Translations

Here’s where a lot of fights break out. Where the hell did the word vampire come from. Best guesses suggest it might be from the Proto-Slavic \*ǫpyrь which is itself derived - as near as anyone can tell - from a very old Turkish word for witch (*ubyr* or *ubyrly*) but this … I’m sadly not kidding, fights have happened over this. There’s an odd “thing” about claiming to be the place where vampires come from and tourism campaigns have waged a scholarly war over where the word vampire was first uttered.

See:

1. http://www.melczarek.net/Wilson\_History\_Word\_Vampire.pdf
2. https://www.britannica.com/topic/vampire
3. http://magiaposthuma.blogspot.com/2011/06/zopf-harleian.html
4. https://mg.co.za/article/2006-04-24-croatian-dracula-revived-to-lure-tourists/
5. https://web.archive.org/web/20100217125732/http://boravak.hr/hr/full/istrazujemo/s/jure-grando-istarski-vampir-ili-ljudska-masta/56
6. Vampire as a Wanderword in Anatolian Dialects

As near as I can figure out, though, the ancient Sumerians had a *kind* of vampire long before writing was developed. One of the earliest surviving books we know of was a handbook for expelling ghosts, household imps, magic spells for getting the baby to take a nap and to cure the common cold and listed ways to rid a village of vampires. And this book wasn’t a rough draft. It is organized and the descriptions are exact. This suggests to me that the stories and folk traditions in it were well told and fully developed long before we had a formal way to write them down. So vampires may have been with us from the very beginning.

Now, this page isn’t for debating who said it first. This is one of my many lists of lists for general curiosity’s sake.

Creature Specific Names are on that creatures page.

### Online Etymology Dictionary

vampire (n.)
spectral being in a human body who maintains semblance of life by leaving the grave at night to suck the warm blood of the living as they sleep, 1732, vampyre, from French vampire (18c.) or German Vampir (1732, like the English word first in an account of Hungarian vampires), from Hungarian vampir, from Old Church Slavonic opiri (source also of Serbian vampir, Bulgarian vapir, Ukrainian uper), said by Slavic linguist Franc Miklošič to be ultimtely from Kazan Tatar ubyr "witch," but Max Vasmer, an expert in this linguistic area, finds that phonetically doubtful.

An Eastern European creature popularized in English by late 19c. gothic novels, however there are scattered English accounts of night-walking, blood-gorged, plague-spreading undead corpses from as far back as 1196. Figurative sense of "person who preys on others" is from 1741. Applied 1774 by French biologist Buffon to a species of South American blood-sucking bat. Related: Vampiric.

MR. D'Anvers tells of a Conversation he had about a certain Prodigy, mention'd in the News Papers of March last, viz. that in the Village of Medreyga in Hungary, certain dead Bodies (call'd there Vampyres) had kill'd several Persons by sucking out all their Blood : That Arnold Paul, an Heyduke, having kill'd four Persons after he was dead, his Body was taken up 40 Days after, which bled at the Nose, Mouth and Ears : That, according to Custom, they drove a Stake thro' his Heart, at which he gave horrid Groan, and lost a great deal of Blood. And that all such as have been tormented or kill'd by Vampyres, become Vampyres when they are dead. [London Journal, May 20, 1732, quoted in Weekly Essays, May 1732]

The spread of the story about this time is perhaps traceable to a pamphlet published in 1732, the title page of which reads: Dissertationem De Hominibus Post Mortem Sanguisugis, Vulgo Sic Dictis Vampyren, Auctoritate Inclyti Philosophorum Ordinis, Publico Eruditorum Examini Die XXX. Aug. An. MDCCXXXII. Submittent M. Io. Christophorus Pohlius, Lignicens. Silesius Et Io. Gottlob Hertelius, Philos. Et Med. Stud. https://www.etymonline.com/word/vampire#etymonline\_v\_4625

### Dont think this page is finished.

some of these are questionable, some are up for debate.

A few are absolutely modern (words created to deal with movies and tv) or were borrowed from a regions linguistic neighbor.

One of them is in here just to have a kind of fun. You'll know it when you see it.

