Standard Lemma guide

Korean

adj · name · noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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.

  • General-American: /kəˈɹi.ən/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /kəˈɹiːən/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -iːən
  • CMU ARPABET: K AO2 R IY1 AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 2: K R IY1 AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
  • CMU ARPABET 3: K ER0 R IY1 AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of or relating to the Asian Peninsula comprising North Korea and South Korea.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Of or relating to the Korean language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

name

Meaning 3

Official language of the people residing on the Korean Peninsula, and language of approximately 60 million people, in Asia, North America, and elsewhere.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A person of an ethnic group indigenous to the Korean Peninsula.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

adjective

Meaning 5

of or relating to or characteristic of Korea or its people or language

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Korean handicrafts

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the Altaic language spoken by Koreans

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Altaic, Altaic language

7

noun

Meaning 7

a native or inhabitant of Korea who speaks the Korean language

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Asian, Asiatic

Narrower terms: North Korean, South Korean

History

Etymology

From Korea + -an.

Across languages

Translations

298 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: korean — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Arabic: كُورِيّ (kōriyy) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Armenian: կորեական (koreakan) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Asturian: coreanu — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Azerbaijani: koreya — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Azerbaijani: koreyalı — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Basque: korear — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Belarusian: карэ́йскі (karéjski) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Bengali: কোরীয় (kōriẏo) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Bulgarian: коре́йски (koréjski) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Burmese: ကိုရီးယား (kuiri:ya:) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Catalan: coreà — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Chinese Mandarin: 朝鮮的 /朝鲜的 (Cháoxiǎn de) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韓國的 /韩国的 (Hánguó de) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Czech: korejský — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Danish: koreansk — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Danish: koreanskt — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Dhivehi: ކޮރެޔާ ބަސް (koreyā bas) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Dutch: Koreaans — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Dutch: Koreaanse — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Estonian: korea — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Finnish: korealainen — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • French: coréen — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Galician: coreano — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Georgian: კორეული (ḳoreuli) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • German: koreanisch — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Greek: κορεατικός (koreatikós) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Hawaiian: Kōlea — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Hindi: कोरियाई (koriyāī) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Hungarian: koreai — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Icelandic: kóreskur — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Indonesian: Korea — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Irish: Cóiréach — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Italian: coreano — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Japanese: 韓国の (Kankoku no) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Japanese: 朝鮮の (Chōsen no) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Kazakh: кәріс (kärıs) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Kazakh: корей (korei) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Khmer: កូរ៉េ (kouree) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Korean: 조선의 (Joseon-ui) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Korean: 한국의 (Han'gug-ui) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Northern Kurdish: koreyî — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Kyrgyz: корей (korey) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Lao: ເກົາຫລີ (kao lī) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Latvian: korejiešu — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Latvian: korejisks — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Lithuanian: korėjiečių — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Lithuanian: korėjietiškas — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Macedonian: корејски (korejski) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Malay: Korea — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Manchu: ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ (solho) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Manchu: ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ ᡳ (solho-i) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Manchu: ᠴᠣᠣᡥᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡳ (coohiyan-i) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Marathi: कोरियन (koriyan) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Mon: ကိုဝ်ရဳယျာ — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Mongolian: солонгос (solongos) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Mongolian: солонгосын (solongosyn) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Norwegian Bokmål: koreansk — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: koreansk — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Occitan: corean — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Pashto: کوریایي — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Persian: کرهای (kore-yi) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Polish: koreański — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Portuguese: coreano — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Romanian: coreean — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Russian: коре́йский (koréjskij) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Serbo-Croatian: ко̀ре̄јскӣ — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Serbo-Croatian: kòrējskī — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Slovak: kórejský — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Slovene: korejski — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Spanish: coreano — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Swahili: ya Korea — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Swedish: koreansk — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Tagalog: Korean — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Tagalog: Koreano — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Tajik: кореягӣ (koreyagi) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Tajik: куриёӣ (kuriyoyi) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Tatar: корей (qörey) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Thai: เกาหลี (gao-lǐi) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Turkish: Kore — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Turkish: Koreli — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Turkmen: koreý — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Ukrainian: коре́йський (koréjsʹkyj) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Urdu: کوریائی (koriyā'ī) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Uyghur: كورېيە (korëye) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Uzbek: koreys — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Vietnamese: Triều Tiên — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Vietnamese: Hàn Quốc — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Xibe: ᠴᠣᡠᠰᡞᠶᠠᠨ ᡞ (coosiyan -i) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Yiddish: קאָרעיש (koreysh) — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Zhuang: Cauzsenh — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Zhuang: Hanzgoz — relating to the Korean Peninsula
  • Albanian: korean — Korean language
  • Arabic: كُورِيّ (kōriyy) — Korean language
  • Arabic: كُورِيَّة (kōriyya) — Korean language
  • Armenian: կորեերեն (koreeren) — Korean language
  • Asturian: coreanu — Korean language
  • Basque: koreera — Korean language
  • Belarusian: карэ́йская мо́ва (karéjskaja móva) — Korean language
  • Belarusian: карэ́йская (karéjskaja) — Korean language
  • Bulgarian: коре́йски (koréjski) — Korean language
  • Catalan: coreà — Korean language
  • Chinese Cantonese: 韓文 /韩文 — Korean language
  • Chinese: 韓文 /韩文 (hân-bûn) — Korean language
