donut

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Alteration of doughnut, from dough +‎ nut. Attested 1900.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

donut (plural donuts)

  1. (North America) A deep-fried piece of dough or batter, commonly made in a toroidal or ellipsoidal shape, and mixed with various sweeteners and flavors, sometimes filled with jelly, custard or cream.
    • 1900, George Wilbur Peck, Peck’s bad boy and his pa, Stanton and Van Vliet, p. 107:
      …Pa said he guessed he hadn’t got much appetite, and he would just drink a cup of coffee and eat a donut.
  2. (North America) Anything in the shape of a torus
  3. (North America, automobile) a peel-out or skid-mark in the shape of donut; a 360-degree skid.
  4. (North America) A spare tire, smaller and less durable than a full-sized tire, only intended for temporary use.
  5. A toroidal cushion typically used by hemorrhoid patients.

Usage notes[edit]

Rare until 1950s, increasingly popular since then,[2] possibly influenced by spread of Dunkin' Donuts (founded 1950).[3]

Translations[edit]

deep-fried piece of dough — see doughnut

References[edit]

  1. ^ George Wilbur Peck, Peck’s bad boy and his pa, 1900, Stanton and Van Vliet, p. 107
  2. ^ “donut, doughnut”, Google Ngram viewer
  3. ^ “The Language Time Machine: Google’s Ngram Viewer gave us a new way to explore history, but has it led to any real discoveries?”, by Elizabeth Weingarten, Slate, Sept. 9, 2013

Portuguese[edit]

Noun[edit]

donut m (plural donuts)

  1. doughnut (deep-fried piece of dough or batter)

Synonyms[edit]

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