Ever wonder where the expression Blood is thicker than water comes from? Or what it actually means?

You might think that it means that family relationships and loyalties are the strongest and most important ones, keeping people closer together. Stronger than friendships or even love relationships - where although closeness and intimacy is tangible, no blood is shared.

But actually the opposite is true.

The Blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb is a medieval proverb that means that bonds of friendship or love will always be stronger than bonds of family. It has been claimed that the original meaning of the expression was that the ties between people who have made a blood covenant, or have shed blood together in battle, were stronger than ties formed by “the water of the womb”.

Whatever our thoughts are on this, let’s see how this is expressed in some languages.

CHINESE ?? Xiěyè bǐ shuǐ hòu - 血液比水厚

DANISH ?? Blod er tykkere end vand

DUTCH ?? Bloed is dikker dan water

ENGLISH ????????????? Blood is thicker than water

ESTONIAN ?? Veri on paksem kui vesi

FINNISH ?? Veri on vettä sakeampaa

FRENCH ?? Le sang est plus épais que l’eau

GERMAN ?? Blut ist dicker als Wasser

GREEK ?? το αίμα νερό δεν γίνεται

HAWAIIAN Mānoanoa ke koko ma mua o ka wai

DUTCH ?? Bloed is dikker dan water

ICELANDIC ?? Blóð er þykkara en vatn

IRISH ?? Tá fuil níos tibhe ná uisce

ITALIAN ?? il sangue non è acqua

JAPANESE ?? Chi wa mizu yori koi - 血は水より濃い

KOREAN ?? Pineun mulboda jinhada - 피는 물보다 진하다

NORWEGIAN ?? Blodet er tykkere enn vann

TAGALOG ?? Ang dugo ay mas makapal kaysa sa tubig

PORTUGUESE ?? Sangue é mais espesso que água

RUSSIAN ?? Krov' gushche chem voda - Кровь гуще, чем вода

SPANISH ?? La sangre es más espesa que el agua

SWAHILI xx Damu ni nzito kuliko maji

SWEDISH ?? Blodet är tjockare än vatten

TURKISH ?? - kan sudan daha kalındır

And let’s have a video on the subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6jdK_jNy0s

Updated 28.2.2021