*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of Danu

Borrowed from Burmese ဓနု (dha.nu.).

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
name

The language spoken by the Danu people, considered by the Burmese government to be a dialect of the Intha-Danu language.

noun

An ethnic group of Myanmar.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Burmese ဓနု (dha.nu.).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": "+ people"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "my",
        "3": "ဓနု"
      },
      "expansion": "Burmese ဓနု (dha.nu.)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "ဓနု",
      "ဓနု#Burmese"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "The language spoken by the Danu people, considered by the Burmese government to be a dialect of the Intha-Danu language."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "4f146dce18335f24201e54599ed6660fa047c6a19daf5a98e6f7c288f0070cfd",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1a663da25abbf52ab165ad0ad5ea925e5040eda1046e9999d57bc20e4f287853",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 5432809
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "An ethnic group of Myanmar."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "plural",
        "plural-only"
      ],
      "recordId": "50eb0ef8fe223d6044af9c387d2731ce09f9c479b4c7a22f0c171c52aac70232",
      "rawRecordSha256": "9582589d9e28a8c12dc4e8de0701f20ac55ade134fe8e1d7d6df62f5cb90b4b6",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 5432808
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
name

A hypothesised goddess of Irish mythology.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Learned borrowing from Old Irish, from a reconstructed nominative form of the genitive Danann (also spelled Donand or Danand). In particular, Danann is attested in the term Tuatha Dé Danann, which is typically translated "tribe of Danu" but used as the collective name for certain Irish gods (or, more prosaically, the people of a particular wave of immigration to Ireland, in the traditional history). The etymology is controversial and has been debated since the 19th century. Some scholars identify Danu with the goddess Anu, perhaps as a contraction of día Anu ("goddess Anu").

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": "+ (Irish goddess)"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "lbor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sga",
        "3": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "Learned borrowing from Old Irish"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "Danann",
      "Danann#Old_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "Tuatha Dé Danann",
      "Tuatha Dé Danann#Old_Irish"
    ],
    [
      "Anu",
      "Anu#English"
    ],
    [
      "día",
      "día#Old Irish"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A hypothesised goddess of Irish mythology."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Irish"
      ],
      "recordId": "aacf6b7154484825be9411504acdd1ceabf1388499eba2e2005a0cf45442e849",
      "rawRecordSha256": "4d304ea1c0d93b8777c3d825fe979df6af3267093aecc01dcdc287732b7d73a8",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 5432810
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 3

Original entry ↗
name

A Hindu primordial goddess who had numerous children.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Sanskrit दनु (danu).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": "+ (Hinduism)"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sa",
        "3": "दनु"
      },
      "expansion": "Sanskrit दनु (danu)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "दनु",
      "दनु#Sanskrit"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "name",
      "glosses": [
        "A Hindu primordial goddess who had numerous children."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Hinduism"
      ],
      "recordId": "a552cc6e8c0a840f23c68049bd3cd3856218485efbd6ceb8c9c178e31c53113a",
      "rawRecordSha256": "a403b676f2000ad2ac45ceeb74c2c6040956382d23beaf9d52a239ca8717ab57",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 5432811
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for Danu →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-RGFudQ