Wiktionary

don

See also: Appendix:Variations of "don"
Languages (38)
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Albanian • Azerbaijani • Bambara • Breton • Casiguran Dumagat Agta • Czech • Dupaningan Agta • French • Galician • Irish • Italian • Jamaican Creole • Japanese • Middle English • Middle Low German • Nigerian Pidgin • Northern Kurdish • Northern Sami • Occitan • Old English • Old French • Old Irish • Old Saxon • Old Spanish • Scottish Gaelic • Sicilian • Spanish • Sranan Tongo • Swedish • Turkish • Uzbek • Vietnamese • West Makian • Yogad • Yola • Zazaki • Zou
Page categories

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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

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don (plural dons)

  2. A university professor, particularly one at Oxford or Cambridge.
    • 1859–1861, [Thomas Hughes], chapter I, in Tom Brown at Oxford: […], part 1st, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, published 1861, →OCLC, page 12:
      No one feeds at the high table except the dons and the gentlemen-commoners, who are undergraduates in velvet caps and silk gowns[.]
    • 1876, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], chapter XVI, in Daniel Deronda, volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book II (Meeting Streams), page 321:
      The truth is, unless a man can get the prestige and income of a Don and write donnish books, it’s hardly worth while for him to make a Greek and Latin machine of himself and be able to spin you out pages of the Greek dramatists at any verse you’ll give him as a cue.
  3. An employee of a university residence who lives among the student residents.
  4. A mafia boss.
  5. A (usually Spanish or Italian) title of respect to a man, especially a lord or nobleman.
    Coordinate term: donna
    • 1845 September, Charles F. Ellerman, “Reminiscences of the Island of Cuba”, in Simmonds’s Colonial Magazine, volume VI, number 21, London, chapter VIII (Mrs. Smith seized with furor scribendi, writes a lengthy Epistle to her dear Cousin Mrs. Margery Stubbs), page 79:
      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.
    • 1906 August, Harry H. Dunn, “Afoot in California”, in Western Field, volume 9, number 1, San Francisco, Calif., page 481, column 1:
      Time was when the walker amid California vales could stop at some cool cellar hid in these western hills and pour from great flagons a shimmering glass of cool red wine. Nowadays, the hand of the law has stepped in and spoiled all this, because the hordes of wanderers who have come west have made of these resting places questionable resorts—made of them places that the Spanish dons and donnas never dreamed of.
    • 2019, Caleb Stewart Rossiter, “Taking the Handles: Debating History and Morality”, in The Turkey and the Eagle: The Struggle for America’s Global Role, New York, N.Y.: Algora Publishing, →ISBN, page 283:
      A sustained media campaign against American domination would require the support of just a few dot-com dons and donnas or hedge fund phenoms who want to head straight for structural change and skip the reformist way stations supported by philanthropic business leaders like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Ben Cohen, Gary Hirshberg, and the later[ ]Paul Newman’s family.
  6. (MLE) Any man, bloke, dude.
    Synonym: donny
    • 2017 October 31, Loski, “Olympic Chinging”‎[1], from 1:55:
      I’m confused like who’s this don
      .22 bells and that who’s on
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Middle English don (“to put on”), from Old English dōn on; equivalent to do +‎ on. Compare also doff, dup, dout.

Verb

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don (third-person singular simple present dons, present participle donning, simple past and past participle donned)

  1. (transitive) To put on clothing; to dress (oneself) in an article of personal attire.
    Synonyms: put on, clothe, dight, enrobe; see also Thesaurus:clothe
    Antonym: doff
    To don one's clothes.
    • 1886-88, Richard Francis Burton, The Supplemental Nights to the Thousand Nights and a Night:
      Now when he had reached the King's capital wherein was Alaeddin, he alighted at one of the Kháns; and, when he had rested from the weariness of wayfare, he donned his dress and went down to wander about the streets, where he never passed a group without hearing them prate about the pavilion and its grandeur and vaunt the beauty of Alaeddin and his lovesomeness, his liberality and generosity, his fine manners and his good morals.
    • 2022 March 23, Paul Bigland, “HS2 is just 'passing through'”, in RAIL, number 953, page 41:
      Having donned our PPE, we walk through the site to the prefab that controls access to the tunnel.
Derived terms
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Translations
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See also
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See also

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Anagrams

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Albanian

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Alternative forms

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  • do (Standard Albanian)

Etymology

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Gheg variant of Standard Albanian do (“(it) wants, needs, loves, likes”) and do (“you want, need, love, like”).

