Global Cognates for Medical Terms
Global Cognates for Medical Terms
There’s a small number of words related to medicine and health that have cognates across most languages. These can be broken down into three broad groups.
- Things causing illness (virus, bacteria)
- Things meant to alleviate illness (vitamin, penicillin, morphine, aspirin)
- Hormones and naturally occurring chemicals (adrenaline, dopamine, nicotine, caffeine)
The group with the most cognates was bacteria, penicillin, virus and vitamin.
Language | Family | bacteria | penicillin | virus | vitamin |
Spanish | Indo-European | la bacteria | la penicilina | el virus | la vitamina |
French | Indo-European | la bactérie | la pénicilline | le virus | la vitamine |
Portuguese | Indo-European | a bactéria | a penicilina | o vírus | a vitamina |
Catalan | Indo-European | bacteri | penicil·lina | virus | vitamina |
Romanian | Indo-European | bacterie | penicilină | virus | vitamină |
Italian | Indo-European | il betterio | la penicillina | il virus | la vitamina |
Greek | Indo-European | βακτήριο (vaktírio) | πενικιλίνη (penikilíni) | ιός (iós) | βιταμίνη (vitamíni) |
Albanian | Indo-European | bakteri | penicilina | virus | vitaminë |
Bulgarian | Indo-European | бактерия (bakterija) | пеницилин (penicilin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Serbo-Croatian | Indo-European | бактерија - bakterija | пеницилин - penicilin | вирус - virus | витамин - vitamin |
Ukrainian | Indo-European | бактерія (bakterija) | пеніциліни (penicylin) | вірус (virus) | вітамін (vitamin) |
Belarusian | Indo-European | бактэрыя (bakteryja) | пеніцылін (pjenicylin) | вірус (virus) | вітамін (vitamin) |
Russian | Indo-European | бактерия (bakterija) | пенициллин (penicillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Slovak | Indo-European | baktéria | peniclín | vírus | vitamín |
Czech | Indo-European | bakterie | penicilín | virus | vitamín |
Polish | Indo-European | bakteria | penicylina | wirus | witamina |
Lithuanian | Indo-European | bakterija | peniclinas | virusas | vitaminas |
Latvian | Indo-European | baktērija | penicilīni | vīruss | vitamīns |
Armenian | Indo-European | բակտերիա (bakteria) | Պենիցիլին (penits'ilin) | վիրուս (virus) | վիտամին (vitamin) |
Welsh | Indo-European | bacteria | penisilin | firws | fitamin |
German | Indo-European | das Bakterium | das Penizillin | das Virus | das Vitamin |
Swedish | Indo-European | bakterie | penicillin | virus | vitamin |
Norwegian | Indo-European | bakterie | penicillin | virus | vitamin |
Danish | Indo-European | bakterie | penicillin | virus | vitamin |
Icelandic | Indo-European | baktería | penisillín | vírus | vítamín |
Dutch | Indo-European | de bacterie | de penicilline | het virus | de vitamine |
Afrikaans | Indo-European | bakterie | penisillien | virus | vitamien |
Tajik | Indo-European | бактерия (bakteriya) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Persian/Farsi | Indo-European | bâkteri | penisilin | virus | vitâmin |
Pashto | Indo-European | bākterí, bākteryā | pensilîn | wirûs | vitamin |
Hindi | Indo-European | बैक्टीरिया (baikṭīriyā) | पेनिसिलिन (penisilin) | वाइरस (vāiras) | विटामिन (viṭāmin) |
