List of two-letter English words

Table of contents

1 English Words 2 English use in a foreign phrase 3 Abbreviations 4 Words acceptable in Scrabble 4.1 OSPD - Official Scrabble Player's Dictionary (US) 4.2 OSW - Official Scrabble Words - Chambers (UK/Australia etc.) 4.3 SOWPODS/OSWI: a combination of OSPD and OSW used for International competition 5 See also

English Words

• aa – a type of lava having a rough surface (pronounced "ah - ah")
• Ab – alternate romanization of av
• ae – one adj. (chiefly Scots)
• 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 in 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 – a month of the Hebrew calendar
• 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 – part of the Egyptian soul; also to kiss (archaic)
• be – to exist
• bo – friend; also a weapon used in martial artss; also a sacred Indian fig tree
• by – preposition meaning "near to"
• ch – I (obsolete)
• da – a heavy Burmese 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 (with initial capital) 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; also short for "elevated train"
• 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; also used to mean "out of" in such phrases as ex cathedra or ex libris.
• 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 (with initial capital) the god of the deserts in Egyptian mythology
• he – third person singular masculine nominative pronoun
• hi – hello
• hm – and interjection expressing thought (hmm); also (as HM) used as an abbreviation of "His (or Her) Majesty"
• 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 of "I am"
• in – a preposition meaning "inside"
• io – an interjection; (all the following are with initial capital) 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 Maya mythology
• jo – dear, sweetheart (Scots)
• ka – Part of the Egyptian soul
• 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 (with initial capital) an ethnic minority in southern China
• lo – an interjection meaning "look!"
• ma – mother; also used in some dialects to mean "my"
• me – first-person singular objective-case pronoun; a variant of "mi"; also a concept in Sumerian mythology; also used in some dialects to mean "my"
• mi – third tone of the diatonic scale
• mm – an interjection expressing satisfaction
• mu – a letter in the Greek alphabet; also (with initial capital) the name of hypothetical vanished continent in the Pacific Ocean
• my – first person singular possessive adjective
• na – no, not (obsolete)
• né – born with the name of (the male form of "née")
• no – not any; also a general negative response; no. is also an abbreviation of the word "number"
• nu – a letter in the Greek alphabet; also (with initial capital) the god of the ocean in Egyptian mythology; also (with initial capital) 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 husband of Freya in Norse mythology
• oe – one; wind (Faroe Islands)
• 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 (pronounced "oh-oh"); also a Scottish word for "wool"
• 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 – a 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 (with initial capital) the god of the moon in Mochican mythology
• so – to the amount or degree expressed or understood; also a question asking what logically follows from a statement; 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 – a less common alternative to sie; (with initial capital) 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 (American)
• 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)

• 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

Many two-letter words are abbreviations, or apocopations 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