List of artworks known in English by a foreign title
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The following is an alphabetical list of works of art that are often called by a non-English name in an English context. (Of course, many such titles are simply the names of people: Don Quixote, Irma la Douce, Madame Bovary, Tosca, Pelléas et Mélisande. These have been omitted, as have examples where the English may easily be inferred: Symphonie fantastique, Les liaisons dangereuses.)
Title | Transcription | Language | Translation | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|
99 Luftballons | German | 99 Balloons | song by Nena | |
À la recherche du temps perdu | French | In Search of Lost Time | novel by Marcel Proust | |
Aberystwyth Mon Amour | French | Aberystwyth My Love | novel by Malcolm Pryce | |
Aina | آئینہ | Urdu | Mirror | film directed by |
Alhambra | الْحَمْرَاء | Arabic | The Red One | Muslim monument, located near Granada, Spain |
Angkor Wat | អង្គរវត្ត | Khmer | temple complex of the city | Hindu and (later) Buddhist temple site, located in Angkor, Cambodia |
Arthashastra | अर्थशास्त्रम् | Sanskrit | "science of politics" or "science of material gain" | treatise on statecraft, economic policy and military strategy |
Autobahn | German | Motorway | album and song by Kraftwerk | |
Bal | Turkish | Honey | film by Semih Kaplanoğlu | |
French | Barcarolle: A Night in Lisbon | symphonic poem by Camille Saint-Saëns | ||
Bhagavad Gita | भगवद्गीता | Sanskrit | Song of God | philosophical, Hindu book of poems (author contentious) |
Carmina Burana | Latin | Songs from Beuern | medieval book of poems and a cantata by Carl Orff | |
Cavalleria rusticana | Italian | Rustic Chivalry | opera by Pietro Mascagni | |
Chichen Itza | Yucatec Maya | At the Mouth of the Well of the Itza | Mayan monument, located on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico | |
Commentarii de Bello Gallico | Latin | Commentaries on the Gallic War | Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars | |
Codex Gigas | Latin | Giant Book | largest medieval manuscript in the world, the authorship is attributed to Hermann Inanclus (Herman, the Recluse), a monk | |
Così fan tutte | Italian | That's What They [feminine] All Do | opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
Dai Miao | 岱庙 | Chinese | Dai Temple | Daoist temple complex, located on Mount Tai, People's Republic of China |
Dàin do Eimhir | Scottish Gaelic | Poems to Eimhir | Sequence of poems by Sorley MacLean | |
Dao De Jing | 道德经/道德經 | Chinese | Way/Path, Virtue, Guideline | philosophical, Daoist book of poems probably by Laozi |
Das Boot | German | The Boat | film directed by Wolfgang Petersen | |
Das Hildebrandslied | German | Lay/Song of Hildebrand | heroic lay, written in Old High German | |
Das Kapital | German | Capital | treatise by Karl Marx | |
Das klagende Lied | German | The Lamentation | cantata by Gustav Mahler | |
Das Lied von der Erde | German | The Song of the Earth | symphony by Gustav Mahler | |
De Leeuw van Vlaanderen | Dutch | The Lion of Flanders | book by Hendrik Conscience | |
Déjeuner sur l'herbe | French | Lunch on the Grass | painting by Édouard Manet | |
De re publica | Latin | On the State | philosophical hexalogy by Cicero | |
De rerum natura | Latin | On the Nature of Things | philosophical didactic poem by Lucretius | |
De vita Caesarum | Latin | About the Life of the Caesars | collection of biographies by Suetonius | |
Der Freischütz | German | The Freeshooter or The Marksman | opera by Carl Maria von Weber | |
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen | German | Hell's vengeance boils in my heart | aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
Der Ring des Nibelungen | German | The Ring of the Nibelung | cycle of four operas by Richard Wagner | |
Der Schauspieldirektor | German | The Impresario | Singspiel by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