  • Chinese: 韓語 /韩语 (hân-gú, hân-gí) — Korean language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韓語 /韩语 (hányǔ) — Korean language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韓文 /韩文 (hánwén) — Korean language
  • Chinese Mandarin: 朝鮮語 /朝鲜语 (cháoxiǎnyǔ) — Korean language
  • Czech: korejština — Korean language
  • Dutch: Koreaans — Korean language
  • Esperanto: Koreana — Korean language
  • Estonian: korea keel — Korean language
  • Finnish: korea — Korean language
  • Finnish: korean kieli — Korean language
  • French: coréen — Korean language
  • Galician: coreano — Korean language
  • Georgian: კორეული (ḳoreuli) — Korean language
  • German: Koreanisch — Korean language
  • Greek: κορεατικά (koreatiká) — Korean language
  • Greenlandic: koreamiusut — Korean language
  • Hebrew: קוריאנית — Korean language
  • Hindi: कोरियाई (koriyāī) — Korean language
  • Hungarian: koreai — Korean language
  • Icelandic: kóreska — Korean language
  • Ido: Koreana — Korean language
  • Indonesian: bahasa Korea — Korean language
  • Irish: Cóiréis — Korean language
  • Italian: coreano — Korean language
  • Japanese: 韓国語 (kankokugo) — Korean language
  • Japanese: 朝鮮語 (chōsengo) — Korean language
  • Japanese: ハングル (hanguru) — Korean language
  • Japanese: コリアン (korian) — Korean language
  • Kazakh: кәріс тілі (kärıs tılı) — Korean language
  • Kazakh: кәрісше (kärısşe) — Korean language
  • Kazakh: корейше (koreişe) — Korean language
  • Khmer: ភាសាកូរ៉េ (phiəsaa kouree) — Korean language
  • Korean: 조선어 (joseoneo) — Korean language
  • Korean: 한국어 (han'gugeo) — Korean language
  • Korean: 한국말 (han'gungmal) — Korean language
  • Korean: 국어 (gugeo) — Korean language
  • Korean: 우리말 (urimal) — Korean language
  • Korean: 한글 (han'geul) — Korean language
  • Kyrgyz: корейче (koreyce) — Korean language
  • Lao: ພາສາເກົາຫຼີ (phā sākao lī) — Korean language
  • Latvian: korejiešu valoda — Korean language
  • Lithuanian: korėjiečių kalba — Korean language
  • Macedonian: коре́јски (koréjski) — Korean language
  • Malay: bahasa Korea — Korean language
  • Manchu: ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ ᡤᡳᠰᡠᠨ (solho gisun) — Korean language
  • Marathi: कोरियन (koriyan) — Korean language
  • Mongolian: солонгос хэл (solongos xel) — Korean language
  • Navajo: Kolíya dineʼé bizaad — Korean language
  • Norwegian Bokmål: koreansk — Korean language
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: koreansk — Korean language
  • Occitan: corean — Korean language
  • Persian: کرهای (kore-'i) — Korean language
  • Polish: koreański — Korean language
  • Portuguese: coreano — Korean language
  • Romanian: coreeană — Korean language
  • Russian: коре́йский язы́к (koréjskij jazýk) — Korean language
  • Russian: коре́йский (koréjskij) — Korean language
  • Serbo-Croatian: корејски — Korean language
  • Serbo-Croatian: korejski — Korean language
  • Sinhalese: කොරියානු (koriyānu) — Korean language
  • Sinhalese: කොරියානු භාෂාව (koriyānu bhāṣāwa) — Korean language
  • Slovak: kórejčina — Korean language
  • Slovene: korejščina — Korean language
  • Spanish: coreano — Korean language
  • Swahili: Kikorea — Korean language
  • Swedish: koreanska — Korean language
  • Tagalog: Koreano — Korean language
  • Tagalog: Korean — Korean language
  • Thai: ภาษาเกาหลี (paa-sǎa gao-lǐi) — Korean language
  • Tigrinya: ኮሪያኛ (koriyaña) — Korean language
  • Turkish: Korece — Korean language
  • Ukrainian: коре́йська мо́ва (koréjsʹka móva) — Korean language
  • Ukrainian: коре́йська (koréjsʹka) — Korean language
  • Uyghur: كورىيەچە (koriyeche) — Korean language
  • Uzbek: koreys — Korean language
  • Uzbek: koreyscha — Korean language
  • Vietnamese: tiếng Hàn Quốc — Korean language
  • Vietnamese: tiếng Triều Tiên — Korean language
  • Yiddish: קאָרעאיש (koreish) — Korean language
  • Albanian: korean — person from Korea
  • Arabic: كُورِيّ (kōriyy) — person from Korea
  • Arabic: كُورِيَّة (kōriyya) — person from Korea
  • Armenian: կորեացի (koreacʻi) — person from Korea
  • Asturian: coreanu — person from Korea
  • Asturian: coreana — person from Korea
  • Azerbaijani: koreya — person from Korea
  • Azerbaijani: koreyalı — person from Korea
  • Basque: korear — person from Korea
  • Belarusian: карэ́ец (karéjec) — person from Korea
  • Belarusian: карэя́нка (karejánka) — person from Korea
  • Bulgarian: коре́ец (koréec) — person from Korea
  • Bulgarian: коре́йка (koréjka) — person from Korea
  • Catalan: coreà — person from Korea
  • Catalan: coreana — person from Korea
  • Chinese Cantonese: 韓國人 /韩国人 (hon4 gwok3 jan4) — person from Korea
  • Chinese: 韓國人 /韩国人 (hân-kok-lâng) — person from Korea
  • Chinese Mandarin: 韓國人 /韩国人 (hánguórén) — person from Korea