Bengali | Indo-European | ব্যাক্টেরিয়া (bêkṭeriẏa) | পেনিসিলিন (penisilin) | ভাইরাস (bhairaś) | ভিটামিন (bhiṭamin) |
Gujarati | Indo-European | બેક્ટેરિયા (bēkṭēriyā) | પેનિસિલિન (pēnisilina) | વાઇરસ (vā'irasa) | વિટામિન (viṭāmina) |
Nepali | Indo-European | ब्याक्टेरिया (byākṭēriyā) (uncommon) | पेनिसिलिन (pēnisilina) | भाइरस (bhāiras) | भिटामिन (bhiṭāmin) |
Punjabi | Indo-European | ਬੈਕਟੀਰੀਆ (baikaṭīrī'ā) | ਪੈਨਿਸਿਲਿਨ (painisilina) | ਵਿਸ਼ਾਣੂ (viśāṇū) | ਵਿਟਾਮਿਨ (viṭāmina) |
Marathi | Indo-European | पेनिसिलिन (penisilin) | व्हायरस (vhāyras) | व्हिटॅमिन (viṭĕmin) | |
Sinhalese | Indo-European | බැක්ටීරියා (bækṭīriyā) | පෙනිසිලින් (penisilin) | වෛරස (wairasa) වෛරස (vairasa) කොරෝනා වයිරස් (korona vayiras) | විටමින් (wiṭamin) |
Assamese | Indo-European | বেক্টেৰিয়া (bekteria) | পেনিচিলিন (penisilin) | ভাইৰাছ (bhairas) | ভিটামিন (vitamin) |
Georgian | Kartvelian | ბაქტერიები (bakṭeriebi) | პენიცილინი (ṗenicilini) | ვირუსი (virusi) | ვიტამინი (viṭamini) |
Chechen | Northeast Caucasian | bakteriya | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) | |
Yakut | Turkic | бактериялар (bakteriyalar) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | битэмиин (bitemiin) витамин (vitamin) |
Uyghur | Turkic | бактирийә (baktiriye) | pentsilin | wirus | witamin |
Bashkir | Turkic | бактерия (bakteriya) бактериялар (baketriyalar) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) | |
Tatar | Turkic | бактерия (bakteriya) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Kazakh | Turkic | бактерия (bakteriä) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Uzbekh | Turkic | bakteriya | penitsillin | virus | vitamin |
Karakalpak | Turkic | bakteriya | penicillin | virus | vitamin |
Kyrgyz | Turkic | бактерия (bakteriya) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Turkmen | Turkic | bakteriýa | wirus | witamin | |
Azeri | Turkic | bakteriya | penisillin | virus | vitamin |
Turkish | Turkic | bakteri | penisilin | virüs | vitamin |
Mongolian | Mongolic | бактери (bakteri) | пенициллин (penitsillin) | вирус (virus) | витамин (vitamin) |
Greenlandic/ Kalaallisut | Eskaleut | bakteria | penicillini | virusi | vitamini |
Korean | Koreanic | 박테리아 (bakteria) | 페니실린 (penisillin) | 바이러스 (baireoseu) | 비타민 (bitamin) |
Japanese | Japonic | バクテリア (bakuteria) | ペニシリン (penishirin) | ウイルス (uirusu) | ビタミン (bitamin) |
Hungarian | Uralic | baktérium | penicillin | vírus | vitamin |
Estonian | Uralic | bakter | penitsilliin | viirus | vitamiin |
Finnish | Uralic | bakteeri | penisillini | virus | vitamiini |
North Sami | Uralic | bakteara | virus | vitamiidna | |
Basque | Isolate | bakterio | penizilina | birus | bitamina |
isiXhosa | Niger-Congo | iibhakthiriya | iphenisilini | ivayirasi | ivithamini |
isiZulu | Niger-Congo | ivayirasi | ivithamini | ||
Ndebele (Southern) | Niger-Congo | ibhaktheriya | iphenisilini | ivithamini | |
Lingala | Niger-Congo | penisilíni | vilúsu, vilusi virus | vitamin, vitámini | |
SeSotho | Niger-Congo | baktheria | phenisilini | vaerase | vaetamine, vithamini |
ChiChewa | Niger-Congo | bakiteriya | penesilini | vairasi | vitamini |
