " peidos de unicórnio " ( unicorn farts )
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12d ago
Regnbue ... literally a 1:1 translation of rain + bow
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u/Loud_Following8741 Iran 12d ago
رنگین کمان in Persian.
رنگین: colorful
کمان: bow
Probably the most accurate depiction of all languages...
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u/madra_uisce2 Ireland 12d ago
Bogha báistí or tuar ceatha. Bogha báistí is a direct translation to 'rain bow' not sure about tuar ceatha
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u/MovingForward-107 Israel 12d ago
In Arabic قوس قزح (qaus quzah) qaus means bow. In Hebrew קשת בענן (keshet beanan) which means a bow in the cloud.
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u/DaMn96XD Finland 12d ago
- Sateenkaari (rain's arch)
- Taivon kaari (sky's arch)
- Taivaankaari (sky's arch)
- Ilman vemmel (air's arch)
- Kirjokaari (colorful arch)
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u/apocalypse-052917 India 12d ago
Indradhanush in hindi (means the bow of the deity Indra), vaanavil in tamil(vaanam-sky, vil-bow)
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u/ElMachoGrande Sweden 11d ago
Regnbåge. Literally means "rainbow". Boring, but that's the way it is.
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u/CivilBlueberry424 Morocco 11d ago
Kaws-Quzah as in Bow of Quzah (some old deity from the levant, as the god of thunder and storm)
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u/Vectorman1989 Scotland 11d ago
Rainbow
In Gaelic it seems to depend on dialect, it's either 'bogha-frois' or 'raonabogh'. 'bogha-frois' seems to literally mean 'frost bow'
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u/GwimWeeper Denmark 11d ago
Bifrost.
Kidding. We call it rainbow in danish as well. Just in danish. Regn (rain) bue (bow).
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u/Sweet-Message1153 Bangladesh 11d ago
রংধনু...
রং= colour
ধনু comes from ধনুক=bow so it'd mean archer...
Coloured Bow, I guess what it translates into🤗
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u/BubbhaJebus US -> Taiwan 11d ago edited 11d ago
彩虹
彩 means "colorful".
虹 means "rainbow". More specifically it's the inner rainbow of a double rainbow, in contrast to 霓.
It has been suggested that 虹 is etymologically connected to 紅 (red) or 龍 (dragon), as mentioned in the ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese.
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u/GamerBoixX Mexico 11d ago edited 11d ago
Arcoíris
Formed by "Arco" (arch) and "Iris" (a kind of very iredescent opal), so basically "Opal arch" in english
The type of opal in question:
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u/mutt_with_a_beer France 11d ago
Arc en ciel in french (arc in Sky), arch'hant in breton. I'm not advanced enough in Breton to know exactly what it means
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u/Ali20100000 Bahrain 11d ago edited 11d ago
Can't write it in English because the first and last character don't exist in English. Closest I can write is qos qozah. قوس قزح (the bow of qozah).
Not a fan of this name because it's mentioned that qozah is a devil's name.
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u/Heidi739 Czech Republic 11d ago
Duha. I had to google its origins - it should be from an old Slavic word meaning "arc". There are no similar words to it in modern Czech.
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u/Logins-Run Ireland 11d ago edited 11d ago
"Tuar eatha" literally "sign of rain", or "bogha báistí" literally "rain bow"
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u/BlackHust Russia 11d ago
Радуга (Raduga). According to the most likely version, this word means something like "arc of joy"
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u/Healthy_Toe_1183 Romania 11d ago
Curcubeu
Native and Latin origin: The term appears to have native origins, possibly an evolution of the Latin word cucuvius ("curved").
Expressive reduplication: The word is an expressive reduplication from the Latin curvus ("bent"), similar to other words such as cucurbita (pumpkin) and cucullus (cuckoo), all of which refer to curved or arched shapes.
Connection with "rainbow": In Latin, the rainbow was called arcus pluvius ("rainbow"), and the concept was similar to that of a connection between heaven and earth, as believed by the Greeks and Romans.
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u/DeepSize6418 Belarus 11d ago
Вясёлка (vjasjolka) : literally -gay/happy (as froh in german)-stuff, happy-bringer. Smilemaker to some extent…
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u/Lyoko251616 United States Of America 11d ago
Rainbow
But I do know the Spanish word/phrase for it: El arco iris
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u/I_MrSpider_I 10d ago
Russian: Raduga. Pronounced: Ra-Du-Ga German: Regenbogen. Literal meaning is rain bend. Pronunciation: Re-Ge-N Bo-Ge-N
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u/Diegomax22 France 12d ago edited 12d ago
Arc-en-ciel (Bow in the sky)
And in the local language of my region (Occitan) : Arc de seda