don

See also: Don, đơn, and DON

§English

§Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒn

§Etymology 1

From Latin dominus, "lord", "head of household", akin to Spanish don and Italian dom; from domus, "house", + diminutive suffix -inus. Compare dominie.

§Noun

don (plural dons)

1. A university professor, particularly one at Oxford or Cambridge.
2. A mafia boss.

§Derived terms

• donnish

§Translations

professor — see professor

mafia boss

• Dutch: maffiabaas m
• Finnish: mafiapomo, don (fi)
• Italian: don (it) m

• Norwegian: mafiatopp m
• Russian: пахан (ru) m (paxán, páxan), дон (ru) m (don) (foreign context)

§Etymology 2

A contraction of Middle English do on. Compare also doff.

§Verb

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

1. (clothing) to put on, to dress in

   To don one's clothes.

§Antonyms

• (put on clothes): doff

§Translations

put on clothes

• Bulgarian: обличам (bg) (obličam), навличам (bg) (navličam)
• Dutch: aantrekken (nl), zich (nl) uitdossen (nl)
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi), sonnustautua
• French: mettre (fr), enfiler (fr), revêtir (fr)
• German: anziehen (de)
• Italian: mettere (it), indossare (it), portare (it)

• Norwegian: ta på (no)
• Portuguese: vestir (pt)
• Russian: надевать (ru) (nadevát’), надеть (ru) (nadét’)
• Slovene: se obleči, si nadeti
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} ponerse (es), ^{(please verify)} vestirse de
• Thai: ใส่ (th) (sài)

§See also

• put on
• wear

§Anagrams

• NOD, nod

---

§Breton

§Adjective

don

1. deep

---

§French

§Etymology

From Latin donum.

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ̃/

• Audio (France)

  (file)

• Homophones: dom, dons, dont

§Noun

don m (plural dons)

1. gift, talent
2. gift (present)
3. donation

§External links

• “don” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

---

§Irish

§Etymology 1

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d̪ˠənˠ]

§Contraction

don

1. 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.

§Etymology 2

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

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [d̪ˠɔnˠ]

§Noun

don

1. 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

• dona
• donacht
• donagar
• donaigh
• donaire
• donán

§Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
don	dhon	ndon
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

---

§Italian

§Etymology

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

§Noun

don m (inv)

1. Father (a title given to priests)
2. A title of respect to a man.

---

§Lojban

§Rafsi

don

1. rafsi of do.

---

§Nigerian Pidgin

§Etymology

From English done.

§Verb

don

1. have (perfect aspect auxiliary)

   Wi don chop = "We have eaten"

---

§Northern Sami

§Pronoun

don

1. you (thou)

§Inflection

declension of don singular dual plural Nominative don doai dii Genitive du dudno din Accusative du dudno din Illative dutnje dudnuide didjiide Locative dus dudnos dis Comitative duinna dudnuin dinguin Essive dunin dudnon dinin

---

§Old English

§Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dōną (“to do”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to make, do, place”). Cognate with Old Frisian dūa, duā, dwā (West Frisian dwaan), Old Saxon dōn, doan, duan, duon, Old Dutch duon (Dutch doen), Old High German tuon (German tun); and, outside the Germanic languages, with Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi), Latin faciō, Old Irish dorat (Irish déan), Old Church Slavonic дѣти (děti).

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doːn/

§Verb

dōn

1. to do

§Conjugation

Conjugation of dōn (irregular)

infinitive	dōn	tō dōnne
indicative	present	past
1st-person singular	dō, dōm	dyde
2nd-person singular	dēst	dydest
3rd-person singular	dēþ	dyde
plural	dōþ	dydon
subjunctive	present	past
singular	dō	dyde
plural	dōn	dyden
imperative
singular	dō
plural	dōþ
participle	present	past
	dōnde	(ġe)dōn

§Descendants

• Middle English: don
  • English: to do
  • Scots: dae

---

§Old Irish

§Noun

don ?

1. misfortune, evil

§Descendants

• Irish: don

---

§Old Saxon

§Alternative forms

• doan, duan, duon

§Etymology

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

§Verb

dōn

1. to do

§Conjugation

Conjugation of dōn (athematic verb)

indicative	present	preterite
1st person singular	dōm	deda
2nd person singular	dōs	dādi
3rd person singular	dōd	deda
plural	dōth	dādun
subjunctive	present	past
1st person singular	dōe	dādi
2nd person singular	dōes	dādis
3rd person singular	dōe	dādi
plural	dōen	dādin
imperative	present	—
singular	dō
plural	dōth
participle	present	past
	dōndi	(gi)dōn

§Descendants

• Low German: doon

---

§Scottish Gaelic

§Etymology

do + an

§Alternative forms

• dhan

§Preposition

don

1. to the (singular)

   Chaidh i don bhùth. - She went to the shop.

2. for the (singular)

§Usage notes

• Without the definite article and in the plural the form do is used.
• Lenites words beginning with b, c, f, g, m and p.

---

§Spanish

§Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -on

§Etymology 1

From Late Latin dom (“a courtesy title for monks and abbots”), from domnus (“master, sir”), from Classical Latin dominus, from domus (“a house”), from Proto-Indo-European *dṓm (“a house”), from root Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to build”)

§Noun

don m (plural dones, feminine doña)

1. (obsolete) sir, master, lord
2. A title of respect to a man, prefixed to Christian names

§See also

• Don
• Doña
• doña

§Etymology 2

From Latin donum (“a gift”), from do (“to give”), from Proto-Indo-European *deh₃- (“to give”)

§Noun

don m (plural dones)

1. gift, present
2. gift, talent, knack

§See also

• donación

---

§Swedish

§Noun

don n

1. a tool, a means

§Declension

Declension of don

	singular		plural
Neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	don	donet	don	donen
genitive	dons	donets	dons	donens

§Related terms

• fordon
• skodon

---

§Turkish

§Etymology 1

From Old Turkic ton, from Proto-Turkic *tōn.

§Noun

don

1. underpants

§Etymology 2

From Old Turkic toŋ, from Proto-Turkic *tong, *doŋ.

§Noun

don

1. frost

§Zazaki

§Noun

don

1. kind of bread