How To Say “Onion” In Different Languages
Blog
08 March 2026
By Sarah Angela Almaden
Unsplash: Kelvin Zyteng
The thing is, onions can be a bit sensitive. When you chop them, they release a chemical irritant called syn-propanethial-S-oxide. It floats into the air and hits your eyes, triggering a teary reaction. Frankly, I think this is a bit rude for onions… Hey-ho. These yummy bulbs don’t mean to make you bawl over your cutting board, but that chemical reaction doesn't care about your feelings.
| Language | Local Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| English | onion | oh-nyon |
| Spanish | la cebolla | la seh-boy-ya |
| Mandarin Chinese | 洋葱 | yahng-tsung |
| Japanese | たまねぎ | tah-mah-neh-ghee |
| Brazilian Portuguese | a cebola | ah seh-boh-lah |
| Tagalog | ang sibuyas | ahng see-boo-yas |
| Vietnamese | củ hành | koo hah-ng |
| Korean | 양파 | yang-pah |
| Ukrainian | цибуля | tsee-boo-lya |
| Polish | cebula | tseh-boo-lah |
| Hungarian | a vöröshagyma | ah vur-ush-hah-dymah |
| Dutch | de ui | duh oy |
| German | die Zwiebel | dee tsvee-behl |
| Italian | la cipolla | la chee-pohl-lah |
| French | l’oignon | lo-nyoh |
| Finnish | sipuli | see-poo-lee |
| Norwegian | løken | lur-kehn |
| Swedish | löken | lur-kehn |
| Greek | το κρεμμύδι | toh kreh-mee-dee |
| Catalan | la ceba | la seh-bah |
| Turkish | soğan | soh-ahn |
| Arabic | البصل | al-bah-sal |
| Danish | løget | loy-it |
| Romanian | ceapa | chah-pah |
| Esperanto | la cepo | la tseh-poh |
| Indonesian | bawang Bombay | bah-wahng bom-bay |
| Swahili | kitunguu | kee-toon-goo |
| Icelandic | laukurinn | loy-kur-in |
| Igbo | yabasị | yah-bah-see |
| Latvian | sīpols | see-pohls |
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