don

synonyms, antonyms, definitions, examples & translations of don in English

English Online Dictionary. What means don‎? What does don mean?

English

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /dɒn/
(General American) IPA^(key): /dɑn/
Homophones: Don; dawn (cot–caught merger)
Rhymes: -ɒn

Etymology 1

From Latin dominus (“lord, head of household”), akin to Italian don, Sicilian don, Spanish don; from domus (“house”). Doublet of dom, domine, dominie, and dominus.

Noun

don (plural dons)

A university professor, particularly one at Oxford or Cambridge.
An employee of a university residence who lives among the student residents.
A mafia boss.
A (usually Spanish or Italian) title of respect to a man, especially a lord or nobleman.
Coordinate term: donna
(MLE) Any man, bloke, dude.
Synonym: donny

Derived terms

Related terms

donzel

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English don (“to put on”), from Old English dōn on; equivalent to do +‎ on. Compare also doff, dup, dout.

Verb

don (third-person singular simple present dons, present participle donning, simple past and past participle donned)

(transitive) To put on clothing; to dress (oneself) in an article of personal attire.
Synonyms: put on, clothe, dight, enrobe; see also Thesaurus:clothe

Antonym: doff

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

NOD, ODN, nod

Albanian

Alternative forms

do (Standard Albanian)

Etymology

Gheg variant of Standard Albanian do (“(it) wants, needs, loves, likes”) and do (“you want, need, love, like”).

Verb

don (aorist dashta, participle dashtë) (Gheg forms)

you want, need
A don me shkue? (Gheg) ― Do you want to go?
you like
Rita e don Gjergjin. (Gheg) ― Rita likes/wants George.
you love
it wants, needs
it likes
it loves

Conjugation

Standard Albanian conjugation:

Related terms

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Proto-Turkic *tōn. Cognate with Chuvash тум (tum).

Noun

don (definite accusative donu, plural donlar)

dress (worn by women)
Synonym: paltar
gown (loose, flowing upper garment)
(figurative) raiment, attire, garb, habiliments
appearance, look (of a person)

Declension

Derived terms

donatmaq (“adorn”) (dialectal)
- donanmaq
donlu

Related terms

donanma (“fleet; navy”)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Turkic *doŋ (“frozen; frost”). See Bashkir туң (tuñ) for more cognates.

Adjective

don (comparative daha don, superlative ən don)

frozen, congealed

Noun

don (definite accusative donu, plural donlar)

frost
ice-covered ground, black ice

Derived terms

donmaq
- dondurmaq
  - dondurma (“ice-cream”)

Balinese

Etymology

From Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

don (Balinese script ᬤᭀᬦ᭄)

leaf

References

Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen; et al. (2023) “*dahun”, in the CLDF dataset from The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (2010–), →DOI

Bambara

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [dõ˦õ˨]

Noun

don

Etymology 2

Verb

don (tone dòn)

(intransitive) to enter
(transitive) to put (something into something)
to put on, wear (of clothing)

Derived terms

donda

Etymology 3

Predicative

don (tone dòn)

marks the predicate

References

2007. The UCLA Phonetics Lab Archive. Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Department of Linguistics.

Breton

Etymology

From Proto-Brythonic *duβn, from Proto-Celtic *dubnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubʰnós.

Adjective

don

deep

Casiguran Dumagat Agta

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

dön

leaf (of a plant)

Czech

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish don, which is from Latin dominus (“lord”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈdon]
Rhymes: -on

Noun

don m anim

(in Italian environment) (Originally a title of honour of the Pope, later used for all priests and later for aristocrats)
don Giovanni ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
(Spanish noble title) [19th c.]
(title of respect in front of Spanish given names)
don José ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
don (maffia boss)

Declension

Related terms

Anagrams

Dupaningan Agta

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

don

leaf (of a plant)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French don, from Latin dōnum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔ̃/
Homophones: dom, dons, dont

Noun

don m (plural dons)

gift, talent, knack
gift (present)
donation

Derived terms

don de sang
don du ciel

Derived terms

faire don

Gagauz

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /don/

Etymology 1

Ultimately Inherited from Proto-Turkic *tōn. Cognate with Turkish don. Distantly related to Russian штаны (štany).

Noun

don (definite accusative donu, plural donnar)

pants, trousers
Synonyms: pantalon, çaaşır

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Ultimately Proto-Turkic *toŋ.

