Home / Shared words
The words the world already shares
Some words travelled with the thing they name — tea went by sea (Dutch thee from Min Chinese tê) and by land (chai from Mandarin chá); taxi, hotel and computer went everywhere at once. This page measures it: for every concept we compare the word's romanised form across all 9 languages and rank by how many languages share a recognisably similar word. Learn these first — you already know them.
Similarity is computed on romanisations (pinyin, Jyutping, Georgian transliteration), diacritics and tones stripped, scored by edit distance with an initial-sound bonus, then clustered. It finds borrowings and cognates; it can't tell them apart — the notes on each word often can.
| # | Concept | Shared by | The shared shape | Other camps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | lamp | 7/9 FR DE EN ES IT KA MS | lamp lampe · Lampe · lamp · lámpara · lampada · ლამპა · lampu | deng (ZH YUE) |
| 2 | balcony | 6/9 FR ES EN DE IT MS | balcon balcon · balcón · balcony · Balkon · balcone · balkoni | — |
| 3 | sofa | 6/9 DE MS EN ES ZH YUE | sofa Sofa · sofa · sofa · sofá · 沙发 · 梳化 | divano (IT KA) |
| 4 | computer | 5/9 DE IT EN KA MS | computer Computer · computer · computer · კომპიუტერი · komputer | ordenador (FR ES) |
| 5 | plant | 5/9 ES IT EN FR DE | plant planta · pianta · plant · plante · Pflanze | — |
| 6 | garden | 5/9 FR ES EN DE IT | jardin jardin · jardín · garden · Garten · giardino | — |
| 7 | soap | 5/9 IT KA FR MS ES | savon sapone · საპონი · savon · sabun · jabón | — |
| 8 | software | 4/9 DE IT EN ES | software Software · software · software · software | — |
| 9 | the cloud | 4/9 DE IT EN FR | cloud die Cloud · il cloud · the cloud · le cloud | — |
| 10 | zero | 4/9 FR IT EN ES | zero zéro · zero · zero · cero | ling (ZH YUE) — null (DE KA) |
| 11 | no | 4/9 ES IT EN FR | no no · no · no · non | — |
| 12 | pine | 4/9 ES IT EN FR | pin pino · pino · pine · pin | — |
| 13 | completely | 4/9 ES IT EN FR | completely completamente · completamente · completely · complètement | — |
| 14 | bug | 4/9 FR IT EN KA | bug bug · bug · bug · ბაგი | — |
| 15 | mouse | 4/9 EN IT DE KA | maus mouse · mouse · Maus · მაუსი | — |
| 16 | toilet | 4/9 FR DE EN KA | toilet toilettes · Toilette · toilet · ტუალეტი | — |
| 17 | to grill | 4/9 FR DE EN IT | grill griller · grillen · to grill · grigliare | — |
| 18 | for example | 4/9 ES IT FR EN | por ejemplo por ejemplo · per esempio · par exemple · for example | — |
| 19 | surprised | 4/9 EN FR IT ES | surprise surprised · surpris(e) · sorpreso/a · sorprendido/a | — |
| 20 | or | 4/9 ES IT EN FR | o o · o · or · ou | — |
| 21 | six | 4/9 EN FR ES IT | six six · six · seis · sei | — |
| 22 | cushion | 4/9 FR IT EN ES | cojin coussin · cuscino · cushion · cojín | kissen (DE MS) |
| 23 | sad | 3/9 ES IT FR | triste triste · triste · triste | sedih (KA MS) |
| 24 | longing / nostalgia | 3/9 ES IT FR | nostalgia nostalgia · nostalgia · nostalgie | — |
| 25 | password | 3/9 EN IT DE | password password · password · Passwort | — |
| 26 | to sleep | 3/9 FR ES IT | dormir dormir · dormir · dormire | — |
| 27 | snake | 3/9 ES IT FR | serpent serpiente · serpente · serpent | se (ZH YUE) |
| 28 | badly | 3/9 FR ES IT | mal mal · mal · male | — |
| 29 | late | 3/9 ES IT FR | tard tarde · tardi · tard | — |
| 30 | weather | 3/9 ES IT FR | tempo tiempo · tempo · temps | wetter (EN DE) |
| 31 | wind / windy | 3/9 ES IT FR | vent viento · vento · vent | wind (EN DE) — feng (ZH YUE) |
| 32 | glass (drinking) | 3/9 DE MS EN | glas Glas · gelas · glass | — |
| 33 | hello | 3/9 EN MS DE | helo hello · helo · hallo | ni hao (ZH YUE) |
| 34 | path / trail | 3/9 FR IT ES | sentier sentier · sentiero · sendero | — |
| 35 | when | 3/9 FR IT ES | quand quand · quando · cuando | — |
| 36 | when | 3/9 FR IT ES | quand quand · quando · cuándo | when (EN DE) |
| 37 | thousand | 3/9 FR IT ES | mil mille · mille · mil | tausend (EN DE) |
| 38 | enjoy your meal | 3/9 FR IT DE | bon appetit bon appétit · buon appetito · guten Appetit | manman chi (ZH YUE) |
| 39 | washbasin / sink | 3/9 FR ES IT | lavabo lavabo · lavabo · lavandino | washbasin (EN DE) |
| 40 | shower | 3/9 ES DE FR | ducha ducha · Dusche · douche | — |
| 41 | not | 3/9 ES IT EN | no no · non · not | — |
| 42 | in front / ahead | 3/9 FR IT ES | devant devant · davanti · delante | — |
| 43 | hammer | 3/9 ES IT FR | marteau martillo · martello · marteau | hammer (EN DE) — chuizi (ZH YUE) |
| 44 | plate | 3/9 EN ES IT | plate plate · plato · piatto | — |
| 45 | TV | 3/9 IT MS KA | televisyen televisione · televisyen · ტელევიზორი | tele (FR ES) — din si (ZH YUE) |
| 46 | three | 3/9 ES IT EN | tre tres · tre · three | san (ZH YUE KA) |
| 47 | track / footprint | 3/9 EN FR IT | track track · trace · traccia | — |
| 48 | four | 3/9 FR IT ES | quatre quatre · quattro · cuatro | si (ZH YUE) |
| 49 | deer | 3/9 ES IT FR | cerf ciervo · cervo · cerf | lu (ZH YUE) |
| 50 | to fix / repair | 3/9 FR DE IT | reparer réparer · reparieren · riparare | — |
| 51 | if | 3/9 FR ES IT | si si · si · se | — |
| 52 | file | 3/9 EN IT MS | file file · file · fail | — |
| 53 | well | 3/9 FR ES IT | bien bien · bien · bene | — |
| 54 | so / so much | 3/9 EN DE FR | so so · so · si | — |
| 55 | moss | 3/9 EN DE FR | moss moss · Moos · mousse | musgo (ES IT) |
| 56 | sun / sunny | 3/9 ES IT FR | sol sol · sole · soleil | taiyang (ZH YUE) |
| 57 | mattress | 3/9 FR IT EN | matelas matelas · materasso · mattress | — |
| 58 | snow / it's snowing | 3/9 ES IT FR | neve nieve · neve · neige | — |
| 59 | flower | 3/9 EN ES FR | flor flower · flor · fleur | — |
| 60 | to bake / roast | 3/9 EN DE MS | bake to bake · backen · bakar | cuire au four (FR IT) |
Ranked by cluster size, then cohesion. Concepts covered in fewer than 3 languages are excluded.