Bigrams
Two Letter Words

Here is a list of two letter words. Once you start a thing like this, it's hard to know when to stop. Some of these words dwell in the shadowy netherlands of English, only called into existence when a really intense Scrabble game has gone into overtime, or when an overeducated paranoid believes it almost possible to translate babytalk. A few of the words that appear only in Chambers Dictionary are a little hard to swallow, but that dictionary has some canonical sanction in International Scrabble circles.

aa
rough cindery lava; a stream
ab
a Hebrew month; Latin "from" as in "ab initio"; an abdominal muscle
ad
an advertisement; Latin "to", as in "ad hominem"; an advantage in tennis
ae
one (Scottish)
ag
pertaining to agriculture
ah
an exclamation of satisfaction or enlightenment
ai
a South American three-toed sloth
ak
mudar, an Indian shrub
al
an East Indian tree
am
the first person singular form of "to be"
an
an indefinite article
ao
the personification of light in Maori legend
ap
son of (Welsh)
ar
an are, a metric unit of square measurement; the letter "R"
as
equal; similar
at
on, in, near, by
au
with, as in "au jus", or, as I recall from the dorms, "with au jus gravy"
aw
an exclamation of disgust or dislike; a type of waterwheel floatboard
ax
an axe, a heavy blade on a short handle
ay
yes; always; an interjection
ba
the soul (ancient Egyptian); the second letter of the Arabic alphabet
bb
a shot size of 0.18 inches in diameter
be
to exist; an Arabic letter; the name of the letter "B"
bi
bisexual
bo
the sacred tree of Buddha; a Japanese Buddhist monk; a pal
bu
a Japanese coin
by
next to; due to
ca
canny (Scottish)
ce
the musical note "re" in the bebization scheme
ch
a dialect form of "ich", meaning "I"
co
company
da
"from", used in personal names; a heavy Burmese knife; a nickname for "dad"; ambary, an East Indian fiber plant
de
"from", used in personal names
do
to act; ditto; a musical note
dy
a type of lake sediment
ea
a Chaldean fish god; an inlet; a Peruvian drainage canal
ed
education
ee
an eye (Scottish)
ef
the name of the letter "F"
eh
an expression of inquiry or an admission of deafness
el
an elevated train; the name of the letter "L"
em
the name of the letter "M"; a printer's linear measure, the size of an "M"
en
the name of the letter "N"; a printer's linear measure, the size of an "N"
eo
a gambling game of the mid 18th century, whose outcome depended on a ball falling into slots marked "E" or "O" (evens and odds?)
er
an interjection of hesitation
es
a variant of "ess", the name of the letter "S"
et
Latin for "and"; ate
ex
former; the name of the letter "X"
fa
a musical note; the twentieth letter of the Arabic alphabet
fe
an Arabic letter
fi
a musical note between fa and so
fo
Chinese Buddha
fu
a Chinese prefecture
fy
a variant of "fie", an exclamation denoting disgust
ga
a people of Ghana, linguistically and culturally related to the Ashanti; the musical note "fa" in the bobization scheme
ge
Mother Earth; the musical note "ti" in the bobization scheme
gi
a costume used in judo and karate
go
to move; an oriental board game
gu
a Shetland Island violin
ha
an exclamation of triumph or disbelief; half a laugh; the sixth and twenty-sixth letters of the Arabic alphabet
he
that man; an Arabic letter
hi
hello
hm
an interjection expressing doubt or perplexity
ho
an exclamation of pleasure or surprise; half of Santa's laugh
id
a subconscious portion of the psyche embodying drives and urges
ie
a fiber mat; a screw pine
if
supposing that
in
located within
io
the beloved of the god Jupiter; a satellite of the planet Jupiter; a large Hawaiian hawk
is
exists; has the quality
it
that thing; that former girlfriend
ix
the axle of a cart or wagon
ja
yes (South African)
jo
a sweetheart (Scottish)
ju
a kind of Chinese pottery;
ka
a jackdaw (Scottish); an ethereal double (ancient Egyptian)
ke
the cry of the jackdaw
ki
an Asian Pacific tree
ko
a knockout in boxing; a Chinese liquid measure
ky
cattle (Scottish)
la
a musical note
li
a Chinese measure of distance
lo
an exclamation meaning "behold"
ly
an Ammanese measure of length
ma
mother; goddess of right (ancient Egyptian)
me
pronoun, first person singular accusative
mi
a musical note
mm
an interjection indicating satisfaction or pleasure
