ask

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

• Received-Pronunciation: /ɑːsk/
  Play
• UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• Northern-England, Scotland: /ask/
  Play
• Multicultural-London-English, also: /ɑːks/
  Play
• Canada: /ask/
  Play
• General-American: /æsk/
  Play
• US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  Play
• New-York-City, Philadelphia: /ɛəsk/
  Play
• ăks African-American Vernacular, Cajun, Nigeria
  Play
• /æks/ African-American Vernacular, Cajun, Nigeria
  Play
• Hong-Kong, Singapore: /ˈas k̚
  Play
• Hong-Kong, Singapore: ˈɛs/
  Play
• rhymes with -æsk
  Play
• rhymes with -ɑːsk
  Play
• homophone: acts
  Play
• homophone: ax
  Play
• homophone: axe (some dialects)
  Play
• CMU ARPABET: AE1 S K Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  Play

From Old Norse Askr, from askr (“ash tree”).

Borrowed from Swedish Ask, from ask (“ash tree”), ultimately also from askr (“ash tree”). Doublet of Ash.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2eys- Proto-Indo-European *-sḱéti Proto-Indo-European *h2isḱéti Proto-Germanic *iskaną Proto-Germanic *aiskaz Proto-West Germanic *aisk Proto-Indo-European *-h2 Proto-Indo-European *-éh2 Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh2yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h2ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-West Germanic *-ōn Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn Old English āscian Middle English asken English ask From Middle English asken, axen, from Old English āscian, from Proto-West Germanic *aiskōn, from Proto-Indo-European *h2eys- (“to wish; request”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian aaskje (“to ask, demand, require”), West Frisian easkje (“to ask, demand, require”), Dutch eisen (“to demand, require”), German heischen (“to ask, request, implore”), Russian иска́ть (iskátʹ), Sanskrit इच्छति (iccháti) (whence Hindi ईछना (īchnā).

From Middle English aske, arske, ascre, from Old English āþexe (“lizard, newt”), from Proto-West Germanic *agiþahsijā (“lizard”), a compound of *agiz (“snake, lizard”) + *þahsuz (“badger”). Cognate of German Echse (“lizard”).

423 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: vra — request an answer
• Aklanon: kutana — request an answer
• Albanian: pyet — request an answer
• Amharic: መጠየቅ (mäṭäyäḳ) — request an answer
• Chungli Ao: asüngdang — request an answer
• Arabic: سَأَلَ (saʔala) — request an answer
• Arabic: سأل (saʔal) — request an answer
• Arabic: سأل (saʔal) — request an answer
• Juba Arabic: asalu — request an answer
• Arabic: سقصى (saqṣa) — request an answer
• Arabic: سول (sawwal) — request an answer
• Arabic: سال (sāl) — request an answer
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܵܐܹܠ (šāʾēl) — request an answer
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܲܩܸܪ (baqir) — request an answer
• Armenian: հարցնել (harcʻnel) — request an answer
• Aromanian: tser — request an answer
• Assamese: সোধা (xüdha) — request an answer
• Asturian: entrugar — request an answer
• Asturian: preguntar — request an answer
• Azerbaijani: soruşmaq — request an answer
• Bangi: luka — request an answer
• Bashkir: һорау (horaw) — request an answer
• Basque: galdetu — request an answer
• Belarusian: пыта́ць (pytácʹ) — request an answer
• Belarusian: спыта́ць (spytácʹ) — request an answer
• Bengali: জিজ্ঞাসা করা (jijnaśa kora) — request an answer
• Bengali: জানতে চাওয়া (janote caōẇa) — request an answer
• Bengali: প্রশ্ন করা (prośno kora) — request an answer
• Berbice Creole Dutch: fragi — request an answer
• Bhojpuri: पूछल (pūchal) — request an answer
• Breton: goulenn — request an answer
• Bulgarian: пи́там (pítam) — request an answer
• Burmese: မေး (me:) — request an answer
• Carpathian Rusyn: просити ся (prosyty sja) — request an answer
• Catalan: preguntar — request an answer
• Catalan: demanar — request an answer
• Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵙⵇⵙⴰ (sqsa) — request an answer
• Chechen: деха (dexa) — request an answer