Der Wehrwolf | German | a portmanteau and word play, combining the words for "defence" and "wolf" to Wehrwolf, similar to werewolf | book by Hermann Löns | |
Desafinado | Portuguese | Out of Tune | song by Antônio Carlos Jobim | |
Deus Ex | Latin | God out of | video game-series by Eidos Interactive | |
Die Entführung aus dem Serail | German | The Abduction from the Seraglio | opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
Die Fledermaus | German | The Bat | operetta by Johann Strauss II | |
Die glückliche Hand | German | The Lucky Hand | musical drama by Arnold Schoenberg | |
Die Mensch-Maschine | German | The Man-Machine | album by Kraftwerk | |
Die schöne Müllerin | German | The Fair Maid of the Mill | song cycle by Franz Schubert | |
Die Verbannten Kinder Evas | German | The Banished Children of Eve | album from the Austrian band of the same name | |
Dies irae | Latin | Day of Wrath | hymn by Thomas of Celano and part of the Requiem | |
Don Quichotte à Dulcinée | French | Don Quixote to Dulcinea | song cycle by Maurice Ravel | |
Dorvyzhy | Дорвыжы | Udmurt | "homeland roots" or "homeland generation" | Udmurt literary national epic |
Edda | Óðr | Old Norse | Poetry | Eddur (plural of Edda) are the Poetic Edda (author unknown) and Prose Edda (by Snorri Sturluson), are two Icelandic ancient books |
Eine kleine Nachtmusik | German | A Little Night-Music | serenade by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
El amor brujo | Spanish | Love, the Magician | ballet by Manuel de Falla | |
El Cielo | Spanish | The sky/heaven | album by dredg | |
El cóndor pasa | Spanish | The Condor Passes | song by Daniel Alomía Robles and | |
El Shaddai | אל שדי | Hebrew | "God Almighty" (loosely translated) | video game by Ignition Entertainment |
Elfen Lied | German | Elf Song | manga and anime-series by Lynn Okamoto | |
Eroica | Italian | Heroic | symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven | |
Erlkönig | German | "The Alder King" or "The King of the Elves" | poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | |
Erwartung | German | Expectation | opera by Arnold Schoenberg | |
Fātata te Miti | Tahitian | By the Sea | painting by Paul Gauguin | |
Fetih 1453 | Turkish | Conquest 1453 | film by Faruk Aksoy | |
Feuer frei! | German | "free to fire!" (German military language for "fire at will") | song by Rammstein | |
Gesta Danorum | Latin | Deeds of the Danes | series of books by Saxo Grammaticus | |
Gitanjali | গীতাঞ্জলি | Bengali | "An offering of songs" or "prayer offering of songs" | collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore |
Giv'at Halfon Eina Ona | גבעת חלפון אינה עונה | Hebrew | Halfon Hill Doesn't Answer | film by Assi Dayan |
Götterdämmerung | German | Twilight of the Gods | opera by Richard Wagner | |
Gurrelieder | German | Songs of Gurre | oratorio by Arnold Schoenberg | |
Hagia Sophia | Ἅγια Σοφία | Greek | Divine Wisdom | Byzantine dome-church (now a mosque), located in Istanbul, Turkey |
Harakiri | 腹切り | Japanese | Harakiri/cutting the belly | film by Masaki Kobayashi |
Häxan | Swedish | Witches | film by Benjamin Christensen | |
Heimskringla | Old Norse | The World-Circle | Kings' saga by Snorri Sturluson | |
Hiroshima mon amour | French | Hiroshima My Love | film directed by Alain Resnais | |
Huis clos | French | In Camera | play by Jean-Paul Sartre | |
Ich will | German | I want | song by Rammstein | |
Ikiru | 生きる | Japanese | To Live | film directed by Akira Kurosawa |
Il trovatore | Italian | The Troubadour | opera by Giuseppe Verdi | |
Ilias | Ἰλιάς | Ancient Greek | "Trojan" or "Troas" | epic poem, attributed to Homer |
Jeux d'enfants | French | Children's Games | symphonic suite by Georges Bizet | |
Jewang Ungi | 제왕운기 | Korean | Rhymed Chronicles of Sovereigns | poem by |
Kaaba | الكعبة | Arabic | The Cube | most sacred site in Islam, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia |
Kagemusha | 影武者 | Japanese | Shadow Warrior | film directed by Akira Kurosawa |
Kalevala | Finnish | Lands of Kaleva | epic poem by Elias Lönnrot | |
