សង្សារ
sɑɑsɑngsaa
The Khmer word for "girlfriend" is សង្សារ (sɑɑsɑngsaa).
សង្សារ is used to refer to a partner or lover. It is commonly used for both casual dating and serious romantic relationships.
Meaning: a female partner in a romantic relationship (noun)
Which one should you use?
While សង្សារ is a neutral term that can mean a boyfriend or a girlfriend depending on the context, you can specify a female partner by using the form សង្សារស្រី.
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify that the partner is female, you add the word for female to the end of the word for partner, resulting in សង្សារស្រី.
How do you pronounce it?
sɑɑsɑngsaa
Did you know?
- The term សង្សារ is actually a loanword from the Sanskrit word for the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. It implies a connection that spans across lifetimes rather than just a modern dating term.
- In traditional Khmer culture, introducing someone as a សង្សារ can imply a much more serious commitment than the English word 'girlfriend' suggests.
- Because សង្សារ is gender-neutral, using it alone to mean 'girlfriend' is common, but in a formal setting, a person might use the term គូ (partner) to avoid the more casual connotations of 'lover'.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំមានសង្សារម្នាក់។khnhom mean sangsa mnak.I have a girlfriend.
- តើអ្នកមានសង្សារនៅ?tae neak mean sangsa nov?Do you have a girlfriend yet?
- សង្សាររបស់គាត់ចិត្តល្អណាស់។sangsa robos koat chet laor nah.His girlfriend is very kind.
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their personal lives.
- សុខ Sokសុខមានសង្សារស្អាតណាស់។Sok mean sangsa saat nah.Sok has a very beautiful girlfriend.
- ម៉ាលី Malyអរគុណច្រើន សុខ!orkoun chraen Sok!Thank you very much, Sok!
- សុខ Sokតើម៉ាលីមានសង្សារដែរឬទេ?tae Mali mean sangsa dae reu te?Does Mali have a boyfriend too?
- ម៉ាលី Malyខ្ញុំមិនទាន់មានសង្សារទេ។khnhom min tean mean sangsa te.I don't have a partner yet.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry សង្សារ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries សង្សារ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
