лук
Cyrillic, masculine
The Serbian word for onion is лук. Wiktionary also lists црни лук and црвени лук.
Meaning: bulb (noun)
Ways to say it
| Serbian | Note |
|---|---|
| лук | Cyrillic, masculine |
| црни лук | Cyrillic, masculine |
| црвени лук | Cyrillic, masculine |
| luk | Latin, masculine |
| crni luk | Latin, masculine |
| crveni luk | Latin, masculine |
лук refers to an onion, though it is also used to refer to a leek depending on the context of a recipe or a market.
Which one should you use?
While лук is the general term, you can specify varieties: crni luk (or црни лук) refers to the regular brown onion and crveni luk (or црвени лук) refers to red onion.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some regions, crni luk (or црни лук) is used specifically to refer to the regular brown onion.
How does it change in a sentence?
лук is a masculine noun that follows standard declension. For example, if you need to express 'of the onion' (the genitive singular case) for possession or quantities, you use the form лука.
Did you know?
- The meaning of лук as 'bow' comes from an ancient root meaning 'to bend'.
- In traditional Serbian folk beliefs, onions were sometimes used as charms to ward off the 'evil eye' or illnesses.
- In Serbian, the word for garlic is бели лук, which literally means 'white onion'.
Examples in context
- Том је налик луку.Tom is like an onion.This sentence uses the comparison of someone being like an лук.Tatoeba #13589317 by principeazul, translation #13588663 by rul
- Molim vas, da li ima luk u ovoj supi?Excuse me, is there onion in this soup?
- Kupio sam tri glavice luka za večeru.I bought three onions for dinner.
- Da li imate crnog luka u prodavnici?Do you have any brown onions at the store?
- Купио сам један велики лук.I bought one large onion.
- Да ли ти треба лук?Do you need an onion?
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Marko and Jelena are preparing dinner together.
- MarkoЈелена, где је лук?Jelena, where is the onion?
- JelenaЛук је у фрижидеру.The onion is in the refrigerator.
- MarkoХвала, сада ћу га извадити.Thanks, I will take it out now.
- JelenaПази да се не посечеш.Be careful not to cut yourself.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “onion” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries luk, лук, црни лук, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