Kalevipoeg | Estonian | Kalev's Son | epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald | |
Kama Sutra | कामसूत्र | Sanskrit | Verses of Desire | ancient book about human sexual behavior by Vātsyāyana |
Katamari Damacy | 塊魂 | Japanese | Clump Soul | video game by Namco |
Kebra Nagast | ክብረ ነገሥት | Ge'ez | Glory of Kings | Ethiopian's national epic |
Keine Lust | German | No Desire (German idiom for "I don't feel like it.") | song by Rammstein | |
Kindertotenlieder | German | Songs of Dead Children | song cycle by Gustav Mahler | |
Kraftwerk | German | Power Station | debut album by Kraftwerk | |
Kremlin | Кремль | Russian | Fortress | historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, Russia |
Kundun | སྐུ་མདུན་ | Tibetan | The Presence | film directed by Martin Scorsese |
La Bohème | French | The Bohemian | opera by Giacomo Puccini | |
La création du monde | French | The Creation of the World | ballet by Darius Milhaud | |
La cucaracha | Spanish | The Cockroach | traditional song | |
La dame aux camélias | French | The Lady of the Camellias | novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils | |
La Damoiselle élue | French | The Blessed Damozel | cantata by Claude Debussy after poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti | |
La Dolce Vita | Italian | The Sweet Life | film directed by Federico Fellini | |
La finta giardiniera | Italian | The Pretend Garden-Girl | opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | |
La mer | French | The Sea | three symphonic sketches for orchestra by Claude Debussy | |
La notte | Italian | The Night | film by Michelangelo Antonioni | |
La strada | Italian | The Road | film by Federico Fellini | |
La traviata | Italian | The Fallen Woman | opera by Giuseppe Verdi | |
La Vie en rose | French | Rose-Tinted Life | song by Louis Gugliemi and Édith Piaf | |
Lāčplēsis | Latvian | Bear-slayer | epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs | |
Lacrimosa | Latin | "weeping" or "tearful" | part of Dies Irae | |
Lahuta e Malcís | Gheg Albanian | The Highland Lute | Albanian national epic poem | |
Le bœuf sur le toit | French | The Ox on the Roof | ballet by Darius Milhaud | |
Le chasseur maudit | French | The Cursed Huntsman | symphonic poem by César Franck | |
L'eclisse | Italian | The Eclipse | film by Michelangelo Antonioni | |
L'enfant et les sortilèges | French | The Child and the Spells | opera by Maurice Ravel | |
Le Grand Meaulnes | French | The Great Meaulnes | novel by Alain-Fournier | |
Les noces | French | The Wedding | dance cantata by Igor Stravinsky | |
Le tombeau de Couperin | French | Couperin's Tomb | suite by Maurice Ravel | |
L'étranger | French | The Outsider | novel by Albert Camus | |
L'heure espagnole | French | The Spanish Hour/The Time in Spain | opera by Maurice Ravel | |
Liebestod | German | Love's Death | final scene from the opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner | |
Longmen Shiku | 龙门石窟/龍門石窟 | Chinese | Dragon's Gate Grottoes/Caves | artificial, Buddhist grottoes, located south of Luoyang |
L'Isle joyeuse | French | The Joyful Isle | piano piece by Claude Debussy | |
Má vlast | Czech | My Fatherland | cycle of symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana | |
Machu Picchu | Quechua | Old Peaks | Inca site, located above Urubamba Valley, Peru | |
Madadayo | まあだだよ | Japanese | Not Yet | film by Akira Kurosawa |
Mahabharata | महाभारत | Sanskrit | The Great History/Story of the Bharatas | epic of ancient India |
Mahabodhi Temple | महाबोधि मंदिर | Sanskrit | Great Awakening Temple | Buddhist temple in Bodh Gaya, India |
Masjid Al-Haram | المسجد الحرام | Arabic | The Sacred Mosque | largest mosque in the world, located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia |
Mein Kampf | German | My Struggle | autobiography and political treatise by Adolf Hitler | |
Memento | Latin | Recall | film by Christopher Nolan | |
Mo Ghile Mear | Irish | My Gallant Darling | song by Seán Clárach Mac Domhnaill | |
Moai | Rapa Nui | Figurine | monolithic human figures on the Polynesian island of Easter Island | |
