Danube

Meaning

Proper Noun

• river continent, Europe ; flowing 2850 km from the confluence of the {{w Breg (river) Breg and Brigach at Donaueschingen, Germany, into the Black Sea in Romania}}.
• locale US (country) named for the river.

Origin

• Attested since at least 1598 (also note Middle English Danby ("Danube") att. in 15th c. Mandeville's Travels).
• Borrowed from Middle French Danube, from Old French Danube, from Latin Dānubius, 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-. Cognate with Latin fōns ("spring"), Persian دنیدن ("to hasten, run"), Ossetian дон ("water"), Sanskrit धन्वति ("it flows, runs").