ChiShona | Niger-Congo | vhairasi, Coronavirus | vhitamini | ||
Kirundi | Niger-Congo | ivitamini | |||
Kinyarwanda | Niger-Congo | bagiteri | penesiline | ivirusi | ivitamini |
Yoruba | Niger-Congo | bakitéríà, bakteria | ęhun penicillin | virus | fítámínì |
Wolof | Niger-Congo | baktiri | pelesiliine | wiirus wiriis | witaamine, witamiin |
Swahili | Niger-Congo | bakteria | penisilini | virusi | vitamini |
Hausa | Afro-Asiatic | bakteria | virus | vitamin, bitamin | |
Somali | Afro-Asiatic | bakteriya | benseliin | fayrus | fiitamiin |
Oromo | Afro-Asiatic | baakteeriyaa | pensiliinii | vaayrasii vaayrasii Koroonaa vaayrasa | vayitaaminii viitaamina |
Hebrew | Afro-Asiatic | penitsilin | virus | vitamin | |
Maltese | Afro-Asiatic | batterji | peniċillina | vajrus | vitamina |
Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | baktīriyā | binisilīn | vīrūs, fīrūs, fayrūs (computer) | fitamīn |
Hijazi Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | fayrūs, vayrūs | fītāmīn, vītāmīn | ||
Egyptian Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | bīnisilīn | vayrōs | ||
Moroccan Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | baktīriyā, baktiri | binisilin | fīrūs | vitamīn |
Amharic | Afro-Asiatic | ባክተሪያ (bakteriya) | ፔኒሲሊን (penisilin) | ቫይረስ (vayräs) | ቪታሚን (vitamin) |
Tigrinya | Afro-Asiatic | ባክተሪያ (bakteriya) | ፐኒሲሊን (penisilin) | ቫይረስ (vayräs) | ቪታሚን (vitamin) |
Tamil | Dravidian | பாக்டீரியா (pākṭīriyā) | பெனிசிலின் (peṉiciliṉ) | வைரஸ் (vairas) | வைட்டமின் (vaiṭṭamiṉ) |
Telugu | Dravidian | బాక్టీరియా (bākṭīriyā) | పెన్సిలిన్ (pensilin) | వైరస్ (vairas) | విటమిన్ (viṭamin) |
Kannada | Dravidian | ಬ್ಯಾಕ್ಟೀರಿಯಾ (byākṭīriyā) | ಪೆನ್ಸಿಲಿನ್ (pensilin) | ವೈರಸ್ (vairas) | ವಿಟಮಿನ್ (viṭamin) ಜೀವಸತ್ವ (jīvasatva) |
Malayalam | Dravidian | ബാക്ടീരിയ (bākŭṭīriya) | പെൻസിലിൻ (pensilin) | വൈറസ് (vaiṟasŭ) | |
Ilocano | Austronesian | bakteria | penisilina | birus | bitamina |
Bikol | Austronesian | bakterya | penicillin | birus | bitamina |
Fijian | Austronesian | penisilini | vitamin | ||
Samoan | Austronesian | penisīlini | vairasi, vairusi | vaitamini, vitamini (less common) | |
Hawaiian | Austronesian | wikamina | |||
Malagasay | Austronesian | bakteria | penisilinina | virosy viriosy | vitaminina |
Tagalog | Austronesian | bakterya | penísilín | birus | bitamina |
Cebuano/ Bisaya | Austronesian | bakterya | pinisilin | bayrus, virus | bitamina |
Waray-Waray | Austronesian | bakteryólogi (bacteriology) | bitamína | ||
Sundanese | Austronesian | baktéri | pénisilin | virus | vitamin |
Basa Bali | Austronesian | bakteri | virus | vitamin | |
Javanese | Austronesian | baktèri | penisilin | virus | vitamin |
Bahasa Indonesia | Austronesian | bakteri, kuman | penisilin | virus | vitamin |
Bahasa Melayu | Austronesian | bakteria | penisilin | virus | vitamin |
Tetum | Austronesian | baktéria | penisilina | virus | vitamina |
White Hmong | Hmong-Mien | ?* | |||
Khmer | Austroasiatic | បាក់តេរី (bakteerii) | ប៉េនីស៊ីលីន (pâyniseelin) | វីរុស (viiruh) | វីតាមីន (viitaamiin) |
Vietnamese | Austroasiatic | penicillin | vi-rút | vi ta min, sinh tố | |
Mandarin | Sino-Tibetan | 維他命 (wéitāmìng) (becoming dated but still used) | |||
