Two-letter English word

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.

Table of contents

1 Abbreviations

2 Other Words

3 Two-word Phrases

4 Internal Links

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

These sorts of lists are useful for some letter games, such as crossword puzzles or anagrams, or in word games, such as Scrabble.