don

verb \ ˈdän \

|Updated on: 9 Aug 2018

Examples: don in a Sentence

Definition of don

donned; donning

transitive verb

1 : to put on (an article of clothing)

donned his hat and gloves

2 : to wrap oneself in : take on 3a

the donning of new and more tyrannous moralities
—Edward Sapir

See don defined for English-language learners

See don defined for kids

Examples of don in a Sentence

He donned his gloves and hat.
she donned her best gown for the ball

Recent Examples of don from the Web

In a field featuring seven World Golf Hall of Famers, Small’s gallery was among the largest on Friday, with plenty of fans donning orange and blue caps and shirts following every shot.

— steve reaven, chicagotribune.com, "No Small feat: Illinois men's golf coach contending at Senior Players at Exmoor," 13 July 2018
The students signed their agreements and donned their Harley hats amid cheers from family members and supporters, including MPS Superintendent Keith Posley and MATC President Vicki Martin.

— annysa johnson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Harley-Davidson signs 4 MPS Bradley Tech students as youth apprentices," 11 July 2018
Surely the site of Beckham and Ibra strolling through the many aisles of Ikea or Zlatan donning an England kit in Beckham's box at Wembley makes the result of Saturday's matchup a win-win for any neutral.

— avi creditor, SI.com, "David Beckham, Zlatan Ibrahimovic Put Wager on Sweden-England World Cup Match," 6 July 2018
This turns out to work in favor of species low on the food chain: adorning your scales with shades of ruby means donning a cloak of invisibility.

— katherine j. wu, Smithsonian, "Why Bioluminescence Evolved to Be Red Light, and Blue," 26 June 2018
Poncho, donning a harness with a flashing emergency light attached, jumped to the rescue.

— nicole darrah, Fox News, "Police dog 'performs CPR' in adorable viral video," 25 June 2018
In the last month, he's added another step to his routine: donning Bose white noise headphones in an attempt to drown out the noise emanating from Golden Road Brewing Co. six stories below.

— benjy egel, sacbee, "Golden Road Brewing keeps its neighbors up at night. Is the city partially to blame?," 21 June 2018
Characters dressed as popular Fortnite characters, including a man donning an anthropomorphic tomato suit, wandered the lot taking pictures with fans.

— nick statt, The Verge, "Fortnite’s celebrity tournament felt like a trial run for Epic’s grand e-sports ambitions," 17 June 2018
The Duchess of Sussex stepped out to attend her first royal events with the Queen on June 14, 2018, donning a dress by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy.

— carrie goldberg, Harper's BAZAAR, "No Shock Here–Meghan Markle Has Landed on a Go-To Designer," 14 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'don.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of don

Middle English, contraction of do on

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

don Synonyms

don

noun \ ˈdän \

Definition of don

1 : a head (see ¹head 6a), tutor, or fellow (see fellow 5) in a college of Oxford or Cambridge University

she didn't want to be a don's wife and live in Oxford forever
—Virginia Woolf

broadly : a college or university professor

[Italian, title of respect, from donno, literally, lord, from Latin dominus]

: a powerful Mafia leader

3 : a Spanish nobleman or gentleman —used as a title prefixed to the Christian name

4 archaic : a person of consequence : grandee

the great dons of wit
—John Dryden

See don defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of don from the Web

Light appetites find a mini don here with tuna and/or salmon on rice.

— liz biro, Indianapolis Star, "Here's where to get a poké bowl in Indianapolis, including 5 new restaurants," 31 May 2018
The trial of the octogenarian Mafia don is a reminder of how much Boston and its criminal underworld have changed.

— shelley murphy, BostonGlobe.com, "Mafia murder trial occurring now in Boston highlights how much city’s underworld has changed," 29 May 2018
Like the iconic arctic fox, the snowshoe hare dons white fur for the winter—a good camouflage in the snow.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "How the snowshoe hare is losing its white winter coat," 21 June 2018
Nefarious politicians, crime dons, illicit arms dealers and femmes fatales with dresses cut up to here populate scene after scene, set amid the Gulf’s glittering nightclubs, luxury hotels and wide-open desert highways.

— lisa tsering, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Race 3': Film Review," 18 June 2018
Choose your entree — options may include the oyako don (chicken and egg over rice), chicken katsu or a perfect bowl of local fish, chopped and served raw over rice.

— chronicle staff, SFChronicle.com, "A guide to navigating a hassle-free Mission," 17 June 2018
Thomas Troelson The young Don and the old don come together on this feel-good anthem.

— kat bein, Billboard, "Don Diablo's 10 Best Songs: Critic's Picks," 29 May 2018
Tuna sashimi comes on tekka don, named for the gambling dens (tekkaba) where it was served from the mid-1600s to the early 1900s.

— liz biro, Indianapolis Star, "Here's where to get a poké bowl in Indianapolis, including 5 new restaurants," 31 May 2018
Jim, the dancing don of Delos’ oddball jig on Westworld, has bestowed upon us with some excellent meme material.

— ashley hoffman, Time, "Westworld Has Delivered a Beautiful New Dance Meme-in-the-Making," 14 May 2018

Origin and Etymology of don

Spanish, from Latin dominus master — more at dame

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1523

in the meaning defined at sense 3

See Words from the same year

Other Education Terms

baccalaureate, colloquium, corequisite, dissertation, monograph, pedant, practicum, survey course, thesis

DON

abbreviation

Definition of DON

director of nursing

Other Medicine Terms

analgesia, angina, diabetes, hepatitis, homeopathy, logorrhea, palliate, pandemic

Don

geographical name \ ˈdän \

Definition of Don

river 1224 miles (1969 kilometers) long in Russia in Europe flowing southeast and then southwest into the Sea of Azov

DON Defined for English Language Learners

don

verb

Definition of don for English Language Learners

: to put on (a piece of clothing)

don

noun

Definition of don for English Language Learners

: a teacher in a college or university; especially : a teacher at Oxford or Cambridge University
: a powerful Mafia leader

DON Defined for Kids

don

verb \ ˈdän \

Definition of don for Students

donned; donning

: to put on

don a cap

Learn More about don

See words that rhyme with don Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for don Spanish Central: Translation of don Nglish: Translation of don for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of don for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about don

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don

Definition of don

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