1

don

verb \ ˈdän \

|Updated on: 14 Jun 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

Click ahead to see the complete list of every star who donned their Met Gala best for a cameo in the uber-glamorous caper.

— refinery29.com, "All The Glamorous Celebrity Cameos In Ocean’s 8," 8 June 2018
For Markle's and Prince Harry's wedding, Queen Elizabeth II donned a gorgeous green coat over a floral dress with green and purple flowers, as well as a green hat with purple adornments.

— Southern Living, "This Color Is Having a Moment in the Royal Family," 23 May 2018
The little boys donned frock coats like Harry’s straight from Savile Row, and the precious little girls were, like the bride, decked out in Givenchy Haute Couture.

— elizabeth wellington, Philly.com, "Royal wedding style: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's nuptials were beautiful and authentic | Elizabeth Wellington," 19 May 2018
And Prince Harry himself — who donned a Nazi outfit with a crude swastika armband at a private party in 2005 — could be his own embarrassing relative.

— beth teitell, BostonGlobe.com, "A field guide to bride Meghan Markle’s embarrassing relatives," 18 May 2018
The winner in the clubhouse, by most accounts, appeared to be pitcher Lance McCullers Jr., who donned a Hakeem Olajuwon jersey from the needle-nosed rocket pinstriped era of the late 1990s.

— david barron, Houston Chronicle, "Astros wear Rockets attire on plane ride to Anaheim," 14 May 2018
Like an Indiana candidate who donned a Make America Great Again hat in a TV ad.

— NBC News, "Meet the Press -May 6, 2018," 6 May 2018
Rosenstein will don a morning coat that is traditionally worn by government lawyers arguing before the court as well as presidential cufflinks that were given to him last Friday by White House counsel Don McGahn.

— CNN, "Rod Rosenstein gets his day at the Supreme Court," 23 Apr. 2018
Aside from the offensive linemen, who will don special jerseys in order to play on both teams, UT has split the entire roster about evenly.

— nick moyle, San Antonio Express-News, "Texas coaches want to see fundamentals at spring game," 20 Apr. 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

Synonyms

put on, slip (on or into), throw (on);

Antonyms

doff, remove, take off;

Near Antonyms

disrobe, strip, undress;

Related Words

apparel, array, attire, bedeck, bedizen, bundle up, caparison, clothe, doll up, dress, garb, rig, robe, suit, trick, uniform;

2

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

2

[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

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
Phyllis Poor, a fiber artist from Winthrop, said her British daughter-in-law dons fascinators to formal events like weddings.

— laura crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, "Ahead of royal wedding, women make fascinators in Winthrop," 12 May 2018
The double-gated estate dons a Spanish Colonial style.

— jack flemming, latimes.com, "‘Gossip Girl’ co-creator Stephanie Savage is ready for a scene change in Los Feliz," 3 Apr. 2018
Tiffany dons rubber gloves and fearlessly scoops chopped fish and vegetables from a container into a tank filled with fish and turtles native to Ohio's waterways.

— brenda cain, cleveland.com, "Aspiring marine biologist Tiffany Everhart gets VIP treatment at Cleveland Aquarium: A Greater Cleveland," 16 Apr. 2018
The existence of black holes was first posited in the 18th century (by a Cambridge don, Hawking notes smugly).

— jerry adler, Newsweek, "Stephen Hawking, Master of the Universe: Our 1988 Cover Story on the Legendary Physicist," 14 Mar. 2018
Instead, eat the thing that can only be had at Tsujiki: gyu-don.

— Bon Appetit, "Kitsune-ya," 19 Mar. 2018
Gotti, 24, is the son of Peter Gotti, one of five children of the famous mafia don, who died as a federal prisoner in 2002.

— Fox News, "Gotti's grandson sentenced to 5-year term for car arson," 14 Mar. 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

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

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up don? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show

WORD OF THE DAY

skirl

play

to emit the high shrill tone of bagpipes

BROWSE DICTIONARY

domus

domy

don

DON

Don

Test Your Vocabulary

Words for Summer: A Quiz

Which of the following words means “of or relating to summer”?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games