Namárië | Quenya | Be Well | poem by J. R. R. Tolkien | |
Narn i Chîn Húrin | Sindarin | The Tale of the Children of Húrin | unfinished story by J.R.R. Tolkien | |
Nayakan | நாயகன் | Tamil | The Hero | film by Mani Ratnam |
Nessun dorma | Italian | No-one Shall Sleep | aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot | |
Ni no Kuni | 二ノ国 | Japanese | Second Country | video game by Level-5 and Studio Ghibli |
Nibelungenlied | German | Lay/Song of the Nibelungs | German national epic | |
Nobilissima Visione | Italian | The Noblest Vision | ballet by Paul Hindemith | |
Notre Dame | French | Our Lady | cathedral in Paris, France | |
Obaltan | 오발탄 | Korean | Maybe a Miss | film by Yu Hyun-mok |
Ōkami | 大神, 狼 or 大紙 | Japanese | "Great God" if written as 大神, "Wolf" if written as 狼 or "Great Paper" if written as 大紙 | video game published by Capcom |
Ōkamiden | 大神伝, 狼伝 or 大紙伝 | Japanese | "Chronicles of a/the Great God" if written as 大神伝, "Chronicles of a/the Wolf" if written as 狼伝 or "Chronicles of a/the Great Paper" if written as 大紙伝 | sequel to Ōkami |
Ombra mai fu | Italian | Never was a shade | aria by Georg Friedrich Händel | |
Orgelbüchlein | German | Little Organ Book | collection of chorale preludes and pedagogical treatise on composition by Johann Sebastian Bach | |
Pappa Ante Portas | German (the first word) and Latin | Daddy in front of the Gates | film by Loriot | |
Pavane pour une infante défunte | French | Pavane for a Dead Infanta | piano/orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel | |
Petite Fleur | French | Little Flower | instrumental by Sidney Bechet | |
Petra | πέτρα | Greek | Stone | city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an, famous for its rock cut architecture |
Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica | Latin | Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy | three books by Sir Isaac Newton | |
Pierrot lunaire | French | Moonlit [or Moonstruck] Pierrot | song cycle by Arnold Schoenberg | |
Popol Vuh | Classical K'iche' | Book of the People | corpus of mytho-historical narratives of the K'iche' kingdom in Guatemala | |
Porco Rosso | Italian | Red Pig | film by Hayao Miyazaki | |
Potiche | French | Trophy Wife | film by François Ozon | |
Praan | প্রাণ | Bengali | Stream of Life | poem by Rabindranath Tagore |
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune | French | Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun | symphonic poem by Claude Debussy | |
Princess Mononoke | もののけ姫 (Mononoke-hime) | Japanese | Princess of the demons/monsters (only the hime was translated to English) | film by Hayao Miyazaki |
Qur'an (or Koran) | القرآن | Arabic | The Recitation | religious text of Islam by Muhammad |
Raag Darbari | रागदरबारी | Hindi | A raga of bureaucracy | Novel by Shrilal Shukla |
Ramakien | รามเกียรติ์ | Thai | Glory of Rama | Thailand's national epic |
Ramayana | रामायण | Sanskrit | Rama's Path | ancient Indian epic |
Ran | 乱 | Japanese | "Chaos" or "Revolt" | film by Akira Kurosawa |
Rashōmon | 羅城門 | Japanese | Gate of the Fortress | former Japanese monuments, were located in Heijō-kyō and Heian-kyō, Japan |
Rashomon | 羅生門 | Japanese | Gate of the Fortress | film by Akira Kurosawa |
Ratatouille | French | a French dish | film by Pixar | |
Selva morale e spirituale | Italian | Moral and Spiritual Forest | collection of sacred music by Claudio Monteverdi | |
Serse | Italian | Xerxes | opera by Georg Friedrich Händel | |
Shahnameh | شاهنامه | Persian | The Book of Kings | enormous poetic opus written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi |
Shiri/Swiri | 쉬리 | Korean | Korean Splendid Dace | film by Kang Je-gyu |
Shoah | השואה | Hebrew | Calamity | film by Claude Lanzmann |
Silmarillion | Quenya | From the Radiance of Pure Light | collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works | |
Skáldskaparmál | Old Norse | Language of Poetry | poem by Snorri Sturluson, consisting of around 50,000 words | |
Skeireins |