danube
/ˈdænjuːb/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.14 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
A river in Europe; flowing 2,850 kilometers from the confluence of the Breg and Brigach at Donaueschingen, Germany, through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Ukraine, into the Black Sea.
name
A locale in the United States, named for the river:
name
A locale in the United States, named for the river:
Etymology
Attested since at least 1598 (also note Middle English Danby (“Danube”) att. in 15th c. Mandeville's Travels). Borrowed from Middle French Danube, from Old French Danube, from Latin Dānubius, from Proto-Celtic *Dānowyos (compare Welsh river name Donwy), an extended form of the river-name *Dānu, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂nu (“river, river goddess”), akin to *dʰenh₂- (“to set in motion; to flow”). Cognate with Latin fōns (“spring”), Persian دنیدن (danidan, “to hasten, run”), Ossetian дон (don, “water, river”), Sanskrit धन्वति (dhánvati, “it flows, runs”). More at Danube.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Danube, Dānubius, *Dānowyos, *déh₂nu