Verb

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don (aorist dashta, participle dashtë) (Gheg forms)

  1. you want, need
    A don me shkue? (Gheg) ― Do you want to go?
  2. you like
    Rita e don Gjergjin. (Gheg) ― Rita likes/wants George.
  3. you love
  4. it wants, needs
  5. it likes
  6. it loves

Conjugation

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  • Standard Albanian conjugation:
Standard Albanian conjugation of don (active voice)

  • Show compound tenses:  

participle dashur
gerund duke dashur
infinitive për të dashur
singular plural
1st pers. 2nd pers. 3rd pers. 1st pers. 2nd pers. 3rd pers.
indicative present dua do do duam doni duan
imperfect doja doje donte donim donit donin
aorist desha deshe deshi deshëm deshët deshën
perfect kam dashur ke dashur ka dashur kemi dashur keni dashur kanë dashur
past perfect kisha dashur kishe dashur kishte dashur kishim dashur kishit dashur kishin dashur
aorist II pata dashur pate dashur pati dashur patëm dashur patët dashur patën dashur
future1 do të dua do të duash do të dojë do të duam do të doni do të duan
future perfect2 do të kem dashur do të kesh dashur do të ketë dashur do të kemi dashur do të keni dashur do të kenë dashur
subjunctive present të dua të duash të dojë të duam të doni të duan
imperfect të doja të doje të donte të donim të donit të donin
perfect të kem dashur të kesh dashur të ketë dashur të kemi dashur të keni dashur të kenë dashur
past perfect të kisha dashur të kishe dashur të kishte dashur të kishim dashur të kishit dashur të kishin dashur
conditional1, 2 imperfect do të doja do të doje do të donte do të donim do të donit do të donin
past perfect do të kisha dashur do të kishe dashur do të kishte dashur do të kishim dashur do të kishit dashur do të kishin dashur
optative present daça daç daçtë daçim daçi daçin
perfect paça dashur paç dashur pastë dashur paçim dashur paçit dashur paçin dashur
admirative present dashkam dashke dashka dashkemi dashkeni dashkan
imperfect dashkësha dashkëshe dashkësh dashkëshim dashkëshit dashkëshin
perfect paskam dashur paske dashur paska dashur paskemi dashur paskeni dashur paskan dashur
past perfect paskësha dashur paskëshe dashur paskësh dashur paskëshim dashur paskëshit dashur paskëshin dashur
imperative present — duaj — — doni —
1) indicative future identical with conditional present 2) indicative future perfect identical with conditional perfect
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Azerbaijani

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Turkic *tōn. Cognate with Chuvash тум (tum).

Noun

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don (definite accusative donu, plural donlar)

  1. dress (worn by women)
    Synonym: paltar
  2. gown (loose, flowing upper garment)
  3. (figurative) raiment, attire, garb, habiliments
  4. appearance, look (of a person)
Declension
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Declension of don
singular plural
nominative dondonlar
definite accusative donudonları
dative donadonlara
locative dondadonlarda
ablative dondandonlardan
definite genitive donundonların
Possessive forms of don
nominative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donum donlarım
sənin (“your”) donun donların
onun (“his/her/its”) donu donları
bizim (“our”) donumuz donlarımız
sizin (“your”) donunuz donlarınız
onların (“their”) donu or donları donları
accusative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donumu donlarımı
sənin (“your”) donunu donlarını
onun (“his/her/its”) donunu donlarını
bizim (“our”) donumuzu donlarımızı
sizin (“your”) donunuzu donlarınızı
onların (“their”) donunu or donlarını donlarını
dative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donuma donlarıma
sənin (“your”) donuna donlarına
onun (“his/her/its”) donuna donlarına
bizim (“our”) donumuza donlarımıza
sizin (“your”) donunuza donlarınıza
onların (“their”) donuna or donlarına donlarına
locative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donumda donlarımda
sənin (“your”) donunda donlarında
onun (“his/her/its”) donunda donlarında
bizim (“our”) donumuzda donlarımızda
sizin (“your”) donunuzda donlarınızda
onların (“their”) donunda or donlarında donlarında
ablative
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donumdan donlarımdan
sənin (“your”) donundan donlarından
onun (“his/her/its”) donundan donlarından
bizim (“our”) donumuzdan donlarımızdan
sizin (“your”) donunuzdan donlarınızdan
onların (“their”) donundan or donlarından donlarından
genitive
singular plural
mənim (“my”) donumun donlarımın
sənin (“your”) donunun donlarının
onun (“his/her/its”) donunun donlarının
bizim (“our”) donumuzun donlarımızın
sizin (“your”) donunuzun donlarınızın
onların (“their”) donunun or donlarının donlarının
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Proto-Turkic *doŋ (“frozen; frost”). See Bashkir туң (tuñ) for more cognates.

