duga
Latin, feminine
The Croatian word for rainbow is duga.
duga refers to the multicolored arch seen in the sky.
Meaning: multicoloured arch in the sky (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word is a feminine noun. The plural form is duge. When the rainbow is the direct object of a sentence, such as in 'I see a rainbow', the form changes to dugu.
Did you know?
- In Croatian, the word duga is a homonym for a word meaning 'debt'.
- In Croatian folklore, a duga was sometimes believed to be a bridge that spirits or supernatural beings used to travel between worlds.
- The word duga is a close relative of the English word 'long', as both come from an ancient root describing something extended or elongated.
Examples in context
- Duga se protezala preko cijelog neba.The rainbow stretched across the entire sky.
- Vidim dugu.I see a rainbow.
- Duga je prelijepa.The rainbow is beautiful.
- Nakon kiše se pojavila duga.A rainbow appeared after the rain.
Example conversation
Marko and Petra are walking outside after a storm.
- MarkoPetra, vidi onu veliku dugu!Petra, look at that big rainbow!
- PetraVau, duga izgleda stvarno predivno.Wow, the rainbow looks really beautiful.
- MarkoGdje misliš da završava?Where do you think it ends?
- PetraVjerojatno iza onih brda.Probably behind those hills.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “rainbow” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries duga, CC BY-SA 4.0.