## Vampire

Albanian = gjakpirës vampire | vurdalak vampire | pirja e gjakut blood drinker | dhampir vampire,

Amharic = ቫምፓየር vamipayeri vampire

Armenian = վամպիր vampir | սատակ satak ghoul | հոգեգեշ hogegesh evil soul

Asturian: vampiru

Basque = banpiroa vampire | banpiro vampire

Belarusian = вампір vampire borrowed from either Russian or Ukrainian  |  ўпір upir ghoul | кажа́н kažán bats

Bosnian = vampir

Bulgarian = вампи́р vampire borrowed from either Russian or Ukrainian | кръвопиец krŭvopiets bloodsucker, vampire | krʺvopiec blood sucker borrowed from Polish

Burmese: သွေးစုပ်ဖုတ်ကောင် cuphputkaung vampire | သွေးစုပ်လင်းဆွဲ sway hcote lainn swal blood drinking bats

Catalan: vampir

Chechen: убар ubar vampire

Chinese (Simplified) =  吸血鬼 Xīxuèguǐ vampire, bloodsucking, leech | 蛭 Zhì leech | 剥削者 Bōxuè zhě bloodsucker, exploiter

Czech = upír vampire, incubus, vampire | vampýr

Danish: vampyr

Dutch = vampier vampire | uitzuiger thing that extracts blood, vampire | bloedzuiger leech, bloodsucker, vampire

Eliphas Levi = "le somnambule de la tombe.”

Esperanto = vampiro

Estonian = vampiir | vereimeja bloodsucker

Finish = vampyyri | verenimijä bloodsucker, leech, harpy | verivampyyri blood of vampire

Galician: vampiro

Georgian: ვამპირი vamṗiri vampire

German =  Vampir | Blutsauger blood sucking corpse, vampire |  Vampirin female vampire

Greek = βρυκόλακας vrykólakas vampire, zombie | νυκτερίδα nykterída vampire | Greek: βαμπίρ vampire | δράκουλας drákoulas Dracula

Gujarati = વેમ્પાયર  Vēmpāyara vampire | સૂતેલાઓનું લોહી ચૂસી લેનાર ભૂત અથવા જીવંત થયેલું મડદુ  Sūtēlā'ōnuṁ lōhī cūsī lēnāra bhūta athavā jīvanta thayēluṁ maḍadu The blood-sucking ghost of the bedridden or the living dead

Hatian Creole = vanpir

Hawaiian = dont really have a word for vampire but sometimes we see attempts with “make e ola nei” to mean the living dead

Hebrew = ערפד leech, vampire | עֲלוּקָה leech, horseleech | עַרְפָּד‎ erfd vampire

Hindi = पिशाच pishaach vampire, ghoul, boogey, demon | शव भोजी प्रेत shav bhojee pret ghoul, dead body

Hungarian = vámpír | kísértet ghost, vampire, boogey

Icelandic: vampíra

Ido: vampiro

Indonesian = mayat pengisap darah vampire | mayat penghisap darah blood sucking corpse | penggoda wanita female vampire, temptress | vampir

Kannada = ರಕ್ತಪಿಶಾಚಿ | ಮಾಟಗಾರ = Raktapiśāci| māṭagāra = vampire | witch

Kazakh = вампир vampire

Khmer: ខ្មោចអាប khmaochaeab evil ghost | បិសាច besach = monster, demon, devil, vampire

*Klingon: 'iw tlhutlh veqlargh blood drinking devil*

Korean: 흡혈귀 heubhyeolgwi vampire | 흡혈동물 heubhyeoldongmul vampire, bloodsucker | 흡혈 박쥐 heubhyeol bagjwi vampire | 흡혈귀 같은 착취자  heubhyeolgwi gat-eun chagchwija to bleed someone dry

Kyrgyz: вампир vampir

Lao = ຜີດິບ phidib zombie, vampire | ຜີເປົ້າ phi pao demon which eats only raw flesh  |  ຜີປອບ phipob demon, possessed corpse | ແວມໄພ aeuam phai, vampire

Lakota = MODERN weyágopela | vampire movie or character

Luxembourgish: Vampir

Macedonian = вампир

Malagasy: vampira

Malay = Pontianak / Kuntilanak

Malayalam = വാമ്പയർ vāmpayar

Marathi = पिशाच pishaach vampire, ghoul, boogey | रक्‍तशोषक rak‍tashoshak chronic anemia | वटवाघूळ  Vaṭavāghūḷa spook, ghost vampire | व्हॅम्पायर  Vhĕmpāyara vampire