Cantonese | Sino-Tibetan | 盤尼西林 (pun4 nei4 sai1 lam4) | wai4 taa1 ming6 | ||
Hokkien | Sino-Tibetan | 盤尼西林 (phe-ni-sí-lín) | bi-tá-bín (Taiwan) | ||
Hakka | Sino-Tibetan | vî-tha-mín | |||
Wu | Sino-Tibetan | 6vi-tha-min | |||
DzongKha | Sino-Tibetan | ||||
Tibetan | Sino-Tibetan | pe-ni-si-lin | |||
Burmese | Sino-Tibetan | ဗက်တီးရီးယား (betti:ri:ya:) | ပင်နီဆီလင် (pinisilin) | ဗိုင်းရပ်စ် (baing:rats) | ဗီတာမင် (bitamin) |
Thai | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | bɛ̀k-tii-riia, bàk-dtee-rii, bàk-dtee-rii | pâynísíllin | wai-rát | wí-dtaa-min |
Lao | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | bak tē rī | pe ni si lin | wai rat | wi tā min, yā mī hǣng |
Shan | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | ||||
Lü/Tai Lue | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | ||||
Aymara | Aymaran | virus, wirus | witamina | ||
Guaraní | Tupi-Guarani | vakytéria | víru | vitamína, vitamina rehegua | |
Quechua | Quechuan | waktirya | penisilina | wirus, kurunawirus, virus SIDA | bitamina, kallpachaq |
Tok Pisin | Creole | baktiria | penisilin | virus, vairas | vaitamin |
Bislama | Creole | bakteria | penisilin | vaeres | vitamin |
Papiamentu | Creole | bakteria | penisilina | vírùs, viro | vitamina |
Haitian Creole | Creole | bakteri | penisilin | viris | vitamin |
*There was also a possible cognate for virus in White Hmong (vais lav) but this was only found in documents made by the governments and health departments of US states, so more research is needed.
Some terms like adrenaline, aspirin, morphine, caffeine, and nicotine also had a lot of cognates (between 80-90). I suspect the number might be higher, but terms like these aren’t usually found in basic dictionaries, so more research is needed.
Language | Family | morphine | nicotine | aspirin | caffeine | adrenaline, adrenalin |
Spanish | Indo-European | la morfina | la nicotina | la aspirina | la cafeína | l'adrenalina |
French | Indo-European | la morphine | la nicotine | l'aspirine | la caféine | l'adrénaline |
Portuguese | Indo-European | morfina | a nicotina | a aspirina | a cafeína | a adrenalina |
Catalan | Indo-European | morfina | nicotina | aspirina | cafeïna | adrenalina |
Romanian | Indo-European | morfină | nicotină | aspirină | cafeină cofeină | adrenalină |
Italian | Indo-European | morfina | la nicotina | aspirina | la caffeina | l'adrenalina |
Greek | Indo-European | μορφίνη (morfini) | νικοτίνη (nikotíni) | ασπιρίνη (aspiríni) | καφεΐνη (kafeḯni) | αδρεναλίνη (adrenalíni) |
Albanian | Indo-European | morfina | nikotina | aspirinë | kafeinë | adrenalina |
Bulgarian | Indo-European | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Serbo-Croatian | Indo-European | морфин - morfin | никотин - nikotin | аспирин - aspirin | кофеин -kofein | адреналин - adrenalin |
Ukrainian | Indo-European | морфін (morfin) | нікотин (nikotin) | аспірин (aspiryn) | кофеїн (kofejin) | адреналін (adrenalin) |
Belarusian | Indo-European | марфін (marfin) | нікацін (nikacin), нікатын (nikatyn) | аспірын (aspiryn) | кафеін (kafjein), кафэін (kafein) | адрэналін (adrenalin) |
