Donua

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *Dānowyos (compare Welsh river name Donwy), an extended form of the river-name *Dānu, from Proto-Indo-European *déh₂nu (“river goddess”), akin to *dʰenh₂- (“to set in motion; to flow”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdo.nu.ɑ/

Proper noun

Donua f

1. (indeclinable) Danube
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Þā wæs Donua sēo ēa swā swīþe oferforen, þæt hīe ġetruwedon þæt hīe ofer þām īse faran mehten, ac hīe mǣst ealle þǣr forwurdon.

     Then the River Danube was so thickly frozen over that they thought they could travel over the ice, but most all of them perished there.

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “Donua”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.