Mongolian = цус сорогч tsus sorogch vampire

Myanmar (Burmese) = သွေးစုပ်ဖုတ်ကောင် swayhcotehpotekaung

Navajo: Modern hastiin tsʼíʼiitsoh

Nepali = पिशाच  Piśāca vampire, ghoul | शव भोजी प्रेत shav bhojee pret dead body, ghoul

Norwegian: Modern vampyr

Persian = خون آشا vampire, bloodsucker, leech, lamia | موجود خون دوست vampire, blood-loving creature | روح sadist, ghoul, monster

Philip Macleod = “Farkaskoldus” occult review v18 n3 sep 1913

Philip Macleod = "Precolitsch" occult review v18 n3 sep 1913

Portuguese = vampira female | vampiro male | mulher fatal femme fatale

Punjabi = ਪਿਸ਼ਾਚ  Piśāca vampire | ਜਾਲ Jāla Leech | ਲਾਸ਼ ਭੂਤ Lāśa bhūta Corpse ghost

Roman: vampir male, vampirka female, vampirica female

Scottish Gaelic: bhampair ? | deoch-làidir fala blood drinker | mharbhan beò living dead

Serbian = вампир vampire | зомбији living dead, zombie | пијавица pijavica leech, vampire | гуликожа guli-koža bloodsucker

Sesotho = phela shoeleng living dead | moea o noang mali blood drinking ghost/spirit

Sindhi = ویمپائر vampire, borrowed from Urdu | رت چوسيندڙ گھوٽ blood sucking ghost | رت جو شيطان Demon/Devil of blood

Slovak = upír | vydierač vampire, blackmailer | pijavica tick, leech, vampier

Slovene: vampír | pijavka leech, vampire | živih mrtvecev zombie, living dead | sesaleckrvi blood sucker ?

Somali: maydka dhiigga nuugo blood drinking corpe? | dixiri dhiig cuna leech

Sumerian / Akkadian: aḫḫaru | UDUG | utukku

Sundanese: lintah leech | roh jahat evil ghost | hantu getih blood ghost

Swahili: mumiani vampiri | mnyonya-damu blood-drinking | ruba leech

Swedish = blodsugare blood drinker, leech, vampire | vampyr

Tajik = вампир vampire | зирк zirk leech | нӯшандаи хун nūşandai xun blood drinker | дракула dracula "he's a dracula"

Tagalog = bampira

Tamil = காட்டேரி  Kāṭṭēri vampire | ஜாம்பி Jāmpi zombie, vampire

Tartar = вурдалак мәет vurdalak cemetery | вампир vampire | кан арбак эчү blood drinking ghost or a ghoul | үтерүарбак corpse killer ?

Telugu = పిశాచ Piśāca vampire |  రక్త పిశాచి rakta piśāci vampire | రక్త దెయ్యం Rakta deyyaṁ blood ghost

Turkish = vampir | vupkan ? | ubır | obur

Turkmen =  wampir, gan içýän blood drinker | sülek leech

Ukrainian = вампір vampire | вимагач vymahach extortionist, vampire | кажан  bat, vampire | п'явка p'yavka leech, blood sucker

Urdu = vampire ویمپائر |  پشاچ‎ vampire | leech جونک | blood drinker خون پینے والا

Uyghur = | قان ئىچكۈچى blood drinker | كۈدە leech | قاقتى-سوقتى قىلغۇچىلار extortionist, abuser, vampire

Uzbek = katta ko'rshapalak vampir, giant bat, ghoul | zolim tyrant, vampire, oppressor | qon ichadigan arvoh blood-drinking ghost

Vietnamese = ma cà rồng vampire, ghoul | người hút máu vampire | con đỉa leech, vampire

Volapük: vampir | hivampir | jivampir

Welsh = fampiriaid vampires | fampir vampire | gele leech | yfwr gwaed blood drinker

Xhosa = olisela igazi blood drinker, vampire | umphangi extortionist, vampire | impundulu A kind of striges that's a witch's familiar that consumes life/blood

Yiddish = vamprie וואַמפּיר | zombie, vampire זאַמבי | horseleech האָרסעק

Yoruba = Fanpaya vampire | ẹniti o mu ẹjẹ those who drink blood

Zulu = ingwe vampire, leech | isipoki esibi evil ghost | impundulu A kind of striges that's a witch's familiar that consumes life/blood