Russian | Indo-European | морфий (morfij) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Slovak | Indo-European | morfín | nikotín | aspirín | kofeín | adrenalín |
Czech | Indo-European | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | kofein | adrenalin |
Polish | Indo-European | morfina | nikotyna | aspiryna | kofeina | adrenalina |
Lithuanian | Indo-European | morfinas | nikotinas | aspirinas | kofeinas | adrenalinas |
Latvian | Indo-European | morfīns | nikotīns | aspirīns | kofeins | adrenalīns |
Armenian | Indo-European | մորֆին (morfin) | նիկոտին (nikotin) | ասպիրին (aspirin) | կոֆեին (kofein) | ադրենալին (adrenalin) |
Welsh | Indo-European | morffin, morffîn | nicotîn | aspirin | caffîn | adrenalin |
German | Indo-European | das Morphin | das Nikotin | das Aspirin | das Koffein | das Adrenalin |
Swedish | Indo-European | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | koffein | adrenalin |
Norwegian | Indo-European | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | koffein | adrenalin |
Danish | Indo-European | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | koffein | adrenalin |
Icelandic | Indo-European | morfín | nikótín | aspirín | koffín | adrenalín |
Dutch | Indo-European | morfine | de nicotine | de aspirine | de cafeïne | de adrenaline |
Afrikaans | Indo-European | morfien | nikotien | aspirien | kafeïn | adrenalien |
Tajik | Indo-European | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | кофеин (kofeyin) | адреналин (adrenalin) | |
Persian/Farsi | Indo-European | môrfin | nikûtin | âspirin | kâfe'in | adrenâlin |
Pashto | Indo-European | môrfin | aspirin | |||
Hindi | Indo-European | मॉरफीन (marphīn) | निकोटीन (nikoṭīn) | एस्पिरिन (espirin) | कैफ़ीन (kaifīn), कैफीन (kaiphīn) | एड्रेनालाईन (eḍrenālāin) |
Bengali | Indo-European | মরফিন (morophina) | নিকোটিন (nikōtin) | অ্যাসপিরিন (êsopirina) | ক্যাফিন (kêphin) | অ্যাড্রেনালিন (êḍrēnālin) |
Gujarati | Indo-European | મોર્ફિન (morphin) | નિકોટિન (nikoṭina) | એસ્પિરિન (espirina) | કેફીન (kephīna) | |
Nepali | Indo-European | निकोटीन (nikōtīn) | ||||
Punjabi | Indo-European | ਮੋਰਫਿਨ (moraphina) | ਨਿਕੋਟੀਨ (nikotīna) | ਕੈਫੀਨ (kaiphīna) | ||
Marathi | Indo-European | ॲस्पिरिन (aspirin) | ||||
Sinhalese | Indo-European | මෝෆීන් (mōfīn) | ඇඩ්රිනලින් (æḍrinalin) | |||
Assamese | Indo-European | নিকটিন (nikotin) | ||||
Georgian | Kartvelian | მორფინი morpini | ნიკოტინი (nikotini) | ასპირინი (asṗirini) | კოფეინი (ḳopeini) | ადრენალინი (adrenalini) |
Chechen | Northeast Caucasian | никотин (nikotin) | ||||
Yakut | Turkic | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кафеин (kafein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Uyghur | Turkic | nikotin / никотин | âspirin | koffë'in | adrenalin / адреналин | |
Bashkir | Turkic | никотин (nikotin) | ||||
Tatar | Turkic | морфий (morfiy) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | |
Kazakh | Turkic | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Uzbekh | Turkic | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | kofein | adrenalin |
Karakalpak | Turkic | morfin | nikotin | kofein | adrenalin | |
Kyrgyz | Turkic | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Turkmen | Turkic | morfin | nikotin | kafein | adrenalin | |