Adjective

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don (comparative daha don, superlative ən don)

  1. frozen, congealed

Noun

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don (definite accusative donu, plural donlar)

  1. frost
  2. ice-covered ground, black ice
Derived terms
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Further reading

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  • “don” in Obastan.com.

Bambara

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Etymology 1

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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don

  1. day

Etymology 2

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Verb

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don (tone dòn)

  1. (intransitive) to enter
  2. (transitive) to put (something into something)
  3. to put on, wear (of clothing)
Derived terms
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Etymology 3

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Predicative

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don (tone dòn)

  1. marks the predicate

References

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Breton

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Etymology

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From Proto-Brythonic *duβn, from Proto-Celtic *dubnos, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubʰnós.

Adjective

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don

  1. deep

Casiguran Dumagat Agta

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Etymology

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From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

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dön

  1. leaf (of a plant)

Czech

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish don, which is from Latin dominus (“lord”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don m anim

  1. (in Italian environment) (Originally a title of honour of the Pope, later used for all priests and later for aristocrats)
    don Giovanni ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  2. (Spanish noble title) [19th c.]
  3. (title of respect in front of Spanish given names)
    don José ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  4. don (maffia boss)
    • 2003, Miroslav Nožina, Mezinárodní organizovaný zločin v České republice, Themis, →ISBN, page 156:
      Roku 1876 mafiánský don Raffaele Palizollo reformoval dosavadní strategii nevměšování se mafie do veřejného života.
      In 1876 mafia don Raffaele Palizollo reformed the previous strategy of mafia not interfering into public affairs.
    • 2012, Hana Pernicová, transl., Kolumbova záhada‎[2], Ostrava: Domino, translation of original by Steve Berry, →ISBN, page 412:
      Simon se zatvářil stejně jako drogový don před čtyřmi dny.
      Simon had the same expression as the drug mafia don four days ago.

Declension

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Declension of don (hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative don donové
genitive dona donů
dative donovi, donu donům
accusative dona dony
vocative done donové
locative donovi, donu donech
instrumental donem dony
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Further reading

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  • Rejzek, Jiří (2015) “don”, in Český etymologický slovník [Czech Etymological Dictionary] (in Czech), 3rd (revised and expanded) edition, Praha: LEDA, →ISBN, page 153
  • "don" in Věra Petráčková, Jiří Kraus et al. Akademický slovník cizích slov. Academia, 1995, ISBN 80-200-0497-1, page 175.
  • “don”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “don”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Anagrams

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Dupaningan Agta

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Etymology

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From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

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don

  1. leaf (of a plant)

French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old French don, from Latin dōnum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don m (plural dons)

  1. gift, talent, knack
  2. gift (present)
  3. donation
    Merci pour votre don !
    Thank you for your donation!

Derived terms

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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Galician

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Etymology

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From Late Latin domnus, from Latin dominus (“lord”). Cognates include Spanish don.

Noun

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don m (plural dons, feminine dona, feminine plural donas)

  1. sir, mister

Synonyms

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Further reading

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Irish

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Etymology 1

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Contraction

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don

  1. Contraction of do an.
    Thug mé don bhuachaill é. ― I gave it to the boy.
    Tá mé ag dul don Spáinn. ― I'm going to Spain.
Usage notes
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This contraction is obligatory, i.e. *do an never appears uncontracted. It triggers lenition of a following consonant other than d, s, or t.

