dau (Welsh)

Where does "dau" come from?

The Welsh word 'dau', meaning two, traces its origins back to the ancient Proto-Indo-European root *dwóh₁. Over millennia, it evolved through Proto-Celtic as *duwo and then into Proto-Brythonic as *dow. This long linguistic journey ultimately shaped the modern Welsh term used today.

Full etymology tree

• dau (Welsh), 'two'
  • inherited *dow (Proto-Brythonic), 'two'
    • inherited *duwo (Proto-Celtic), 'two'
      • inherited *dwóh₁ (Proto-Indo-European), 'two'

Ancestors

• *dow (Proto-Brythonic)
• *duwo (Proto-Celtic)
• *dwóh₁ (Proto-Indo-European)

Descendants and derived words

• deuaidd (Welsh)
• deubegwn (Welsh)
• deubegwn (Welsh)
• deubol (Welsh)
• deuddeg (Welsh)
• deuol (Welsh)
• deuol (Welsh)
• deusain (Welsh)

Updated July 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris