Fun Words for Pie Charts in Languages I Speak

I like languages, and I like data (I like languages a lot more; I speak 8-10, though I only get by in the last couple, and I’m omitting a couple I’ve forgotten due to disuse, like Swahili). And I like pies, cakes, and every circular food I’ve encountered.

And while I’m no fan of pie charts (because they only tell part of a story), I do like how they have cute names in other languages.

Below are the words for “pie chart” in a few of the languages I speak. (In other ones, it usually is a direct translation for “pie chart”).

This is a post about words and phrases I’ve actually come across in other languages, as I’ve worked in a few multilingual environments.

A minimalist and bold illustration of a vibrant pie chart with each slice representing a different language through cultural symbols.

French — Un Camembert

My favourite first, because I learned this one organically, speaking with a friend. In French, a pie chart is a “camembert” (but pronounce it French, i.e. “un camembert“).

I was once speaking to a friend about I don’t know what, when he cited a statistic, saying “Si tu prends un camembert…” I didn’t even know what he was talking about (“Why did he suddenly mention cheese?“). At home, I looked it up, and actually burst out laughing. I love it. It’s classic.

Example: “Le camembert montre la répartition des ventes par région.” (The pie chart shows the distribution of sales by region.)

Italian/German/Others — Un Diagramma a Torta, Das Tortendiagramm

In quite a few languages, the metaphor for a circular chart is a “cake chart”. I’m more of a cake guy than a pie guy, so I’ll take it!

In Italian, a pie chart is “un diagramma a torta“. To be honest, I was really hoping it’d be a “pizza”, which it is in Portuguese (which I don’t speak). C’mon, Italy, learn from the French, and be more of a cliché.

Example: “Il diagramma a torta illustra la composizione del nostro portfolio.” (The pie chart illustrates the composition of our portfolio.)

In German, a pie chart is called a “Kreisdiagramm” (circle diagram) or “Tortendiagramm” (cake diagram). Germans also have excellent cakes (e.g. one of my favourites, a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, or “Black Forest Cake”), so I’m going to go with the second.

Example: “Das Tortendiagramm zeigt die Marktanteile der führenden Unternehmen.” (The pie chart shows the market shares of the leading companies.)

The “cake” metaphor exists in a few other languages, too

Turkish: pasta grafiği (“pasta” means “cake” in Turkish)
Spanish: gráfico de tarta or gráfico de pastel depending on region. But this is seemingly less common than gráfico circular.
Hebrew: תרשים עוגה (tarshim ugah).

Chinese — 饼图

In Chinese, a pie chart is a “饼图” (traditional: 餅圖, pinyin: bǐngtú).

In Chinese, a 饼 (bǐng) is a circular pastry that can be savoury or sweet, depending on characters before it. A few common ones are:

煎饼 (Jiānbing): A savory crepe-like street food, often filled with egg, scallions, and crispy wonton skin.
肉饼 (Ròubǐng): A savory meat pie, usually filled with minced pork or beef and vegetables.
月饼 (Yuèbǐng): Mooncakes, traditionally eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They can be sweet or savory.
烙饼 (Láobǐng): A greasy, wide, flat, savoury bread, sold as street food, delicious alone or with everything (I used to get these right outside my house).
老婆饼 (Lǎopóbǐng): “Wife cake,” a Cantonese pastry with a thin crust and a sweet filling made from winter melon and almond paste.

Man, thinking of all these is making my mouth water! But to bring it back to reality, let’s talk about data.

Example: “这个饼图显示了公司各部门的预算分配。” (Zhège bǐngtú xiǎnshìle gōngsī gè bùmén de yùsuàn fēnpèi.) (This pie chart shows the budget allocation for each department of the company.)