do

Etymology 1

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, whence Danish du. 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 reflex would be *ded), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti, an athematic e-reduplicated verb of the same root *dʰeh₁-. The meaningless use of do in interrogative, negative, and affirmative sentences (e.g. "Do you like painting?" "Yes, I do"), existing in some form in most Germanic languages, is thought by some linguists to be one of the Brittonicisms in English, calqued from Brythonic. It is first recorded in Middle English, where it may have marked the perfective aspect, though in some cases the meaning seems to be imperfective. In Early Modern English, any meaning in such contexts was lost, making it a dummy auxiliary, and soon thereafter its use became mandatory in most questions and negations. Doublets include deed, deem, -dom, but not deal. Other cognates include, via Latin, English feast, festival, fair (“celebration”), via Greek, English theo-, theme, thesis, and Sanskrit दधाति (dadhāti, “to put”), धातृ (dhātṛ, “creator”) and धातु (dhātu, “layer, element, root”).

verb

1. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker.
   1. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker in a question whose main verb is not another auxiliary verb or be.
      Do you go there often?
   2. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker in negations with the indicative and imperative moods.
      I do not go there often.
      Do not listen to him.
   3. (auxiliary) A syntactic marker for emphasis with the indicative, imperative, and subjunctive moods.
      But I do go sometimes.
      Do tell us.
      “I don't know how you and the ‘head,’ as you call him, will get on, but I do know that if you call my duds a ‘livery’ again there'll be trouble. It's bad enough to go around togged out like a life saver on a drill day, but I can stand that 'cause I'm paid for it. […]” 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 7, in Mr. Pratt's Patients
      "Do stop it," said Susan; "it won't make things any better having a row between you two. Let's go and find Lucy." 1950, C. S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
   4. (pro-verb) 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.
      I play tennis; she does too.
      They don't think it be like it is, but it do. (nonstandard)
      Don't be a naughty baby, Come to papa, come to papa, do! My sweet embraceable you. 1930, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Embraceable You
2. (transitive) To perform; to execute.
   All you ever do is surf the Internet. What will you do this afternoon?
   The dirty secret of the internet is that all this distraction and interruption is immensely profitable. Web companies like to boast about […], or offering services that let you "stay up to date with what your friends are doing",[…]and so on. But the real way to build a successful online business is to be better than your rivals at undermining people's control of their own attention. 2013-06-21, Oliver Burkeman, “The tao of tech”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 48
3. (obsolete, transitive) To cause, make (someone) (do something).
   And also my lorde abbot of westmynster ded do shewe to me late, certayn euydences wryton in olde englysshe […] (please add an English translation of this quotation) 1490, William Caxton, “Prologue”, in Eneydos (in Middle English); republished as Caxton's Eneydos, London: Early English Text Society, 1890, page 2
4. (intransitive, transitive) To suffice.
   it’s not the best broom, but it will have to do; this will do me, thanks.
   "Here," she said, "take your old Bunny! He'll do to sleep with you!" And she dragged the Rabbit out by one ear, and put him into the Boy's arms. 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
5. (intransitive) To be reasonable or acceptable.
   It simply will not do to have dozens of children running around such a quiet event.
6. (ditransitive) To have (as an effect).
   The fresh air did him some good.
7. (intransitive) To fare, perform (well or poorly).
   Our relationship isn't doing very well; how do you do?
   Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field. 2013-07-20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
   1. (especially England, intransitive) To fare">fare well; to thrive; to prosper; (of livestock) to fatten.
      A big framed beast takes a lot of food — expensive food at that [—] to keep it doing […] 1908-09-21, “The fattening beast”, in Mark Lane Express Agricultural Journal, page 340
      That farm would go like a rick a-fire. It would do: it would go forward and prosper and make him his money. 1971, George Ewart Evans, quoting ploughman Charles Last (born 1878), Tools of Their Trades: An Oral History of Men at Work c. 1900, Taplinger Publishing Company, page 68
8. (transitive, chiefly in questions) To have as one's job.
   What does Bob do? — He's a plumber.
9. To perform the tasks or actions associated with (something).
   "Don't forget to do your report" means something quite different depending on whether you're a student or a programmer.
10. To cook.
    I'll just do some eggs.
    We went down below, and the galley-slave did some ham and eggs, and the first lieutenant, who was aged 19, told me about Sicily, and time went like a flash. 1944, “News from the Suburbs”, in Punch
    Next morning, they woke about ten o'clock, Kev, went for a shower while Alice, did some toast, put the kettle on, and when he came out, she went in. 2005, Alan Tansley, The Grease Monkey, page 99
