dau

noun

"dau" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dau” is uncommon English (frequency #57,968 among 26,416 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,968
frequency rank, English
26,416
“D” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Abbreviation of daughter or daughter of.

Key facts for dau
PropertyValue
Headworddau
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters3
Frequency rank#57,968
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “dau” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). dau lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dau is uncommon English at frequency #57,968 among 26,416 “D” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Abbreviation of daughter or daughter of.".

No misspelling variants are generated for dau in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is dau, spelled D-A-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Abbreviation of daughter or daughter of.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dau"?
"dau" is spelled D-A-U.
What does "dau" mean?
As a noun, "dau" means: Abbreviation of daughter or daughter of.
What language does "dau" come from?
"dau" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “dau”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list