hestur
[ˈhɛstʏr]masculine
The Icelandic word for "horse" is hestur, a masculine noun used for the animal in everyday speech.
Use hestur whenever you talk about a horse in general. Icelandic also has the word hross, which appears in the names of breeds such as Íslenskt hross for the Icelandic horse, Arabískt hross for the Arabian horse and Fullblóðshross for a thoroughbred.
Meaning: members of the species ''Equus ferus'' (noun)
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
hestur is masculine and changes with case. In the accusative and dative the stem becomes hest. To say "the horse" you add the suffix -inn to get hesturinn. With a possessive like minn (my), the noun normally takes the definite suffix, so "my horse" is hesturinn minn.
When do people say it?
Horse colours are often described with simple adjectives such as Svartur (black), Brúnn (brown), Hvítur (white) and Grár (gray).
Did you know?
- In Icelandic folklore, horses are often linked to the huldufólk or hidden people, who are said to own horses that are faster and stronger than human ones.
- The word hestur is used in the Icelandic term for a 'chess piece', as the 'knight' is referred to as a 'horse'.
- The Icelandic horse is not technically a 'pony' despite its size, and referring to it as such is often considered incorrect by locals.
Examples in context
- Revelation 6-11 (English and Icelandic)I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.This verse from Revelation mentions the pale horse, which the Icelandic Bible renders with the word for horse.
- Þetta er minn hestur.This is my horse.Þetta er minn hestur means "This is my horse", with the possessive placed before the noun for emphasis.Tatoeba #791902 by Swift, translation #729048 by Shazback
- Hesturinn minn er hvítur.My horse is white.Hesturinn minn er hvítur uses the definite form Hesturinn with minn to say "My horse is white".Tatoeba #2778880 by Swift, translation #2778260 by CK
- Ég á mjög gamalt hross sem heitir Dimma.I have a very old horse named Dimma.
- Hestar eru mjög falleg dýr.Horses are beautiful animals.
- 5 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Jón and Sigríður are at a farm.
- JónSjáðu þennan hest.Look at this horse.
- SigríðurHann er mjög fínur hestur.He is a very fine horse.
- JónViltu að ég fari með hann?Do you want me to take him?
- SigríðurJá, taktu hann með þér.Yes, take him with you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “horse” translations and entries hestur, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0, Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
