don
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don¹
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like Don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
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 dons
- A university professor, particularly one at Oxford or Cambridge. No one feeds at the high table except the dons and the gentlemen-commoners, who are undergraduates in velvet caps and silk gowns[.]
- An employee of a university residence who lives among the student residents.
- A mafia boss, especially one who is Italian or Italian-American.
- A (usually Spanish or Italian) title of respect to a man, especially a lord or nobleman. Wo often of an evening go and hear the band in the square opposite the captin-giniral’s palace—it is here were the dons and donnas and all the fashionables assemble, and I must say it’s amusing.
-
Any man, bloke, dude.
I’m confused like who’s this don
.22 bells and that who’s on
Similar: donny
don²
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like Don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
From Middle English don (“to put on”), from Old English dōn on; equivalent to do + on. Compare also doff, dup, dout.
don³
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like Don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma.
verb
- Alternative form of don't
Don⁴
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
proper noun
- A diminutive of the male given names Donald, Donovan, and Gordon. The bill, which lawmakers approved in a 211-206 vote, now moves to the Republican-led Senate for consideration. One Republican, Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, voted with Democrats Thursday against the measure.
Don⁵
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
Borrowed from Russian and Ukrainian Дон (Don). Known in Ancient Greece and Rome as Latin Tanais, Ancient Greek Τάναϊς (Tánaïs).
proper noun the Don
- A river, the fifth-longest in Europe, in Tula, Lipetsk, Voronezh, Volgograd and Rostov Oblasts, Russia, flowing 1160 miles to the Sea of Azov. Thence they marched againſt Orna, a Port Towne on the Riuer Don, where were many Gazarians, Alanians, Ruſſians, and Saracens, which he drowned with the Riuer running through the Citie, turning it out of the chanell.
Don⁶
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
Probably from the common Celtic river name Proto-Celtic *Dānu << Proto-Indo-European *dʰenh₂-, found in many other river names such as Danube, and Dniester. Connected with the Welsh river goddess Dôn, whose name is from the same origin, though it could have been influenced by Welsh dawn (“gift”), Irish dán (“gift, offering”), Latin dōnum.
proper noun the Don
- A river in Aberdeenshire council area, Scotland, United Kingdom, flowing 62 miles to the North Sea at Aberdeen.
- A river in South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, on which Doncaster is situated.
- A minor river in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom, which joins the Tyne at Jarrow.
- A river in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, named after the River Don in Yorkshire.
- A locality in the City of Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.
Don⁷
- /dɒn/ UK
- /dɑn/ US
Sounds like don, dawn (cot–caught merger) · Rhymes with -ɒn
Where it comes from
* As an English and Scottish surname, variant of Dunn.
* Also as an English and Scottish surname, from Dun, a place in Scotland.
* As an Italian surname, variant of Dono, shortened from dono di Dio (“gift of God”).
* As a Galician surname, from a nickname derived from don (“kindness, favor”).
* As a Hungarian surname, variant of Donát, Donath.
* As a French surname of Germanic origin, from the old name Dodo, related to Dodier, from the name Dodhari, the first element a reduplicated word of arbitrary origin and the second from *hari (“army”).
* Also as a French surname, from the place Don in Nord.
* As a Jewish surname, from a variant of Dan.
* As a Chinese surname, Romanized from 曾, see Zeng.
* As a Vietnamese surname Đôn, possibly from Chinese 敦, see Dun.
proper noun
- A surname.
DON⁸
noun
- dissolved organic nitrogen
-
Abbreviation of deoxynivalenol, a toxic byproduct of Fusarium head blight of barley.
Similar: vomitoxin
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: preceptor, get into, assume, wear, put on, don river, charity, endowment, donate, donation, donor, legacy, giver, gifting, gift, quixote
Translations
Talk about this word "don." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/don. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. don. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/don "don." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/don.Cite this
@misc{don_2026,
title = {don},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/don},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