Adjective

don (comparative taa don, superlative en don)

frozen, congealed
don er ― frozen ground
frozen, immobile
frozen; flabbergasted, appealed, shocked

Related terms

Galician

Etymology

From Late Latin domnus, from Latin dominus (“lord”). Cognates include Spanish don.

Noun

don m (plural dons, feminine dona, feminine plural donas)

sir, mister

Synonyms

(courtesy treatment): señor

Related terms

dono

Irish

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

do’n (superseded)
’on (colloquial)

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /d̪ˠənˠ/
(Galway) IPA^(key): /ɡənˠ/

Contraction

don

contraction of do an
Thug mé don bhuachaill é. ― I gave it to the boy.

Tá mé ag dul don Spáinn. ― I'm going to Spain.

Usage notes

This contraction is obligatory, i.e. *do an never appears uncontracted. It triggers lenition of a following consonant other than d, s, or t.

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Irish don (“misfortune, evil”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /d̪ˠɔnˠ/
(Ulster) IPA^(key): /d̪ˠʌnˠ/

Noun

don

misfortune

Usage notes

Used only in a few stock maledictions such as Do dhon is do dhuais ort!, Don is duais ort!, Mo dhon is mo dhograinn ort! (all basically "bad luck to you!") and Don d’fhiafraí ort! (“Don’t be so inquisitive!”).

Derived terms

Mutation

Italian

Alternative forms

dom (archaic)

Etymology

From a shortening of an earlier donno, from dom'no (used by Dante), from Latin domnus < dominus. Compare Sicilian don.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdɔn/
Rhymes: -ɔn
Hyphenation: dòn

Noun

don m (invariable)

Father (a title given to priests)
a title of respect to a man

Descendants

→ French: dom

Jamaican Creole

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdan/
Hyphenation: don

Etymology 1

Derived from English don, particularly in the sense of a crime boss.

Noun

don (plural don dem, quantified don)

don, leader, community leader, crime boss, head of a garrison

Derived terms

don dada

Etymology 2

Derived from English done.

Verb

don

As an auxiliary verb:
1. (auxiliary, taking a past tense) Used as a remote past marker
to order to cease, to desist (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Adjective

don

done, finished, completed (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Japanese

Romanization

don

Rōmaji transcription of どん
Rōmaji transcription of ドン

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English dōn, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną.

Alternative forms

donne, doyn, do, doon

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /doːn/
Rhymes: -oːn

Verb

don

To do, perform (an activity)
To complete, finish
To make, create
To put, place, position, raise
To remove, take away
To go or move (in a specified direction)
To behave (in a specified manner)
(auxiliary) To cause (an action or state)
(auxiliary) Emphasises the verb that follows it
(auxiliary) Stands in for a verb in a dependent clause

Usage notes

As in modern English, several uses of this verb are highly idiomatic.

Conjugation

Derived terms

doer

Descendants

English: do
Geordie English: de, dee, div
Scots: dae, dee (Doric)
Yola: doone, deen

References

“dọ̄n, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-03-12.
Wright, Joseph, and Elizabeth Mary Wright. An Elementary Middle English Grammar, p193. Oxford University Press, 1923.

Etymology 2

From Old English dōn on.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔn/

Verb

don

(Late Middle English) to put on

Conjugation

Descendants

English: don
Yola: don

References

“don, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Middle Low German

Etymology

From Old Saxon dōn.

Verb

dôn

to do

Conjugation

Irregular: present 1sg dô, 2sg deist (dôst, dṏst), 3sg deit (dôt, dṏt), pl. dôn, dôt, dṏt, preterit 1sg dede, 2sg dêdest, 3sg dede, pl. dêden, past participle gedân, dân

Nigerian Pidgin

Etymology

From English done.

Verb

don

has/have (perfect aspect auxiliary)

Northern Kurdish

Alternative forms

dihn, dohin, dohn, duhn, dwîn

Etymology

From Arabic دُهْن (duhn). But compare Turkish donyağı, don yağı (“tallow”), which is said to be from the root of donmak (“to freeze”).

Noun

don m

(melted) fat, grease
Synonym: bez

Bîne nanê genimî, duhn bide, bêxe leşê min, ezê sax bim. ― Bring wheat bread, spread it with fat, put it on my body and I shall be cured [i.e., come to life again].

References

Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “don”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume I, London: Transnational Press, page 201b
Gülensoy, Tuncer (1994) “don”, in Kürtçenin Etimolojik Sözlüğü [Etymological Dictionary of Kurdish]‎^[4] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, page 65

Northern Sami

Etymology 1

From Proto-Samic *tonë.