11. (transitive) To travel in, to tour, to make a circuit of.
    After doing Paris and its suburbs, I started for London […] 1892, James Batchelder, Multum in Parvo: Notes from the Life and Travels of James Batchelder, page 97
    No tourist can get credit for seeing America first without doing New York, the Wonderful Town, the Baghdad-on-Hudson, the dream in the eye of the Kansas hooker […] July 22 1968, Ralph Schoenstein, “Nice Place to Visit”, in New York Magazine, page 28
    Let’s do New York also.
12. (transitive) To treat in a certain way.
    They did me well, I assure you—uncommon well: Bollinger of '84; green chartreuse fit for a prince; […] 1894, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, volume 87, page 59, column 1
    Upon my word, although he [my host] certainly did me uncommonly well, I began to feel I'd be more at ease among the bushmen. 1928, Dorothy L[eigh] Sayers, “The Abominable History of the Man with Copper Fingers”, in Lord Peter Views the Body
    "Why you gonna do me like that?" I ask. "Do what?" "Dog me." 1994, Jervey Tervalon, Understand This, page 50
13. (transitive) To work for or on, by way of caring for, looking after, preparing, cleaning, keeping in order, etc.
    The woman-who-did did not do very well, Juliet thought. 2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, page 291
14. (intransitive, obsolete) To act or behave in a certain manner; to conduct oneself.
15. (transitive) To spend (time) in jail. (See also do time)
    I did five years for armed robbery.
16. (transitive) To impersonate or depict.
    They really laughed when he did Clinton, with a perfect accent and a leer.
17. (with 'a' and the name of a person, place, event, etc.) To copy or emulate the actions or behaviour that is associated with the person or thing mentioned.
    He did a Henry VIII and got married six times.
    He was planning to do a 9/11.
18. (transitive, slang) To kill.
    About a year ago, a boy name Brandon got got here in Baltimore. Stuck and burned before he passed. […] Wasn't no need for y'all to do him the way y'all did. August 17, 2003, George Pelecanos, “Bad Dreams” (43:27 from the start), in The Wire, season 2, episode 11 (television production), spoken by Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), via HBO
    He's gonna do me, Jarvis. I kid you not, this time he's gonna do me proper. 2004, Patrick Stevens, Politics Is the Greatest Game: A Johannesburg Liberal Lampoon, page 314
    The order came and I did him right there. The bullet went right where it was supposed to go. 2007, E.J. Churchill, The Lazarus Code, page 153
19. (transitive, slang) To deal with for good and all; to finish up; to undo; to ruin; to do for.
    Sometimes they lie in wait in these dark streets, and fracture his skull, […] or break his arm, or cut the sinew of his wrist; and that they call doing him. 1870, Charles Reade, Put Yourself in His Place
20. (informal) To punish for a misdemeanor.
    He got done for speeding.
    Teacher'll do you for that!
21. (transitive, slang) To have sex with. (See also do it)
    […] one day I did her on the kitchen table, and several times on the dining-room table. 1996, James Russell Kincaid, My Secret Life, page 81
    The uninhibited woman within wanted to do him right there on the countertop, but I remained composed. 2008, On the Line, Donna Hill, page 84
22. (transitive) To cheat or swindle.
    That guy just did me out of two hundred bucks!
    He was not to be done, at his time of life, by frivolous offers of a compromise that might have secured him seventy-five per cent. 1852, Thomas De Quincey, Sir William Hamilton
23. (transitive) To convert into a certain form; especially, to translate.
    the novel has just been done into English; I'm going to do this play into a movie
24. (transitive, intransitive) To finish.
25. (archaic, dialectal, transitive, auxiliary) Used to form the present progressive of verbs.
    ...An' the dogs do bark, an' the rooks be a-vled to the elems high and dark, an' the water do roar at mill. 1844, William Barnes, “Evenén in the Village”, in Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect
26. (stock exchange) To cash or to advance money for, as a bill or note.
27. (informal, transitive, ditransitive) To make or provide.
    Do they do haircuts there?
    Could you do me a burger with mayonnaise instead of ketchup?
28. (informal, transitive) To injure (one's own body part).
    "Defender Kolo Toure admitted Given will be a loss, but gave his backing to Nielsen. 'I think he's done his shoulder,' said the Ivorian." 2010-04-24, “Given stretchered off with suspected broken shoulder”, in The Irish Times, retrieved 2015-07-21
    Watto will spend the entire winter stretching and doing Pilates, and do a hamstring after bending down to pick up his petrol cap after dropping it filling his car at Caltex Cronulla. 2014-04-14, Matt Cleary, “What do Australia's cricketers do on holiday?”, in ESPNcricinfo, retrieved 2015-07-21
    "'I knew straight away I'd done my ACL, I heard the sound - it was very loud and a few of the boys said they heard it as well,' Otten said." 2014-08-13, Harry Thring, “I knew straight away I'd done my ACL: Otten”, in AFL.com.au, retrieved 2015-07-21
29. (transitive) To take drugs.
    I do cocaine.
30. (transitive, in the form be doing [somewhere]) To exist with a purpose or for a reason.
    What's that car doing in our swimming pool?