• Cherokee: ᎠᏓᏛᏛᎲᏍᎦ (adadvdvhvsga) — request an answer
• Chichewa: -funsa — request an answer
• Chickasaw: asilhha — request an answer
• Chickasaw: asilhlha — request an answer
• Chickasaw: imasilhha — request an answer
• Chickasaw: ittimasilhha — request an answer
• Chinese Cantonese: 問 /问 (man6) — request an answer
• Chinese Mandarin: 問 /问 (wèn) — request an answer
• Chinese Mandarin: 詢問 /询问 (xúnwèn) — request an answer
• Chuvash: ыйт (yjt) — request an answer
• Corsican: dumandà — request an answer
• Czech: ptát se — request an answer
• Czech: zeptat se — request an answer
• Danish: spørge — request an answer
• Dutch: vragen — request an answer
• Old Dutch: fragon — request an answer
• Esperanto: demandi — request an answer
• Estonian: küsima — request an answer
• Estonian: pärima — request an answer
• Faroese: spyrja — request an answer
• Finnish: kysyä — request an answer
• French: demander — request an answer
• French: poser une question — request an answer
• North Frisian: fraage — request an answer
• North Frisian: freege — request an answer
• North Frisian: froage — request an answer
• North Frisian: frååge — request an answer
• North Frisian: fraagi — request an answer
• Old Frisian: āskia — request an answer
• Old Frisian: fregia — request an answer
• Saterland Frisian: fräigje — request an answer
• West-Frisian: easkje — request an answer
• West-Frisian: freegje — request an answer
• Friulian: domandâ — request an answer
• Galician: preguntar — request an answer
• Georgian: იკითხავს (iḳitxavs) — request an answer
• Georgian: კითხვა (ḳitxva) — request an answer
• German: fragen — request an answer
• German: stellen — request an answer
• Middle High German: vrâgen — request an answer
• Old High German: frâhên — request an answer
• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌽𐌰𐌽 (fraihnan) — request an answer
• Greek: ρωτώ (rotó) — request an answer
• Ancient Greek: ἐρωτάω (erōtáō) — request an answer
• Ancient Greek: ἠρόμην (ērómēn) — request an answer
• Ancient Greek: ἐρεείνω (ereeínō) — request an answer
• Greenlandic: aperivoq — request an answer
• Paraguayan Guarani: porandu — request an answer
• Guyanese Creole English: aks — request an answer
• Haitian Creole: mande — request an answer
• Hausa: tambaya — request an answer
• Hawaiian: nīnau — request an answer
• Hawaiian: ui — request an answer
• Hebrew: שָׁאַל (sha'ál) — request an answer
• Hindi: पूछना (pūchnā) — request an answer
• White Hmong: noog — request an answer
• Hungarian: kérdez — request an answer
• Hungarian: megkérdez — request an answer
• Hungarian: kérdést tesz fel — request an answer
• Hungarian: érdeklődik — request an answer
• Hunsrik: frohe — request an answer
• Icelandic: spyrja — request an answer
• Ido: questionar — request an answer
• Indonesian: tanya — request an answer
• Ingrian: kyssyä — request an answer
• Interlingua: demandar — request an answer
• Irish: ceistigh — request an answer
• Irish: fiafraigh — request an answer
• Irish: iarr — request an answer
• Irish: fiosraigh — request an answer
• Old Irish: íarmi·foich — request an answer
• Old Irish: imm·comairc — request an answer
• Isoko: nọ — request an answer
• Italian: chiedere — request an answer
• Italian: domandare — request an answer
• Italian: interrogare — request an answer
• Jamaican Creole: aax — request an answer
• Jamaican Creole: ax — request an answer
• Jamaican Creole: aks — request an answer
• Japanese: 聞く (kiku) — request an answer
• Japanese: 尋ねる (tazuneru) — request an answer
• Japanese: 伺う (ukagau) — request an answer
• Japanese: 質問する (shitsumon suru) — request an answer
• Javanese: takon — request an answer
• Old Javanese: takwan — request an answer
• Old Javanese: taña — request an answer
• Jeju: 듣다 (deutda) — request an answer
• Jeju: 여쭈다 (yeojjuda) — request an answer
• Kannada: ಕೇಳು (kēḷu) — request an answer
• Kazakh: сұрау (sūrau) — request an answer
• Khmer: សួរ (suə) — request an answer
• Khmer: សុំ (som) — request an answer
• Komi-Permyak: юавны (juavny) — request an answer
