دو

See also: ذو and Appendix:Variations of "du"

Baluchi

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *dwáH (compare Persian دو (do), Northern Kurdish du, Pashto دوه (dwa), Avestan 𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀 (duua)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH (compare Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Hindi दो (do)/Urdu دو (do), Punjabi ਦੋ (do)), from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ (compare Russian два (dva), Greek δύο (dýo), Spanish dos, English two).

Numeral

دو • (do)

1. two

Noun

دو • (do)

1. two (digit)

Brahui

Etymology

Perhaps borrowed from an Indo-Aryan descendant of Sanskrit दोस् (dos, “forearm”).

Noun

دُو (dū)

1. (anatomy) hand

References

• Bray, Denys (1934) “dū”, in The Brahui Language‎^[2], Calcutta, India: Superintendent Government Printing, Part II: The Brāhūī Problem; Part III: Etymological Vocabulary, page 101

Gilaki

Numeral

دو (do)

1. two

Pahari-Potwari

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit द्व (dva). Compare Hindi दो (do).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

Numeral

دو (do)

1. meaning two

Persian

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁

Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH

Persian دو

Inherited from Middle Persian 𐭲𐭥𐭩𐭭 (tʿyn /⁠dō⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Indo European cognates include Northern Kurdish du, Pashto دوه (dwa), Avestan 𐬛𐬎𐬎𐬀 (duua), Sanskrit द्व (dvá), Hindi दो (do)/Urdu دو (do), Punjabi ਦੋ (do), Russian два (dva), Lithuanian du, Greek δύο (dýo), Spanish dos, English two, etc.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [du], [duː], [doː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪uː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪uː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪uː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪u]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪u]

Readings
Classical reading?	du, dū, dō
Dari reading?	dū
Iranian reading?	do
Tajik reading?	du

Numeral

Persian numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  →
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دوم (dovom)

Dari	دو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ду

دو • (du / do) (Persian numeral ۲)

1. two

Noun

دو • (du / do)

1. two

Etymology 2

Ultimately derived from Italian do.

Pronunciation

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪oː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o]

Readings
Dari reading?	dō
Iranian reading?	do

Noun

دو • (dō / do)

1. (music) C, Do (the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale)
2. (music) Do (the first note of the movable-Do solfège scale, i.e. the tonic)

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [daw]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪ow]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪äw]

Readings
Classical reading?	daw
Dari reading?	daw
Iranian reading?	dow
Tajik reading?	dav

Verb

دو • (daw / dow)

1. present stem of دویدن (dawīdan / davidan, “to run”)

Etymology 4

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• (Dashtestan, Khesht) IPA^(key): /duː/

Noun

دو • (du)

1. Colloquial form of دوغ (dōġ / duġ)

Punjabi

Western Panjabi numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  → [a], [b]
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دُوجا (dūjā)     Adverbial: دُہرا (duhrā)     Collective: دوویں (doveṉ)     Fractional: اَدّھا (addhā)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit द्व (dva). Compare Hindi दो (do).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

دو • (do) (Gurmukhi spelling ਦੋ)

1. two

Urdu

Urdu numbers ^(edit)

	20
←  1	۲ 2	3  →
Cardinal: دو (do)     Ordinal: دُوسْرا (dūsrā), دُوجا (dūjā), دُوَم (duvam)     Multiplier: دُگْنا (dugnā), دوگُنا (dogunā), دُہْرا (duhrā)     Distributive: دُونا (dūnā)     Collective: دونوں (donõ)     Fractional: آدھا (ādhā), نِصْف (nisf), نیم (nem)

Alternative forms

• ۲ (2) — native script symbol

Etymology

Inherited from Old Hindi दो (do), from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀤𑁄 (do), from Sanskrit द्व (dvá), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *dwáH, from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪oː/

• Audio:

  (file)

Numeral

دو • (do) (Hindi spelling दो)

1. two

References

• Jaroslav Strnad (2013) Morphology and Syntax of Old Hindī : Edition and Analysis of One Hundred Kabīr Vānī Poems From Rājasthān (Brill's Indological Library; 45), Leiden, →OCLC, page 241
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 380

Further reading

• S. W. Fallon (1879) “دو”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co., page 642
• Platts, John T. (1884) “دو”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 530
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “دو”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 316
• “دو”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• John Shakespear (1834) “دو”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC, page 883
• “دو”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.