Danube
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Dan·ube
(dăn′yo͞ob) A river of south-central Europe rising in southwest Germany and flowing about 2,850 km (1,770 mi) southeast through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Balkan Peninsula to the Black Sea. It has been a major trade route since the Middle Ages.
Dan·u′bi·an adj.
Word History: Across Europe, from Russia to England, there are rivers with names beginning with a d and also containing an n: the Don, the Dnieper, and the Dniester of Russia and Ukraine, the Danube of central Europe, and the six rivers called Don in Britain. All of these names come from the Proto-Indo-European word *dānu-, meaning "river" and derived from the root *dā- "to flow, flowing." In Avestan, the earliest Iranian language we know, dānu- means "river, stream." In modern Ossetic (the language of the Ossets, descendants of the Scythians, an Iranian tribe of the Russian steppes), don means "river, stream." This word appears in the name of the Don River of Russia. Dnieper and Dniester (earlier Danapris and Danastius, respectively) come from Scythian Dānu apara and Dānu nazdya ("the river in the rear" and "the river in front," respectively). The name of the six rivers called Don in Britain comes from the Celtic version of the "river" word, also *dānu-. This Celtic word survives more or less intact in the name of the Danube, which was called Dānuvius by the Romans. The presence of Celtic river names both in central Europe and in Britain attests to the Celts' earlier glory, and recalls a time when Celtic languages were spoken across Europe from the valley of the Danube in the east to Spain and Ireland in the west.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Danube
(ˈdænjuːb)n
(Placename) a river in central and SE Europe, rising in the Black Forest in Germany and flowing to the Black Sea. Length: 2859 km (1776 miles). German name: Donau Czech name: Dunaj Hungarian name: Duna Croatian and Serbian name: Dunav Romanian name: Dunărea
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Dan•ube
(ˈdæn yub)n.
a river in central and SE Europe, flowing E from S Germany to the Black Sea. 1725 mi. (2775 km) long. German, Donau. Hungarian, Duna. Czech and Slovak, Dunaj. Romanian, Dunărea.
Dan•u′bi•an, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Noun | 1. | ![]() Bulgaria, Republic of Bulgaria - a republic in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe Czechoslovakia - a former republic in central Europe; divided into Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 Deutschland, FRG, Germany, Federal Republic of Germany - a republic in central Europe; split into East Germany and West Germany after World War II and reunited in 1990 Romania, Roumania, Rumania - a republic in southeastern Europe with a short coastline on the Black Sea Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Jugoslavija, Serbia and Montenegro, Union of Serbia and Montenegro, Yugoslavia - a mountainous republic in southeastern Europe bordering on the Adriatic Sea; formed from two of the six republics that made up Yugoslavia until 1992; Serbia and Montenegro were known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until 2003 when they adopted the name of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro Austria, Oesterreich, Republic of Austria - a mountainous republic in central Europe; under the Habsburgs (1278-1918) Austria maintained control of the Holy Roman Empire and was a leader in European politics until the 19th century |
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Translations
Дунав
Dunaj
Donau
Doonau
Tonava
Dunav
Duna
Donau
Dóná
Dunaj
Dunăre
Dunaj
Donava
Donau
Дунай
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
Danube
n → Donau f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995