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈton/

Pronoun

don

you (singular)

Inflection

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

(Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈtoːn/

Determiner

dōn

accusative/genitive singular of dōt

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin dōnum.

Pronunciation

Noun

don m (plural dons)

gift (something given to another voluntarily)
gift (a talent or natural ability)
donation (a voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause)

Related terms

dar
donar

Old English

Alternative forms

doan — Anglian
doa, doæ, doe — Northumbrian

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do”). The exact development of past tense forms dyde, dydest, and dydon is unexplained, for such forms have -y- instead of expected *-e- (*dede, *dedest, *dedon) from Proto-Germanic past stem *ded-/*dēd-.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /doːn/

Verb

dōn

to do
- c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 17:12
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 41:55
- c. 995, Ælfric, Extracts on Grammar in English
- c. 992, Ælfric, "Sermon on the Beginning of Creation"
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 3:8
to make, cause
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Passion of St. Bartholomew the Apostle"
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 3:3
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 4:19
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 42:36
- c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Andrew the Apostle"
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "Memory of the Saints"
to put
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Mark 7:33
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 26:52
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 9:23
to add
to take off, remove
- late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Exodus 3:5
to treat someone (+ dative) a certain way
- c. 973, Æthelwold, translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict
- late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
- c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Luke 16:19
to give (+dative)
- late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"

Usage notes

Old English does not have do-support. While dōn does have auxiliary function in Old English, such uses are purely causative, equivalent to modern "to make" or "to cause to" (as per sense 2 above). Therefore, when asking "do you hate me?", one would say hatast þū mē? (literally "hatest thou me?"), not dēst þū mē hatian? (which would instead mean "do you make me hate?").
There are some emphatic uses of dōn that bear some resemblance to do-support constructions, often involving the ǣġþer ġe ("both ... and ...") construction and other verbs in apposition, although the apposed verbs are finite rather than infinitives. In such contexts, dōn is generally better translated with "to be", and the apposed verbs with participles or adjectives as necessary: sē catt dēþ ǣġþer ġe slǣpð ġe wacaþ ("the cat is both asleep and awake", or if translated with do-support, "the cat does both sleep and be awake").
Dōn can be used as a pro-verb (i.e. standing in for another verb, generally replacing one that was previously mentioned to avoid repetition), like the modern verb: Hatast þū mē swā swā hēo dēþ? ("Do you hate me like she does?")

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle English: don, donne, doyn, do, doon
- English: do
- Geordie English: de, dee, div
- Scots: dae, dee (Doric)
- Yola: doone, deen

References

Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “don”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Old French

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Latin donum.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dun/

Noun

don oblique singular, m (oblique plural dons, nominative singular dons, nominative plural don)

gift

Descendants

French: don
→ Middle English: done

Old Irish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [don]

Etymology 1

Univerbation of di (“of/from”) +‎ in (“the sg”)

Article

don

of/from the sg

Alternative forms

dond, dont, dun, dund

Etymology 2

Univerbation of do (“to/for”) +‎ in (“the sg”)

Article

don

to/for the sg

Alternative forms

dond, dont, dun, dund, dúnn

Etymology 3

Noun

don (gender unknown)

misfortune, evil

Descendants

Irish: don

Mutation

Old Saxon

Alternative forms

doan
dūan
duon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *dōn. Compare Old English dōn, Old Frisian dwā, dūa, duā, Old Dutch duon, Old High German tuon.

Verb

dōn

to do
- 9th c. Heliand, verse 1456
to put
- 9th c. Heliand, verse 4389-4390

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

Middle Low German: dôn
- Low German: deoen (Paderbornisch), dohn (Münsterländisch); doon

References

Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)

Old Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /(ˈ)don/

Etymology 1

From Late Latin dom, from domnus (“master, sir”), from Latin dominus, from domus (“a house”).

Noun

don m (plural dones)

(honorific) sir, master; a title prefixed to male given names

Descendants

Spanish: don (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

From Latin dōnum (“a gift”), from dō (“I give”).

Noun

don m (plural dones)

gift, talent

Descendants

Spanish: don

Etymology 3

Shortening of dont.

Adverb

don

apocopic form of dont; where

Descendants

Spanish: do

Scottish Gaelic

Alternative forms

dhan

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /t̪ɔn̪ˠ/
Hyphenation: don

Preposition

don (+ dative)

(higher register) contraction of do an
Chaidh i don bhùth. ― She went to the shop.

