don

1 of 3

verb

donned; donning

transitive verb

1
: to put on (an article of clothing)
donned his hat and gloves
2
: to wrap oneself in : take on sense 3a
the donning of new and more tyrannous moralitiesEdward Sapir

don

2 of 3

noun

1
: a head (see head entry 1 sense 6a), tutor, or fellow (see fellow sense 5) in a college of Oxford or Cambridge University
she didn't want to be a don's wife and live in Oxford foreverVirginia 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 witJohn Dryden

DON

3 of 3

abbreviation

director of nursing

Examples of don in a Sentence

Verb He donned his gloves and hat. she donned her best gown for the ball
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Marcos would don thrift shop finds, wigs of different shades and apply makeup of blues, purples and greens. Jose R. Gonzalez, The Arizona Republic, 10 Mar. 2024 Gosling was joined by Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Ncuti Gatwa and more of the Kens from the Barbie film, who took the stage alongside their onscreen leader, donning suits with tails and top hats. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 At the event, several stars — including Olivia Wilde and Georgia May Jagger — donned nipple covers for the daring outfits while Kravitz went braless and embraced the thin fabric of her brown midi dress. Stacy Lambe, Peoplemag, 9 Mar. 2024 In one of the rooms, attendees with vision can don sleeping masks and listen to a set of immersive sounds, the better to understand Nachum’s experiences from 2004 with touch and navigation. Christopher Kuo, New York Times, 8 Mar. 2024 From plasma-spewing hellscapes to a frigid land with air so thick a human could don a winged suit and take flight, these extraterrestrial moons are fascinating worlds in their own right, and may even be unexpected candidates for harboring life. Max Bennett, Discover Magazine, 7 Mar. 2024 Gosling often dons a watch from Tag Heuer while Melton paired his Globes look with an Omega timepiece, Neil Lane cufflinks and a diamond stud earring from Briony Raymond New York. Marc Malkin, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024 Moor, donning a yellow dashiki with a long gold rope chain, strolls around the classroom discussing how Black consciousness has evolved since the end of slavery. C. Isaiah Smalls Ii, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 Berry wore a snuggly tan sweater, while Bailey donned a white LA Galaxy jersey. Kyle Denis, Billboard, 26 Feb. 2024
Noun
History: Old Town held on through the days of the Spanish dons, the Mexican Revolution, the Mexican War and the arrival of statehood in 1850. San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Oct. 2023 Friday’s date, July 7, is the couple’s anniversary and also matches the uniform number Doncic dons in Dallas, 77. Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 7 July 2023 Its current don is Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 27 Mar. 2023 What will your favorite performer don this evening, though? Vogue, 26 Feb. 2023 Though showing considerable variety in their plots and themes, James’s ghost stories typically feature a male scholar, often an unmarried university don, who notices something anomalous in a decaying church, an old manuscript or a bit of folklore. Michael Dirda, Washington Post, 27 Jan. 2023 DSP Forced into exile after an encounter with a ruthless don, a young man returns as a policy officer to exact revenge on his nemesis. Travis Bean, Forbes, 29 Dec. 2022 In Tracksmith’s tale of art and intellect intersecting with commerce, arguably the biggest coup to date has been getting Malcolm Gladwell, the British-Canadian don of populist intellectualism, on board. Katie Baron, Forbes, 11 Oct. 2022 Relying on zero actual proof, the movie also portrays the elder Biden as a criminal don who receives kickbacks from the shady international deals his son orchestrates. Naomi Fry, The New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'don.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, contraction of do on

Noun

Spanish, from Latin dominus master — more at dame

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1523, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of don was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near don

Cite this Entry

“Don.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/don. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

don

1 of 2 verb
donned; donning
: to dress oneself in : put on

don

2 of 2 noun
1
: a Spanish nobleman or gentleman
used as a title
2
: a teacher in a college or university
Etymology

Verb

from a contraction of do on

Noun

from Spanish don "a nobleman or gentleman," from Latin dominus "master, owner" — related to dame, dominate

Geographical Definition

Don

geographical name

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

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