The
English language contains various
two-letter words. Here is a short list of such words. Some of these words are debatable, because they are archaic, slang, or proper names.
Abbreviations
Many two-letter words are abbreviations of longer words. They are frequently slang or informal words.
- ab -- an abdominal muscle (slang)
- ad -- advertisement
- ag -- pertaining to agriculture
- bi -- bisexual (slang)
- ec -- economics (especially after "home")
- ed -- education (informal); also editor
- ep -- episode (slang)
- eq -- equalizer (for music recording)
- mo -- moment
- op -- operator (slang); also operation; opportunity (as in photo op); optical (as in op art); or opinion (as in op-ed)
- Oz -- nickname for the land of Australia
- ph -- pH (potential for hydrogen; power of hydrogen) a measure of acidity
- 'za -- an abbreviation from the end of pizza
Other Words
- aa -- a type of lava having a rough surface (pronounced "ah - ah")
- ab -- a month in the Hebrew calendar
- ae -- one (chiefly Scottish Gaelic)
- ah -- an interjection used to express various emotions such as surprise, delight, disgust, or pain
- ai -- a three-toed South American sloth
- al -- East Indian tree; also a hirsute creature said to Persian mythology to devour the souls of unborn children
- am -- first person singular present indicative of the verb "to be"
- an -- the indefinite article used before vowel sounds
- ao -- the god of the clouds in Polynesian mythology
- ar -- the letter "R"
- as -- a preposition meaning "to the same extent or degree"
- at -- a preposition meaning "in the area occupied by"
- av -- alternate romanization of ab
- aw -- an interjection used variously to express sympathy, tenderness, disapproval, or disbelief by means of slight differences in pronunciation
- ax -- axe
- ay -- alternate spelling of aye
- ba -- eternal soul in Egyptian mythology; also to kiss (archaic)
- be -- to exist
- bo -- friend; also a staff used in martial arts
- by -- preposition meaning "near to"
- ch -- I (obsolete)
- da -- a Burmese heavy knife
- de -- preposition meaning of or from in names and in phrases recently borrowed from the Latin or French (de jure, de facto, coup de grace)
- di -- a plural of deus (a god)
- do -- to execute; also first tone of the diatonic scale
- ea -- a river (obsolete); also the god of water in Babylonian mythology
- 'e'e -- an extinct Hawaiian bird
- ef -- the letter "F"
- eh -- an interjection used to indicate lack of understanding
- el -- the letter "L"; also the god of rain in Canaanite mythology
- em -- a type of dash used in typesetting; the letter "M"
- en -- a type of dash used in typesetting; the letter "N"
- er -- an interjection expressing hesitation
- es -- the letter "S"
- et -- a past tense form of "to eat"
- ex -- the letter "X"; also one's former spouse or love interest
- fa -- fourth tone of the diatonic scale
- fy -- an interjection expressing disgust (fie)
- Ga -- a language spoken in Ghana
- ge -- alternate spelling of Gaia
- gi -- a judo or karate costume
- go -- to move; also an oriental board game
- gu -- a simple violin used in Shetland (gju, gue)
- ha -- an interjection expressing triumph; also the god of the deserts in Egyptian mythology
- he -- third person singular masculine nominative pronoun
- hi -- hello
- hm -- and interjection expressing thought (hmm)
- ho -- interjection used to attract attention; also a contraction of hoe[?] (high ground) as in Westward Ho![?]; also a contraction of whore (slang)
- hu -- the god of the creation word in Egyptian mythology
- id -- one of the three components of the psyche
- if -- a conjunction meaning "in the event that"
- I'm -- contraction for "I am"
- in -- a preposition meaning "inside"
- io -- the daughter of Inachus in Greek mythology; also a moon of Jupiter; also an alternate spelling of Kiho; also a Hawaiian species of hawk
- is -- third person singular present indicative of "to be"
- it -- third person singular neutral pronoun
- ix -- one of the Bacabs in Mayan mythology
- jo -- dear, sweetheart (Scots)
- ka -- soul essence of life (Egyptian mythology)
- ki -- alternative spelling of qi from Japanese
- ku -- alternative spelling of tu from Hawaiian
- la -- sixth tone of the diatonic scale
- li -- a unit of distance; also an ethnic minority in southern China
- lo -- an interjection meaning "look!"
