door (English)

Where does "door" come from?

The English noun 'door' traces back through Middle English 'dore' and Old English 'duru', meaning 'door', alongside the related Old English form 'dor', meaning 'gate'[1]. These developed from Proto-West Germanic '*dur' and Proto-Germanic '*durz'[1][2][6]. Ultimately, the word derives from the Proto-Indo-European root '*dʰwer-', meaning 'doorway, door, gate', via the reconstructed noun '*dʰwṓr'[1][5]. This ancient root is widely preserved across Indo-European languages, visible in cognates such as German 'Tür', Latin 'foris', Ancient Greek 'thúra', and Sanskrit 'dvāra'.

Open questions

The Proto-Germanic form '*durz' is suggested to be a back-formation from an earlier neuter dual form '*dʰur-ih₁'. [4]

Full etymology tree

door (English), 'A portal of entry into a building, room, or vehicle, typically consisting of a rigid plane movable on a hinge. It may have a handle to help open and close, a latch to hold it closed, and a lock that ensures it cannot be opened without a key.'
- inherited dore (Middle English), 'door'
  - inherited duru (Old English), 'door'
    - inherited *dur (Proto-West Germanic), 'door, hatch, flap'
      - inherited *durz (Proto-Germanic), 'door, hatch, flap'
        back-formation *dʰur-ih₁ (Proto-Indo-European)
        derived *dʰwer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'door'
        inherited *dʰwṓr (Proto-Indo-European), 'door'
        suffix *dʰwer- (Proto-Indo-European), 'door'
        suffix *-s (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives feminine mobile-accented root nouns from roots.'
- inherited dor (Middle English), 'alternative form of der (“deer”)'
  - inherited dor (Old English), 'a large door, a gate'

Ancestors

*dʰwer- (Proto-Indo-European)
dore (Middle English)
duru (Old English)
*dur (Proto-West Germanic)
*durz (Proto-Germanic)
*dʰwṓr (Proto-Indo-European)

Cognates and doublets

derë (Albanian)
θύρα (Ancient Greek)
դուռ (Armenian)
deur (Dutch)
Tür (German)
Döör (German Low German)
द्वार (Hindi)
dyr (Icelandic)
doras (Irish)
foris (Latin)
durys (Lithuanian)
در (Persian)

Descendants and derived words

doa (Belizean Creole)
doa (Belizean Creole)
a creaking door hangs longest (English)
a creaking door hangs long on its hinges (English)
a golden key can open any door (English)
air door (English)
ashdump door (English)
at church every time the doors are open (English)
at church every time the doors swing open (English)
at death's door (English)
at Death's door (English)
at someone's door (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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