Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of time checking out foreign-language crochet blogs. I’ve also been looking at the crochet that people from countries outside of the United States share on Pinterest.
In order to find those things, I’ve done searches for “crochet” and checked out the foreign language blogs that I already know and follow. To find more, I’ve been running searches with the translated word for “crochet” in other languages.
I thought that you might be interested in how to say the word “crochet” in other languages. I’ve organized them into the table below.
| English | crochet |
| Spanish | tejer a croche labor de ganchillo croche |
| Italian | uncinetto |
| French | crochet |
| Portuguese | crochê |
| German | häkeln |
| Dutch | haken |
| Czech | háčkování |
| Croatian | heklati |
| Finnish | virkkaus |
| Norweigian | hekle |
| Turkish | tığ işi |
| Danish | hækling |
| Fillipino | gantsilyo |
| Hugarian | horgolás |
| Slovak | háčkovanie |
| Indonesian | merajut |
| Malay | mengait |
| Polish | szydełkować |
| Irish | cróise |
| Latvian | tamborēt |
| Japanese | かぎ針編み |
| Chinese | 鉤邊 |
| Korean | 크로셰 뜨개질 |
| Greek | πλέκω με βελονάκι |
| Russian | вязанье |
Auto-Translate for Videos
If you find a crochet video that isn’t in your native language, here is a short video I found by crochet YouTuber Olga Poltava.
It shows how to turn on auto-generated closed captioning for YouTube videos, which can be automatically translated into many languages.
Origin of the Word “Crochet”
You probably noticed that the French word for crochet is also “crochet.” That’s because crochet got its name from the French word for hook.
There is some evidence that crochet evolved from tambour embroidery, which was done by making embellishments out of a chain stitch made with a small hook.
The first reference to crochet in the 1823 magazine Penelope states that a tambour hook is used, and early crochet instructions use “tambour” and “crochet” interchangeably.
Translations and Slang
I should note that I’m using Google translate to find this information. I made a few updates based on corrections from commenters, but if you spot anything else that doesn’t look right, please let me know!
As you see above, in Spanish, “croche,” “tejer a croche,” and “labor de ganchillo” can all be used to refer to crochet. “Labor de ganchillo” translates literally to “work for a good cause” but often refers to textile work.
If there are slang words for crochet or other ways of saying crochet in a language that you know, I’d love to hear them!
Update on the Greek translation for crochet:
Zoe’s Creations over on Facebook told me:
As far as the greek term (because I am a greek crocheter) crochet is not translated with one word but with three: “πλέκω με βελονάκι” (that means crochet with hook, because the word πλέκω alone is used for 2 kinds: knit and crochet, knit= knit with needles= “πλέκω με βελόνες” and crochet the other
Thanks for the help Zoe!
Update on the Greek translation for crochet:
Zoe’s Creations over on Facebook told me:
As far as the greek term (because I am a greek crocheter) crochet is not translated with one word but with three: “πλέκω με βελονάκι” (that means crochet with hook, because the word πλέκω alone is used for 2 kinds: knit and crochet, knit= knit with needles= “πλέκω με βελόνες” and crochet the other
Thanks for the help Zoe!
very good compilation! :) though I have to say, in Spanish “tejer” is knitting, crochet is “ganchillo” :)
Thanks so much for sharing that information Lydai. I hadn’t heard that before and it’s so helpful to me!
In Spanish we don’t have a verb to express the activity of crocheting. We say “Tejer a crochet” for crocheting or “tejer con palillos/agujas” for kitting. The verb “Tejer” simply implies the creation of fabric using some sort or yarn and other implements such as a hook or needles. Still quite interesting.
@AlejandraKemp Thanks for the extra info! There are so many subtleties in each language that it’s hard to know the details like this when you’re just learning a language. I’ve studied Spanish for many years but there is still tons I don’t know, especially in niche topics like crafting!
In Serbian, (it is missing :-( ) word for crocheting is: Кукичање
That’s very interesting. Thanks!
Bonjour, y aurait il quelqu’un qui pourrait me traduire un patron de poupée en turc ?
Merci
Micheline
I have not been able to get abbrev. in Russian they give the verbal trans. but not the alphabet symbol. I found ones for chain. increase. decrease but I can’t find others can anyone help. I have a pattern with the Russian letter equal toPSN in english. I think it may mean slip stitch but that;s only a guess. HELP
Hi
I shared the link to your translation on Facebook since I think Its cool. A woman wrote this. And I think She is right when you search the words on Instagram:
“the term in malaysian and indonesian language is not quite the same that i know!! In malay language is called..MENGAIT,in indonesian lang. It is MERAJUT..merenda is like making laces”
And in danish the word is ‘hækle’