  • Chinese Mandarin: 朝鮮人 /朝鲜人 (cháoxiānrén) — person from Korea
  • Czech: Korejec — person from Korea
  • Czech: Korejka — person from Korea
  • Danish: Koreaner — person from Korea
  • Dutch: Koreaan — person from Korea
  • Dutch: Koreaanse — person from Korea
  • Estonian: korealane — person from Korea
  • Finnish: korealainen — person from Korea
  • French: Coréen — person from Korea
  • French: Coréenne — person from Korea
  • Galician: coreano — person from Korea
  • Galician: coreana — person from Korea
  • Georgian: კორეელი (ḳoreeli) — person from Korea
  • German: Koreaner — person from Korea
  • German: Koreanerin — person from Korea
  • Greek: Κορεάτης (Koreátis) — person from Korea
  • Greek: Κορεάτισσα (Koreátissa) — person from Korea
  • Hawaiian: Kōlea — person from Korea
  • Hindi: कोरियाई (koriyāī) — person from Korea
  • Hungarian: koreai — person from Korea
  • Icelandic: Kóreumaður — person from Korea
  • Ido: Koreano — person from Korea
  • Indonesian: orang Korea — person from Korea
  • Irish: Cóiréach — person from Korea
  • Italian: coreano — person from Korea
  • Italian: coreana — person from Korea
  • Japanese: 朝鮮人 (chōsenjin) — person from Korea
  • Japanese: 韓国人 (kankokujin) — person from Korea
  • Japanese: コリアン (korian) — person from Korea
  • Kazakh: кәріс (kärıs) — person from Korea
  • Kazakh: корей (korei) — person from Korea
  • Korean: 조선인 (joseonin) — person from Korea
  • Korean: 조선 사람 (joseon saram) — person from Korea
  • Korean: 한국인 (han'gugin) — person from Korea
  • Korean: 한국 사람 (han'guk saram) — person from Korea
  • Korean: 우리나라 사람 (urinara saram) — person from Korea
  • Kyrgyz: корей (korey) — person from Korea
  • Latvian: korejietis — person from Korea
  • Latvian: korejiete — person from Korea
  • Lithuanian: korėjietis — person from Korea
  • Lithuanian: korėjietė — person from Korea
  • Macedonian: Кореец (Koreec) — person from Korea
  • Macedonian: Корејка (Korejka) — person from Korea
  • Malay: orang Korea — person from Korea
  • Maltese: Korejan — person from Korea
  • Manchu: ᠰᠣᠯᡥᠣ (solho) — person from Korea
  • Marathi: कोरियन (koriyan) — person from Korea
  • Mongolian: ᠰᠣᠯᠣᠩᠭᠣᠰ (solongɣos) — person from Korea
  • Mongolian: солонгос (solongos) — person from Korea
  • Norwegian Bokmål: koreaner — person from Korea
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: koreanar — person from Korea
  • Persian: کرهای (kore-'i) — person from Korea
  • Polish: Koreańczyk — person from Korea
  • Polish: Koreanka — person from Korea
  • Portuguese: coreano — person from Korea
  • Portuguese: coreana — person from Korea
  • Romanian: coreean — person from Korea
  • Romanian: coreeană — person from Korea
  • Romanian: coreeancă — person from Korea
  • Russian: коре́ец (koréjec) — person from Korea
  • Russian: корея́нка (korejánka) — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Коре́јац — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Корејка — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Корејанац — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Корејанка — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Кореанац — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Кореанка — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Koréjac — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Korejka — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Korejanac — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Korejanka — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Koreanac — person from Korea
  • Serbo-Croatian: Koreanka — person from Korea
  • Slovak: Kórejčan — person from Korea
  • Slovak: Kórejčanka — person from Korea
  • Slovene: Korejec — person from Korea
  • Slovene: Korejka — person from Korea
  • Spanish: coreano — person from Korea
  • Spanish: coreana — person from Korea
  • Swahili: Mkorea — person from Korea
  • Swedish: korean — person from Korea
  • Swedish: koreanska — person from Korea
  • Tagalog: Koreano — person from Korea
  • Tagalog: Koreana — person from Korea
  • Tagalog: Korean — person from Korea
  • Tajik: кореягӣ (koreyagi) — person from Korea
  • Tajik: куриёӣ (kuriyoyi) — person from Korea
  • Turkish: Koreli — person from Korea
  • Turkmen: koreý — person from Korea
  • Ukrainian: коре́єць (koréjecʹ) — person from Korea
  • Ukrainian: корея́нка (korejánka) — person from Korea
  • Uyghur: كورېيە (korëye) — person from Korea
  • Uzbek: koreys — person from Korea
  • Vietnamese: người Triều Tiên — person from Korea
  • Vietnamese: người Hàn Quốc — person from Korea
  • Vietnamese: người Hàn — person from Korea
  • Yiddish: קאָרעער (koreer) — person from Korea
Real reading context

Korean in complete knowledge articles