Etymology

duan

D2U1A1N1

Today it means: A division of a poem, especially an epic poem or a Scottish poem; a canto. Full definition →

Scottish Gaelic duan ← Middle Irish dúan ← Proto-Indo-European *dh₂p-no-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dh₂p-no-
  2. Middle Irish · derived fromdúan
  3. Scottish Gaelic · borrowed fromduan
  4. English todayduan

From Irish and Scottish Gaelic duan, from Middle Irish dúan, from Proto-Indo-European *dh₂p-no- (compare Old Armenian տաւն (tawn, “feast, celebration”), Ancient Greek δαπάνη (dapánē, “cost”), Old Norse tafn (“sacrificial animal”) and Latin damnum (“damage”)), from *deh₂p- (“to sacrifice”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.