Azeri | Turkic | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | kofein | adrenalin |
Turkish | Turkic | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | kafein | adrenalin |
Mongolian | Mongolic | морфин (morfin) | никотин (nikotin) | аспирин (aspirin) | кофеин (kofein) | адреналин (adrenalin) |
Greenlandic | Eskaleut | morfini | nikotini | adrenalini | ||
Korean | Koreanic | 모르핀 (moreupin) | 니코틴 (nikotin) | 아스피린 (aseupirin) | 카페인 (kapein) | 아드레날린 (adeurenallin) |
Japanese | Japonic | モルヒネ (moruhine) | ニコチン (nikochin) | アスピリン (asupirin) | カフェイン (kafein) | アドレナリン (adorenarin) |
Hungarian | Uralic | morfin | nikotin | aszpirin | koffein | adrenalin |
Estonian | Uralic | morfiin | nikotiin | aspiriin | kofeiin | adrenaliin |
Finnish | Uralic | morfiini | nikotiini | aspiriini | kofeiini | adrenaliini |
Basque | Isolate | morfina | nikotina | aspirina | kafeina | adrenalina |
isiXhosa | Niger-Congo | imofini | inikhothini | iaspirin | iadrenalini | |
isiZulu | Niger-Congo | i-morphine | inikhothini | |||
Ndebele (Southern) | Niger-Congo | imofini | inikhothini | i-aspirini | i-adrenalini | |
SeSotho | Niger-Congo | mofini | aspirini | atrenalini | ||
ChiShona | Niger-Congo | kafeni | ||||
Kinyarwanda | Niger-Congo | ikiyobyabwenge morufine | ||||
Yoruba | Niger-Congo | koféenì | ||||
Wolof | Niger-Congo | aderenaliine | ||||
Swahili | Niger-Congo | mofini | nikotini | aspirini | kafeini | adrenalini |
Somali | Afro-Asiatic | niikotiin | ||||
Oromo | Afro-Asiatic | niikootiinii | ||||
Hebrew | Afro-Asiatic | morfiyn | nikotin | aspirin | kafein | adrenalin |
Maltese | Afro-Asiatic | morfina | kaffeina | adrenalina | ||
Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | murfīn | nikutīn | ʔasbirīn | kāfiyīn | ʔadrīnālīn |
Moroccan Arabic | Afro-Asiatic | nikutīn | asbirin | kaféin | adrinalīn | |
Tigrinya | Afro-Asiatic | ሞርፊን (morfin) | ኒኮቲን (nikotin) | ካፈይን (kafeyn) | ኣድሪናሊን ('adrinalin) | |
Tamil | Dravidian | மார்பின் (mārpiṉ) | நிகோடின் (nikōṭiṉ) நிக்காட்டீன் (nikkōṭṭiṉ) | ஆஸ்பிரின் (āspirin') | காஃபின் (kāḥpiṉ) | அதிரனலின் (atiraṉaliṉ) |
Telugu | Dravidian | మార్ఫిన్ (mārphin) | ఆస్పిరిన్ (āsprin) | కెఫిన్ (kephin) | ఆడ్రినలిన్ (āḍrinalin) | |
Kannada | Dravidian | ನಿಕೋಟಿನ್ (nikōṭin) | ಆಸ್ಪಿರಿನ್ (āspirin) | ಕೆಫೀನ್ (kephīn) | ಅಡ್ರಿನಾಲಿನ್ (aḍrinālin) | |
Malayalam | Dravidian | മോർഫിൻ (morphin) | നിക്കോട്ടിൻ (nikkottin) | ആസ്പിരിൻ (āspirin) | കഫീൻ (kafin) | അഡ്രിനാലിൻ (adrinālin) |
Ilocano | Austronesian | morfina | ||||
Bikol | Austronesian | nikotina | aspirin | |||
Fijian | Austronesian | aspirini | ||||
Hawaiian | Austronesian | mōpine | ||||
Malagasay | Austronesian | aspirinina | kafeinina, kafeina | adirenalinina | ||
Tagalog | Austronesian | morpina | nikotina | aspirina | kapeina | adrenalin |
Cebuano/ Bisaya | Austronesian | morfina | aspirin, aspirina | |||
Waray-Waray | Austronesian | aspirína | adrénalin | |||
Sundanese | Austronesian | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | kaféin | adrénalin |
Basa Bali | Austronesian | |||||
Javanese | Austronesian | morfina | nikotin | kaféin | adrenalin | |
