As summer drags on in the Northern Hemisphere, the weather is really starting to get hot (or caluroso if you speak a little Spanish). These sizzling temperatures have inspired us to ask what other cool words are used to say “summer” and “hot” in different languages around the world.
Listed below are just some of the many different ways to say these two words, with an accompanying Latinization for the languages that don’t use a Latin alphabet.
English
summer
hot
Spanish
summer: verano
hot: caliente or caluroso/calurosa
Portuguese
summer: verão
hot: quente
French
summer: été
hot: chaud/chaude
Italian
summer: estate
hot: caldo/calda
German
summer: Sommer
hot: heiß
Mandarin Chinese
summer: 夏天 (Xiàtiān)
hot: 热 (rè)
Japanese
summer: 夏 (natsu)
hot: 暑い (atsui)
Korean
summer: 여름 (yeoleum)
hot: 덥다 (deobda)
Standard Arabic
summer: صيف (sayf)
hot: حار (har)
Turkish
summer: yaz
hot: sicak
Hindi
summer: गर्मी (garmi; roughly translates to “heat” or “hot months.”)
hot: गरम (garam)
Russian
summer: лето (leto)
hot: жа́ркий (žárkij)
Thai
summer: หน้าร้อน (nâa rón)
hot: ร้อน (rón)
Swahili
summer: majira ya joto
hot: moto
Tsalagi (Cherokee)
summer: gogi
hot: ᎤᏗᎴᎦ udilega
Feeling the heat? Take the quiz!
Is your summer vocabulary sizzling enough to take you around the world? Try our quiz to test how much you know!
