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
- (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.
- late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans
References
- Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “Donua”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.