Douro
/ˈdʊə.roʊ/noun
A major river of the Iberian Peninsula, flowing through Spain and Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean.
Did you know?Douro is generally treated as a pre-Roman, likely Celtic or pre-Celtic river name, and many ancient European river names preserve these mysterious substrate layers like linguistic fossils.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Roman period
Latin
Durius
“The Roman name for the river Douro”
Pre-Roman
Unknown
*Dur- / *Dour-
“A likely ancient river-name stem, probably meaning 'water' or 'flowing river'”
Medieval Latin
Latin
Durius
“Continued scholarly and administrative name for the river”
Medieval Romance
Iberian Romance
Douro / Duero
“Regional forms of the river name in Portuguese and Spanish”
Modern English
English
Douro
“The Portuguese name of the river Douro”