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do

Pronunciation: /də/

The English word “do” has 20 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be.
  2. A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
  3. A syntactic marker for emphasis with the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.
  4. A syntactic marker that refers back to an earlier verb and allows the speaker to avoid repeating the verb; in most dialects, not used with auxiliaries such as be, though it can be in AAVE.
  5. Should; ought to (especially in respect of a task to be repeated).
  6. Used to form the present progressive of verbs.
  7. To perform; to execute.
  8. To cause or make (someone) (do something).
  9. To suffice.
  10. To be reasonable or acceptable.
  11. To have (as an effect).
  12. To fare, perform (well or poorly).
  13. To fare well; to thrive; to prosper; (of livestock) to fatten.
  14. To have as one's job.
  15. To perform the tasks or actions associated with (something).
  16. To cook.
  17. To travel in or through, to tour, to make a circuit of.
  18. To treat in a certain way.
  19. To work for or on, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, etc.
  20. To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.

Etymology

From Middle English don, from Old English dōn, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, do, make”). For senses 4 and 5, compare Old Norse duga, also Northern English dow. The past tense form is from Middle English didde, dude, from Old English dyde, *diede, an unexpected development from Proto-Germanic *dedǭ/*dedē (the expected…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.