• Konkani: निम्गुंचे (nimgunce) — request an answer
• Korean: 묻다 (mutda) — request an answer
• Korean: 질문하다 (jilmunhada) — request an answer
• Korean: 여쭈다 (yeojjuda) — request an answer
• Central Kurdish: پرسین (pirsîn) — request an answer
• Central Kurdish: داوا کردن (dawa kirdin) — request an answer
• Northern Kurdish: pirsîn — request an answer
• Northern Kurdish: pirs kirinpirsiyar kirin — request an answer
• Kyrgyz: суроо (suroo) — request an answer
• Lao: ຖາມ (thām) — request an answer
• Latgalian: lyugt — request an answer
• Latgalian: praseit — request an answer
• Latin: quaerō — request an answer
• Latin: scīscō — request an answer
• Latin: scīscitor — request an answer
• Latin: scito — request an answer
• Latin: scītor — request an answer
• Latin: rogō — request an answer
• Latvian: jautāt — request an answer
• Lithuanian: paklausti — request an answer
• Lithuanian: klausti — request an answer
• Lithuanian: atsiklausti — request an answer
• Lombard: domandà — request an answer
• Low German: frogen — request an answer
• Lü: ᦏᦱᧄ (ṫhaam) — request an answer
• Luxembourgish: froen — request an answer
• Macedonian: прашува (prašuva) — request an answer
• Macedonian: праша (praša) — request an answer
• Maltese: saqsa — request an answer
• Maltese: staqsa — request an answer
• Manchu: ᡶᠣᠨᠵᡳᠮᠪᡳ (fonjimbi) — request an answer
• Mauritian Creole: demande — request an answer
• Mauritian Creole: dimande — request an answer
• Middle English: asken — request an answer
• Middle English: axen — request an answer
• Mongolian: асуух (asuux) — request an answer
• Neapolitan: dimannà — request an answer
• Nepali: सोध्नु (sodhnu) — request an answer
• Norman: d'mander — request an answer
• Norwegian Bokmål: spørre — request an answer
• Norwegian Nynorsk: spørje — request an answer
• Nupe: gbíngàn — request an answer
• Occitan: demandar — request an answer
• Old Church Slavonic: въпрашати (vŭprašati) — request an answer
• Church Slavic: пꙑтати (pytati) — request an answer
• Old East Slavic: пꙑтати (pytati) — request an answer
• Old English: friġnan — request an answer
• Old English: āscian — request an answer
• Old English: biddan — request an answer
• Old Norse: fregna — request an answer
• Old Norse: spyrja — request an answer
• Old Saxon: fragon — request an answer
• Oromo: gaafachuu — request an answer
• Ossetian: афӕрсын (afærsyn) — request an answer
• Persian: پرسیدن (porsidan) — request an answer
• Persian: سؤال کردن (so'âl kardan) — request an answer
• Polish: pytać — request an answer
• Polish: zapytać — request an answer
• Portuguese: perguntar — request an answer
• Quechua: tapuy — request an answer
• Quechua: tapui — request an answer
• Romanian: întreba — request an answer
• Romansh: dumandar — request an answer
• Russian: спра́шивать (sprášivatʹ) — request an answer
• Russian: спроси́ть (sprosítʹ) — request an answer
• Russian: задава́ть (zadavátʹ) — request an answer
• Russian: зада́ть (zadátʹ) — request an answer
• Northern Sami: jearrat — request an answer
• Sanskrit: पृच्छति (pṛcchati) — request an answer
• Sardinian: dimandhare — request an answer
• Sardinian: percontare — request an answer
• Scots: speir — request an answer
• Scots: frain — request an answer
• Scottish Gaelic: faighnich — request an answer
• Serbo-Croatian: пи̏тати — request an answer
• Serbo-Croatian: pȉtati — request an answer
• Shan: ထၢမ် (thǎam) — request an answer
• Sicilian: dumannari — request an answer
• Sicilian: spiari — request an answer
• Sicilian: dimannari — request an answer
• Sicilian: addumannari — request an answer
• Sicilian: addimannari — request an answer
• Slovak: pýtať sa — request an answer
• Slovene: vprašati — request an answer
• Spanish: preguntar — request an answer
• Spanish: preduntar — request an answer
• Swahili: kuuliza — request an answer
• Swedish: fråga — request an answer
• Swedish: spörja — request an answer
• Swedish: ställa (en fråga) — request an answer
• Tagalog: magtanong — request an answer
• Tajik: пурсидан (pursidan) — request an answer