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Irish preposition contractions
Basic form Contracted with Copular forms
an (“the sg”) na (“the pl”) mo (“my”) do (“your”) a (“his, her, their; which (present)”) ár (“our”) ar (“which (past)”) (before consonant) (present/future before vowel) (past/conditional before vowel)
de (“from”) den de na
desna*		 de mo
dem*		 de do
ded*, det*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
do (“to, for”) don do na
dosna*		 do mo
dom*		 do do
dod*, dot*		 dá dár dar darb darbh
faoi (“under, about”) faoin faoi na faoi mo faoi do faoina faoinár faoinar faoinarb faoinarbh
i (“in”) sa, san sna i mo
im*		 i do
id*, it*		 ina inár inar inarb inarbh
le (“with”) leis an leis na le mo
lem*		 le do
led*, let*		 lena lenár lenar lenarb lenarbh
ó (“from, since”) ón ó na
ósna*		 ó mo
óm*		 ó do
ód*, ót*		 óna ónár ónar ónarb ónarbh
trí (“through”) tríd an trí na trí mo trí do trína trínár trínar trínarb trínarbh
*Dialectal.

Etymology 2

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From Old Irish don (“misfortune, evil”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don

  1. misfortune
Usage notes
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Used only in a few stock maledictions such as Do dhon is do dhuais ort!, Don is duais ort!, Mo dhon is mo dhograinn ort! (all basically "bad luck to you!") and Don d’fhiafraí ort! (“Don’t be so inquisitive!”).

Derived terms
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Mutation

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Mutated forms of don
radical lenition eclipsis
don dhon ndon

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

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Italian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From a shortening of an earlier donno, from dom'no (used by Dante), from Latin domnus < dominus. Compare Sicilian don.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don m (invariable)

  1. Father (a title given to priests)
  2. a title of respect to a man

Descendants

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  • → French: dom

Jamaican Creole

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈdan/
  • Hyphenation: don

Etymology 1

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Derived from English don, particularly in the sense of a crime boss.

Noun

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don (plural don dem, quantified don)

  1. don, leader, community leader, crime boss, head of a garrison
    Dem figet seh mi a di one don?
    Have they forgotten that I'm the one true leader?
    From di word start go roun' seh him want turn di don, a whole heap a man start pree him and warn him fi be careful.
    As soon as word got around that he wanted to become the community leader, a lot of people took notice of him and warned him to be careful.
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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Derived from English done.

Verb

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don

  1. As an auxiliary verb:
    1. (auxiliary, taking a past tense) Used as a remote past marker
      • 2012, Di Jamiekan Nyuu Testiment, Edinburgh: DJB, published 2012, →ISBN, Matyu 2:9:
        Afta dem don lisn di king, dem lef go we. Az dem a go bout dem bizniz so, no di sed staar we dem did si iina di Iis said kom bak agen! It galang infronta dem til it riich wich paat di pikni did de, an a uova de-so it tap.
        After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
        (literally, “After they listened to the king, they left  […]”)
  2. to order to cease, to desist (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Adjective

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don

  1. done, finished, completed (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Further reading

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  • Larry Chang (2014) Biesik Jumiekan: Introduction to Jamaican Language, Chuu Wod, →ISBN, page 200

Japanese

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Romanization

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don

  1. Rōmaji transcription of どん
  2. Rōmaji transcription of ドン

Middle English

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Etymology 1

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From Old English dōn, from Proto-West Germanic *dōn, from Proto-Germanic *dōną.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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don

  1. To do, perform (an activity)
  2. To complete, finish
  3. To make, create
  4. To put, place, position, raise
  5. To remove, take away
  6. To go or move (in a specified direction)
  7. To behave (in a specified manner)
  8. (auxiliary) To cause (an action or state)
  9. (auxiliary) Emphasises the verb that follows it
  10. (auxiliary) Stands in for a verb in a dependent clause
Usage notes
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As in modern English, several uses of this verb are highly idiomatic.

