Appendix:False friends between English and Icelandic
This is a list of English–Icelandic false friends, that is, word pairs similar in appearance but different in meaning.
The following are common points of confusion:
Other similar terms
editThe following terms happen to look similar but are less likely to cause confusion.
Icelandic word | English translation | English false friend | Icelandic translation |
---|---|---|---|
barn | child | barn | hlaða |
fars | finely ground meat | farce | skrípaleikur |
fagott | bassoon | faggot | faggi |
gift | married | gift | gjöf |
grín | joke | grin | glott |
grípa | to catch | grab | grípa í |
Ísland | Iceland | island | eyja |
kind | sheep | kind | vingjarnlegur |
klikka | fail | click | ýta |
klósett | toilet | closet | skápur |
korn | grain | corn | maís |
kraftur | force | craft | handverk |
kvitta | to sign (a receipt) | quit | hætta |
skin | shine | skin | húð |
sofa | sleep | sofa | sófi |
stóll | chair | stool | kollur |
svampur | sponge | swamp | mýri |
útlenskur | foreign | outlandish | fáránlegur |
turn | tower | turn | snúa |
mappa | folder | map | kort |
plástur | adhesive bandage (UK: plaster) | plaster | gips |
smakka | to have a taste | smack | að slá |
yfirsjást | overlook | oversee | hafa umsjón með |
frændi | uncle, cousin | friend | vinur |
See also
editChinese–Japanese · Danish–Dutch · Danish–English · Danish–German · Danish–Icelandic · Danish–Norwegian · Danish–Swedish · English–English · English–French · English–German · English–Icelandic · English–Italian · English–Luxembourgish · English–Polish · English–Portuguese · English–Spanish · English–Swedish · English—other languages · Esperanto–Portuguese · Faroese–Icelandic · French–Spanish · German–Romanian · Indonesian–Malay (A-D, E-I, J-M, N-R, S-Z) · Romanian–Spanish