• Tamil: கேள் (kēḷ) — request an answer
• Tamil: வினவு (viṉavu) — request an answer
• Tashelhit: sqsa — request an answer
• Tashelhit: sal — request an answer
• Telugu: అడుగు (aḍugu) — request an answer
• Thai: ถาม (tǎam) — request an answer
• Thai: ถามหา (tǎam-hǎa) — request an answer
• Northern Thai: ᨳᩣ᩠ᨾ — request an answer
• Tocharian B: pärk- — request an answer
• Tongan: kole — request an answer
• Turkish: sormak — request an answer
• Ottoman Turkish: صورمق (sormak) — request an answer
• Turkmen: soramak — request an answer
• Udmurt: юаны (juany) — request an answer
• Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎀𐎍 (šảl) — request an answer
• Ukrainian: пита́ти (pytáty) — request an answer
• Ukrainian: запита́ти (zapytáty) — request an answer
• Urdu: پوچھنا (pūchnā) — request an answer
• Uyghur: سورىماق (sorimaq) — request an answer
• Uzbek: soʻramoq — request an answer
• Venetan: domandar — request an answer
• Venetan: dimandar — request an answer
• Vietnamese: hỏi — request an answer
• Walloon: dimander — request an answer
• Welsh: gofyn — request an answer
• Welsh: holi — request an answer
• Welsh: ceisio — request an answer
• Xhosa: ukubuza — request an answer
• Yaghnobi: пурсак (pursak) — request an answer
• Yakut: ыйыт (ïyït) — request an answer
• Yiddish: פֿרעגן (fregn) — request an answer
• Yoruba: béèrè — request an answer
• Yoruba: bèèrè — request an answer
• Zhuang: cam — request an answer
• Zulu: buza — request an answer
• Zulu: nxusa — request an answer
• Zulu: ncenga — request an answer
• Zulu: cela — request an answer
• Zyphe: hei — request an answer
• Aghwan: 𐔱𐔴𐕚𐔴𐕚𐕒𐕡𐕎 (besesun) — make a request
• Albanian: lut — make a request
• Arabic: سَأَلَ (saʔala) — make a request
• Arabic: طَلَبَ (ṭalaba) — make a request
• Arabic: طلب (ṭalab) — make a request
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܛܵܠܹܒ (ṭālēb) — make a request
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܫܵܐܹܠ (šāʾēl) — make a request
• Armenian: խնդրել (xndrel) — make a request
• Assamese: খোজা (khüza) — make a request
• Azerbaijani: diləmək — make a request
• Azerbaijani: arzu etmək — make a request
• Azerbaijani: xahiş etmək — make a request
• Azerbaijani: tələb etmək — make a request
• Basque: eskatu — make a request
• Belarusian: прасі́ць (prasícʹ) — make a request
• Belarusian: папрасі́ць (paprasícʹ) — make a request
• Bengali: চাওয়া (caōẇa) — make a request
• Bengali: বলা (bola) — make a request
• Bhojpuri: माँगल (mā̃gal) — make a request
• Bulgarian: мо́ля (mólja) — make a request
• Bulgarian: и́скам (ískam) — make a request
• Burmese: ပန် (pan) — make a request
• Burmese: တိုင် (tuing) — make a request
• Catalan: demanar — make a request
• Cherokee: ᎠᏔᏲᎯᎭ (atayohiha) — make a request
• Chickasaw: asilhha — make a request
• Chickasaw: asilhlha — make a request
• Chickasaw: imasilhha — make a request
• Chickasaw: ittimasilhha — make a request
• Chinese Mandarin: 請 /请 (qǐng) — make a request
• Chinese Mandarin: 請求 /请求 (qǐngqiú) — make a request
• Czech: žádat — make a request
• Czech: prosit — make a request
• Dalmatian: precur — make a request
• Danish: bede — make a request
• Dutch: vragen — make a request
• Esperanto: peti — make a request
• Estonian: paluma — make a request
• Finnish: pyytää — make a request
• French: demander — make a request
• Friulian: domandâ — make a request
• Galician: pedir — make a request
• Georgian: სთხოვს (stxovs) — make a request
• Georgian: ითხოვს (itxovs) — make a request
• German: bitten — make a request
• Old High German: bitten — make a request
• Greek: παρακαλώ (parakaló) — make a request
• Greek: ζητώ (zitó) — make a request
• Ancient Greek: αἰτέω (aitéō) — make a request
• Ancient Greek: ἐξαιτέω (exaitéō) — make a request
• Ancient Greek: αἰτίζω (aitízō) — make a request
• Paraguayan Guarani: jerure — make a request
• Hawaiian: noi — make a request
• Hawaiian: ui — make a request
• Hebrew: בִּקֵּשׁ (bikésh) — make a request
• Hebrew: שָׁאַל (sha'ál) — make a request
• Hindi: पूछना (pūchnā) — make a request
• Hindi: माँगना (māṅgnā) — make a request
• Hungarian: kér — make a request
• Hungarian: megkér — make a request
• Icelandic: spyrja — make a request
• Icelandic: biðja — make a request
• Ido: demandar — make a request
• Indonesian: minta — make a request
• Ingrian: kyssyä — make a request
• Irish: iarr — make a request
• Irish: pléigh — make a request
• Italian: chiedere — make a request
• Italian: domandare — make a request
• Japanese: 頼む (tanomu) — make a request
• Kannada: ಕೇಳು (kēḷu) — make a request
• Kazakh: өтіну (ötınu) — make a request
• Khmer: សួរ (suə) — make a request
• Khmer: សុំ (som) — make a request
• Komi-Permyak: корны (korny) — make a request
• Korean: 청하다 (cheonghada) — make a request
• Korean: 부탁하다 (butakhada) — make a request
• Central Kurdish: پرسین (pirsîn) — make a request
• Central Kurdish: داواکردن (dawakirdin) — make a request
• Northern Kurdish: xwestin — make a request
• Northern Kurdish: daxwaz kirin — make a request
• Northern Kurdish: dawa kirin — make a request
• Lao: ຂໍ (khǭ) — make a request
• Lao: ຈັງ (chang) — make a request
• Latin: rogō — make a request
• Latin: precor — make a request
• Latin: quaerō — make a request
• Latvian: prasīt — make a request
• Latvian: lūgt — make a request
• Latvian: pieprasīt — make a request
• Lithuanian: prašyti — make a request
• Luxembourgish: bieden — make a request
• Macedonian: моли (moli) — make a request
• Mongolian: гуйх (gujx) — make a request
• Norman: d'mander — make a request
• Norwegian: be om — make a request
• Occitan: demandar — make a request
• Old English: biddan — make a request
• Papiamentu: pidi — make a request
• Persian: درخواستن (darxâstan) — make a request
• Polish: prosić — make a request
• Polish: poprosić — make a request
• Portuguese: pedir — make a request
• Portuguese: solicitar — make a request
• Portuguese: requerer — make a request
• Portuguese: requisitar — make a request
• Quechua: mañai — make a request
• Romanian: cere — make a request
• Romanian: invita — make a request
• Romanian: ruga — make a request
• Russian: проси́ть (prosítʹ) — make a request
• Russian: попроси́ть (poprosítʹ) — make a request
• Sanskrit: पृच्छति (pṛccháti) — make a request
• Sardinian: apiliare — make a request
• Scots: speir — make a request
• Scots: frain — make a request
• Scottish Gaelic: iarr — make a request
• Serbo-Croatian: пи̏тати — make a request
• Serbo-Croatian: мо̀лити — make a request
• Serbo-Croatian: pȉtati — make a request
• Serbo-Croatian: mòliti — make a request
• Slovak: žiadať — make a request
• Slovak: prosiť — make a request
• Slovene: prositi — make a request
• Lower Sorbian: pšosyś — make a request
• Spanish: pedir — make a request
• Spanish: requerir — make a request
• Sundanese: suhun — make a request
• Swahili: kuomba — make a request
• Swedish: be om — make a request
• Tagalog: humingi — make a request
• Tagalog: hingiin — make a request
• Tajik: дархост кардан (darxost kardan) — make a request
• Tamil: கேள் (kēḷ) — make a request
• Tamil: கோரு (kōru) — make a request
• Tamil: வேண்டு (vēṇṭu) — make a request
• Telugu: అడుగు (aḍugu) — make a request
• Thai: วาน (waan) — make a request
• Thai: ขอ (kɔ̌ɔ) — make a request
• Turkish: dilemek — make a request
• Ottoman Turkish: صورمق (sormak) — make a request
• Turkmen: haýyş etmek — make a request
• Udmurt: курыны (kuryny) — make a request
• Ugaritic: 𐎌𐎀𐎍 (šảl) — make a request
• Ukrainian: проси́ти (prosýty) — make a request
• Ukrainian: попроси́ти (poprosýty) — make a request
• Urdu: مانگنا (māṅgnā) — make a request
• Uyghur: سوراش (sorash) — make a request
• Uzbek: iltimos qilmoq — make a request
• Venetan: domandar — make a request
• Venetan: dimandar — make a request
• Vietnamese: cầu xin — make a request
• Welsh: gofyn — make a request
• Welsh: holi — make a request
• Welsh: ceisio — make a request
• Xhosa: ukucela — make a request
• Yiddish: בעטן (betn) — make a request
• Zulu: buza — make a request
• Zulu: nxusa — make a request
• Zulu: ncenga — make a request
• Zulu: cela — make a request