- ma -- mother
- me -- first-person singular objective-case pronoun; also a concept in Sumerian mythology
- mi -- third tone of the diatonic scale
- mm -- an interjection expressing satisfaction
- mu -- a letter in the Greek alphabet; also the name of hypothetical vanished continent in the Pacific Ocean
- my -- first person singular possessive adjective
- na -- no, not (obsolete)
- ne -- born with the name of (the male form of "nee")
- no -- not any
- nu -- a letter in the Greek alphabet; also the god of the ocean in Egyptian mythology; also an ethnic minority in China
- Ob -- a river in Siberia (one of the largest rivers in the world)
- od -- an alleged power used to produce mesmerism; also the wife of Freya in Norse mythology
- oe -- one; wind (Faroe isles[?])
- of -- derived from or belonging to
- oh -- an interjection indicating surprise
- oi -- a cry of joy (whee); also a sub-genre of punk music
- om -- a mystic syllable used by Hindus & Buddhists in various religious rites
- on -- a preposition meaning "above and in contact with"
- oo -- a rare Hawaiian bird
- or -- a conjunction used to indicate an alternative ; also a tincture in heraldry
- os -- narrow ridge of gravel and sand (esker); also orifice
- ou -- an interjection expressing concession
- ow -- an interjection indicating sudden pain
- ox -- a bovine mammal with hooves
- oy -- an interjection to draw someone's attention
- pa -- father
- pe -- a letter in the Hebrew alphabet
- pi -- a letter in the Greek alphabet and a mathematical constant
- po -- a chamber pot
- qi -- Chinese life force (chi)
- ra -- the god of the sun in Egyptian mythology; also an alternative spelling of Roua
- re -- second tone of the diatonic scale; also an alternative spelling of Ra
- ri -- an mythical creature said to be half human and half jellyfish
- Ro -- a constructed language of the "philosophical" type (words from similar categories begin with similar letters), invented by the Rev. Edward Powell Foster with his wife
- ru -- a fertility god in Polynesian mythology
- sh -- an interjection urging silence[?]
- si -- a note in the diatonic scale; also the god of the moon in Mochican[?] mythology
- so -- to the amount or degree expressed or understood; also fifth tone of the diatonic scale
- st -- an exclamation of impatience
- ta -- thank you (British)
- te -- seventh tone of the diatonic scale
- ti -- a small tree; also the seventh tone of the diatonic scale
- to -- towards
- tu -- the god of war in Polynesian mythology
- ua -- the god of rain in Polynesian mythology
- ug -- to cause hatred
- uh -- an interjection expressing hesitation
- ul -- the god of the moon in Polynesian mythology
- um -- an interjection expressing hesitation
- un -- one
- up -- to increase; a vertical direction opposite of down
- Ur -- a city in ancient Mesopotamia
- us -- the first person plural objective-case pronoun
- ut -- musical tone in French solmization system
- ve -- the brother of Odin in Norse mythology
- Wa -- an ethnic minority in southwestern China
- we -- the first person plural nominative-case pronoun
- wi -- the god of the sun in Lakota mythology
- wo -- alternate spelling of woe
- Wu -- a dialect of the Chinese language
- xe -- alternate spelling of sie
- xi -- a letter in the Greek alphabet
- xu[?] -- a Vietnamese monetary unit
- ya -- yes; also you
- ye -- you (subject or nominative); also the (archaic spelling), using y for the letter thorn)
- Yi[?] -- a minority language in China
- yo -- interjection used to call attention
- yu -- a precious jade
- zi -- a type of pseudonym used in Imperial China
- zo -- a Himalayan cross between a yak and a cow (also dzo)
Two-word Phrases
Several more of our two-letter words exist as parts of set phrases.
- ao -- in ao dai (the Vietnamese garment)
- et -- in et cetera
- id -- in id est (the expanded form of i.e.)
- la -- in sao la, a Vietnamese ox of the genus Pseudoryx, first discovered in the 1990s
- pu -- repeated twice in pu pu platter
- se -- from per se
- vu -- as in déjà vu
See also: List of all two-letter combinations
These sorts of lists are useful for some letter games, such as crossword puzzles or anagrams, or in word games, such as Scrabble.
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