noun

1. (UK, informal) A party, celebration, social function; usually of moderate size and formality.
   We’re having a bit of a do on Saturday to celebrate my birthday.
   She was into French cuisine but I ain't no Cordon Bleu / This was at some do in Palmers Green, I had no luck with her 1980, Jona Lewie, Keef Trouble (lyrics and music), “You'll Always Find Me in the Kitchen at Parties”, performed by Jona Lewie
   […]; this aside, though, neon forever the moniker of trash, this is a posh do, in an opera house full of folk in tuxes. 13 September 2013, Russell Brand, “Russell Brand and the GQ awards”, in The Guardian
2. (informal) Clipping of hairdo.
   Alternative form: 'do
   Nice do!
   I don't like to spend time on my hairstyle, so I usually just wear a do-rag.
   I like the new do. 2012, Hannah Richell, The Secrets of the Tides, page 464
3. (chiefly fossilized) Something that can or should be done.
   Don't forget the dos and don'ts.
   With the coming of Monday arrived a new life for David—a curious life full of "don'ts" and "dos." 1916, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter VIII, in Just David
4. (chiefly obsolete, fossilized in the UK) Something that has been done.
   "How come you quit?" "I'm moving to London." "Fair dos."
5. (archaic) Ado; bustle; stir; to-do; A period of confusion or argument.
   A great deal of do, and a great deal of trouble. 1689, John Selden, Table Talk
6. (obsolete, UK, slang) A cheat; a swindler.
7. (obsolete, UK, slang) An act of swindling; a fraud or deception.
8. (UK, slang) A homicide.
   Get it done, no not properly Them man thought that they got me True, I came back like a fucking zombie Attempted do with the ching Have an opp boy say “please don’t chong me!” 2020-12-04, “No fibs” (from 1:35 of the track, 18:51 of the whole mixtape), in (Zone 2) Karma × Trizzac (lyrics), Demented

Etymology 2

From the name of musicologist Giovanni Battista Doni, who suggested replacing the original ut with an open syllable for ease of singing. First found in Italian.

noun

1. (music) A syllable used in solfège to represent the first and eighth tonic of a major scale.

Etymology 3

Short for ditto.

adv

1. (archaic) Abbreviation of ditto.

Etymology 4

Shortening of dozen.

num

1. The cardinal number occurring after el and before do one in a duodecimal system. Written 10, decimal value 12.