mo
a moment, as in "half a mo"; a Japanese unit of weight
mp
a legislator (member of parliament)
mu
a Greek letter, related to "M"
my
belonging to me
na
no, not
ne
not; nor; variant of "nee", born with the name of.
ni
the musical note "ti" in the bobization scheme
no
not any
nu
a Greek letter, related to "N"
ny
nigh
ob
an objection; a familiar of a Hebrew witch
od
a hypothetical force of that causes hypnotism
oe
a whirlwind off the Faroe Islands
of
coming from
og
king of Basan
oh
an interjection expressing surprise or agreement
oi
an interjection to attract the attention of British people
ok
correct
ol
a hydroxyl group which has the oxygen atom bonded to two metal atoms
om
a mantra
on
upon
oo
an extinct Hawaiian goose
op
a short work; a type of abstract art; an operator
or
a conjunction expressing an alternative
os
a bone; a mouth
ou
an interjection expressing concession
ow
an exclamation useful when being impaled
ox
a hoofed mammal
oy
an exclamation expressing pain or dismay
oz
not Kansas; Australia
pa
a Maori fortified village; father
pe
a Hebrew letter
pH
a measure of acidity/alkalinity
pi
a Greek letter related to "P"
po
a peacock
pu
a Chinese measure of distance
qi
in Chinese philosophy, the physical life-force
qu
the half-farthing
ra
a hawk-headed god (ancient Egyptian); the tenth letter of the Arabic alphabet
re
concerning; an Arabic letter; the second note of the sol-fa scale
ri
a Japanese measure of distance
sa
an Arabic letter
se
an Arabic letter; a Japanese measure of area
sh
an interjection requesting silence
si
a musical note, usually called "ti"
so
therefore; a musical note usually called "sol"
st
an interjection to attract attention
sy
a scythe
ta
the third and seventeenth letters of the Arabic alphabet; an expression of gratitude.
te
an Arabic letter; the seventh note of the sol-fa scale
ti
a Polynesian tree lily; a musical note, and NOT a drink with jam and bread!
to
in the direction of
tu
a Chinese measure of distance equal to 250 li
tv
television
ug
a variant of "ugh", an exclamation of disgust
uh
an interjection expressing hesitation
um
an interjection expressing hesitation
un
one, as in "a little un"
up
to raise; the direction from which rocks are dropped onto me
ur
of the Chaldees; an interjection expressing hesitation
us
pronoun, first person plural accusative
ut
the original name of the first note in the musical scale, now called "do"
va
to go on
ve
a brother of the Norse god Odin
vi
a Polynesian tree
vo
a creek
wa
a Siamese measure of length
we
pronoun, first person plural nominative
wo
woe; a call to a hawk to stop or return
xi
a Greek letter
xu
a monetary unit of Vietnam
ya
you; the final letter of the Arabic alphabet
ye
an obsolete form of the plural "you"; an Arabic letter
yi
a Chinese philosophical concept of the faithful performance of social duties
yo
an attention getting call, as in "Yo, Adrian!"
yu
a Chinese wine vessel
za
an Arabic letter
ze
an Arabic letter
zo
image (Japanese); Asian cattle

We can summarize the results by marking words with a star in the simple table below, where the first letter of the word is given on the left, and the second letter along the top. 

            abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

         A  ab.de.ghi.klmnop.rstu.wxy.
         B  ab..e...i.....o.....u...y.
         C  a......h......o...........
         D  a...e.........o.........y.
         E  a..def.h...lmno..rst...x..
         F  a...e...i.....o.....u...y.
         G  a...e...i.....o.....u.....
         H  a...e...i...m.............
         I  ...def.......no...st...x..
         J  a.............o.....u.....
         K  a...e...i.....o.........y.
         L  a.......i.....o.........y.
         M  a...e...i...m.op....u...y.
         N  a...e...i.....o.....u...y.
         O  .b.defghi.klmnop.rs.u.wxyz
         P  a...e...i.....o.....u.....
         Q  ........i...........u.....
         R  a...e...i.................
         S  a...e..hi.....o....t....y.
         T  a...e...i.....o.....uv....
         U  ......gh....mn.p.rst......
         V  a...e...i.....o...........
         W  a...e.........o...........
         X  ........i...........u.....
         Y  a...e...i.....o.....u.....
         Z  a...e.........o...........

Last modified on 03 July 2017.