Do
Old English dōn, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch doen and German tun, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek tithēmi ‘I place’ and Latin facere ‘make, do’.
wiktionary
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, from Proto-Germanic *dedǭ/ *dedē, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰédʰeh₁ti, an athematic e-reduplicated verb of the same root *dʰeh₁-.
The obligatory, meaningless use of do in interrogative, negative, and—formerly—affirmative sentences, which is unusual in Germanic languages, is thought by some linguists to be one of the Brittonicisms in English, calqued from Brythonic. [1] 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.
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.
Short for ditto.
Shortening of dozen.
etymonline
do (v.)
"perform, execute, achieve, carry out, bring to pass by procedure of any kind," etc., etc., Middle English do, first person singular of Old English don "make, act, perform, cause; to put, to place," from West Germanic *doanan (source also of Old Saxon duan, Old Frisian dwa, Dutch doen, Old High German tuon, German tun), from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put, place."
Use as an auxiliary began in Middle English. Sense of "to put, place, lay" is obsolete except in phrases such as do away with. Periphrastic form in negative sentences (They did not think) replaced the Old English negative particles (Hie ne wendon).
Meaning "visit as a tourist" is from 1817. In old slang it meant "to hoax, cheat, swindle" (1640s). Slang meaning "to do the sex act with or to" is from 1913.
Slang do in "bring disaster upon, kill" is by 1905. To have to do with "have concern or connection with" is from late 13c. To do without "dispense with" is from 1713. Expression do or die indicating determination to succeed despite dangers or obstacles is attested from 1620s.
Compare does, did, done.
do (n.1)
1590s, "commotion, trouble" (a sense now obsolete), from do (v.). From 1630s as "act of doing;" by 1824 as "something done in a set or formal manner;" by 1835 as "a cheat, a swindle." Phrase do's and dont's "things that out and ought not to be done" (variously apostrophed) is by 1899.
do (n.2)
first (and last) note of the diatonic scale, by 1754, from do, used as a substitution for ut (see gamut) for sonority's sake, first in Italy and Germany. U.S. slang do-re-mi "money" is from 1920s, probably a pun on dough in its slang sense of "cash."
