duru
/ˈdu.ru/feminine
Door in Old English is duru.
duru is the word for a door or gate, the opening into a building or room.
Meaning: portal of entry into a building, room or vehicle (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
duru is a feminine noun and the nominative singular form. When the door is the direct object of a verb, it becomes dura, as in þīne dura, thy door.
How do you pronounce it?
duru is pronounced /ˈdu.ru/, in two syllables with the stress on the first.
Did you know?
- While duru meant 'door', Old English used geat for 'gate'. In early Germanic society, a geat was often just a gap in a wall or fence rather than a swinging door with hinges.
- The word duru is a linguistic relative of the modern German word Tür. Both evolved from a common ancestor that described a portal.
- The word duru shares the same Proto-Germanic root, *durz, which is the distant linguistic relative of the modern English word 'door'.
Examples in context
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
…ac untīn mē þīne dura……But open to me Thy door…þīne dura means thy door, the object of the verb open. - late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Saint Augustine's Soliloquies
Þū ūs clypast tō ūrunm weġe, and ūs ġelēdest tō þǣre dura and ūs ðā untȳnst…Thou callest us back to our way, and leadest us to the door, and openest to us…þǣre dura means the door, after tō. - Sē hund stant æt þǣre duru.The dog stands at the door.
Example conversation
Wulfrun and Æthelstan are entering a small house.
- WulfrunÆðelstan, open þone lytlan duru.Æthelstan, open the little door.
- ÆthelstanHwær is se cæg for þære duru?Where is the key for the door?
- WulfrunIc hæbbe hine hēr on mīnum handa.I have it here in my hand.
- ÆthelstanNu we gangan innan.Now we go inside.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “door” translations and entries duru, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries duru, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