Usage notes

Like the bare article an, don triggers lenition if the following noun begins with f, c and g.
In the modern language this form is considered to be high register, with dhan being generally more common.

References

Colin Mark (2003) “do”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 235

Sicilian

Alternative forms

ron (rhoticized)
do', ro' (apocoped)

Etymology

Both from the shortening of the earlier donnu (“master, sir”) or from Late Latin dom, ultimately from Latin domnus > dominus (“master, owner”), itself from domus (“a house”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔn/ (Standard)
IPA^(key): /ɾɔn/ (Rhotacized)
Rhymes: -on
Hyphenation: don

Noun

don m (plural donni)

(obsolete) sir, master, lord
(obsolete) social honorary title referred to men possessing patrimonial assets
a title of respect to a man, especially older, prefixed to first names

Coordinate terms

(gender): donna
(age): carusu

Related terms

Spanish

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdon/ [ˈd̪õn]
Rhymes: -on
Syllabification: don

Etymology 1

Inherited from Late Latin dom (“a courtesy title for monks and abbots”), from domnus (“master, sir”), from Classical Latin dominus, from domus (“a house”).

Noun

don m (plural dones, feminine doña, feminine plural doñas)

(obsolete) sir, master, lord
a title of respect to a man, prefixed to first names

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

→ Catalan: don
→ Czech: don
→ Tagalog: Don

Etymology 2

From Latin dōnum (“a gift”) (whence English donation), from dō (“to give”).

Noun

don m (plural dones)

gift, present
gift, talent, knack

Usage notes

Like with the English word "knack", don can be used to describe a positive gift or talent, or a negative one like a bad habit or a neutral tendency to do something.

Derived terms

Related terms

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

From Dutch dom.

Adjective

don

stupid

Noun

don

stupidity

Descendants

→ Caribbean Javanese: dong
→ Kari'na: don
→ Saramaccan: dón

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Low German don (“"doing," work, thing”), from Low German don (“do”), which is cognate with English do, German tun.

Noun

don n

a tool, an implement
Synonym: (colloquial) doning

Declension

Derived terms

References

don in Svensk ordbok (SO)
don in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
don in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

Turkish

Etymology 1

From Ottoman Turkish طون (don), from Proto-Turkic *tōn.

Noun

don

underpants
jogging pants
pants
shorts

Etymology 2

From Ottoman Turkish طوڭ (doñ), from Proto-Turkic *toŋ. Cognate with Chuvash тӑм (tăm), also related to Chinese 凍 / 冻 (dòng).

Noun

don

frost

Verb

don

second-person singular imperative of donmak

Related terms

donma
donmak

References

Uzbek

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian (dāna).

Noun

don

grain

Vietnamese

Pronunciation

(Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [zɔn˧˧]
(Huế) IPA^(key): [jɔŋ˧˧]
(Saigon) IPA^(key): [jɔŋ˧˧]

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

đon

Noun

(classifier con) don

Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus)

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

(classifier con) don

(Quảng Ngãi) kind of clam

Etymology 3

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

don • (𤈊, 燉, 𱱤) (diminutive reduplication don don)

withered and shrunken

Derived terms

héo don

West Makian

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /d̪on̪/

Noun

don

a cape, headland

References

Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎^[8], Pacific linguistics

Yogad

Etymology

From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

don

leaf (of a plant)

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English don, from Old English dōn on.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /dɔn/

Verb

don

To put on, as clothes, dress.
Synonyms: deen, dieeght

References

Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 36

Zazaki

Noun

don

kind of bread

Zou

Verb

don

drink

References

http://www.languageinindia.com/feb2013/zouphonologyfinal.pdf

don

don

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

Derived terms

Translations

See also

See also

Anagrams

Albanian

Alternative forms

Etymology

Verb

Conjugation

Related terms

Azerbaijani

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

Etymology 2

Adjective

Noun

Derived terms

Further reading

Balinese

Etymology

Noun

References

Bambara

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

Noun

Etymology 2

Verb

Derived terms

Etymology 3

Predicative

References

Breton

Etymology

Adjective

Casiguran Dumagat Agta

Etymology

Noun

Czech

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Declension

Related terms

Further reading

Anagrams

Dupaningan Agta

Etymology

Noun

French

Etymology

Pronunciation

Noun

Derived terms

Derived terms

Further reading

Gagauz

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Noun

Declension

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Adjective