Bahasa Indonesia | Austronesian | morfina | nikotina | aspirin | kafein | adrenalin |
Bahasa Melayu | Austronesian | morfina | nikotina | aspirin | kafein | adrenalin |
Tetum | Austronesian | morfina | nikotina | aspirina | ||
White Hmong | Hmong-Mien | |||||
Khmer | Austroasiatic | ម័រហ្វីន (mɔəfiin) | នីកូទីន (niikautiin) | អាស្ពីរីន (ʼaaspiiriin) | កាហ្វេអ៊ីន (kahvé'in) | aʼdreeʼnaʼliin |
Vietnamese | Austroasiatic | mocfin | Nicotin | aspirin | cafein | adrenaline |
Mandarin | Sino-Tibetan | 嗎啡／吗啡 (mǎfēi) | 尼古丁 (nígǔdīng) | 阿斯匹靈／阿斯匹灵 (āsīpīlíng, āsīpǐlíng), 阿司匹靈／阿司匹灵 (āsīpīlíng, āsīpǐlíng) | 咖啡因 (kāfēiyīn) | |
Cantonese | Sino-Tibetan | 嗎啡／吗啡 (maa1 fe1) | 尼古丁 (nei4 gu2 ding1) | 阿士匹靈 (aa3 si6 pat1 ling4) (Hong Kong) 阿司匹林 (aa3 si1 pat1 lam4) | 咖啡因 (gaa3 fe1 jan1) | |
Hokkien | Sino-Tibetan | mô͘-hui | nî-kó͘-teng | ka-pi-in | ||
Hakka | Sino-Tibetan | mà-fî / mò-fî mà-pî / mò-pî | à-sṳ-phi-lín | kà-pì-yîn | ||
Wu | Sino-Tibetan | 6mo-fi1, 6ma-fi1 | 6gni-5ku-1tin 6gni-3ku-1tin | 1a-sy-phiq-lin | 1kha-fi-1in | |
Tibetan | Sino-Tibetan | as-pi-rin | ||||
Burmese | Sino-Tibetan | မော်ဖင်း (mopain:) | နီကိုတင်း (nekotain:) | ကေဖိန်း (kepin:) | အဒရီနလင် (adrenlin) | |
Thai | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | mo fīn | ni-kō-tin | ɛ́ɛs-pai-rin | gaa-fee-iin, kaa-fee-iin | aa drī nā līn |
Lao | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | mo fin | ni okh tin | kā fē ʼīn, khā fē ʼīn | ||
Lü/Tai Lue | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | nii⁶kuu⁴tin⁵ | ʔaa⁵sɯɯ⁵pʰii⁵lin⁶ | caa⁵fɤj⁵jin⁵ | ||
Zhuang | Kra-Dai/Tai-Kadai | ahswhbizlinz | ||||
Quechua | Quechuan | adrinalina | ||||
Tok Pisin | Creole | mofin | nikotin | aspirin | ||
Bislama | Creole | asprin | ||||
Papiamentu | Creole | morfina | nikotina | cafeina | adrenalina | |
Haitian Creole | Creole | morfin | nikotin | aspirin | adrenalin |
When these terms could be found in a language, they were almost always cognate, with the exception of adrenaline which was not found in any Chinese language. And by extension, could be absent in a language that often borrows from them.
Terms of Note
Among all these terms, the word vitamin has the most cognates found. The words virus and bacteria also had well over one hundred cognates found but also the most number of non-cognate terms.
Interestingly, you can find cognates with the word ‘penicillin’ in a lot of places. The name itself comes from part of the translingual lexicon of science as it’s named after the then-called penicillium notatum, which makes it the only widely used cognate word (that I’ve found) that comes from a fungus.
Totals
bacteria | penicillin | virus | vitamin | |
Terms Found | 135 | 110 | 146 | 137 |
Non-Cognate Terms Found | 22 | 3 | 19 | 6 |
Total Cognate Terms Found | 113 | 107 | 127 | 131 |
Cognate Proportion | 0.837 | 0.973 | 0.870 | 0.956 |
morphine | nicotine | aspirin | caffeine | adrenaline, adrenalin | |
Terms found | 91 | 89 | 92 | 82 | 86 |
Non-Cognate Terms Found | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
Total Cognate Terms | 91 | 89 | 91 | 82 | 81 |
Proportion | 1.000 | 1.000 | 0.988 | 1.000 | 0.940 |
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