Conjugation
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Conjugation of don (irregular)
infinitive (to) don, do
present tense past tense
1st-person singular do dide
2nd-person singular dost, dest didest, dide
3rd-person singular doth, deth dide
subjunctive singular do
imperative singular —
plural1 don, do diden, dide
imperative plural doth, do —
participles doynge, donde don, do, ydon, ydo

1 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Derived terms
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Descendants
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References
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Etymology 2

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From Old English dōn on.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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don

  1. (Late Middle English) to put on
Conjugation
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Conjugation of don (weak in -ed)
infinitive (to) donen, done
present tense past tense
1st-person singular done doned
2nd-person singular donest donedest
3rd-person singular doneth doned
subjunctive singular done
imperative singular —
plural1 donen, done doneden, donede
imperative plural doneth, done —
participles donynge, donende doned, ydoned

1 Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants
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References
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Middle Low German

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Etymology

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From Old Saxon dōn.

Verb

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dôn

  1. to do

Conjugation

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Irregular: present 1sg dô, 2sg deist (dôst, dṏst), 3sg deit (dôt, dṏt), pl. dôn, dôt, dṏt, preterit 1sg dede, 2sg dêdest, 3sg dede, pl. dêden, past participle gedân, dân

Nigerian Pidgin

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Etymology

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From English done.

Verb

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don

  1. has/have (perfect aspect auxiliary)
    Wi don chop. ― We have eaten.

Northern Kurdish

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Arabic دُهْن (duhn). But compare Turkish donyağı, don yağı (“tallow”), which is said to be from the root of donmak (“to freeze”).

Noun

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don m

  1. (melted) fat, grease
    Synonym: bez
    Bîne nanê genimî, duhn bide, bêxe leşê min, ezê sax bim. ― Bring wheat bread, spread it with fat, put it on my body and I shall be cured [i.e., come to life again].

References

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  • Chyet, Michael L. (2020) “don”, in Ferhenga Birûskî: Kurmanji–English Dictionary (Language Series; 1), volume I, London: Transnational Press, page 201b
  • Gülensoy, Tuncer (1994) “don”, in Kürtçenin Etimolojik Sözlüğü [Etymological Dictionary of Kurdish]‎[3] (in Turkish), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, page 65

Northern Sami

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Etymology 1

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From Proto-Samic *tonë.

Pronunciation

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  • (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈton/

Pronoun

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don

  1. you (singular)
Inflection
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Inflection of don (irregular)
Nominative don
Genitive dū
Nominative don
Genitive dū
Accusative dū
Illative dutnje
Locative dūs
Comitative duinna
Essive dūnin
See also
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Northern Sami personal pronouns
singular dual plural
1st person mun moai mii
2nd person don doai dii
3rd person son soai sii
Further reading
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  • Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎[4], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

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  • (Kautokeino) IPA(key): /ˈtoːn/

Determiner

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dōn

  1. accusative/genitive singular of dōt

Occitan

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Etymology

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From Latin dōnum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don m (plural dons)

  1. gift (something given to another voluntarily)
  2. gift (a talent or natural ability)
  3. donation (a voluntary gift or contribution for a specific cause)
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Old English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *dōn (“to do”). The exact development of past tense forms dyde, dydest, and dydon is unexplained, for such forms have -y- instead of expected *-e- (*dede, *dedest, *dedon) from Proto-Germanic past stem *ded-/*dēd-.

Cognates

Cognate with Old Frisian dwā, Old Saxon dōn, Old Dutch duon, Old High German tuon. Non-Germanic cognates include Ancient Greek τίθημι (títhēmi), Latin faciō, Old Church Slavonic дѣти (děti).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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dōn

  1. to do
    Hwæt dēst þū?
    What are you doing?
  2. to make, cause
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Passion of St. Bartholomew the Apostle"
      Þū dydest mīnne brōðor his god forlǣtan.
      You made my brother renounce his god.
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 3:3
      Ġeġearwiaþ Dryhtnes weġ, dōþ his sīðas rihte.
      Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 4:19
      Folgiaþ mē, and iċ dō þæt ġit bēoþ manna fisċeras.
      Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of people.
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 42:36
      Þā cwæþ Iācōb heora fæder, "Bearnlēasne ġē habbaþ mē ġedōnne. Næbbe iċ Iōsēp and Simeon is on bendum; nū ġē nimaþ Beniamin æt mē."
      Then Jacob, their father, said, "You have made me childless. I don't have Joseph and Simeon is in chains; now you're taking Benjamin from me."
    • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Andrew the Apostle"
      Swā swā hī ǣr mid nette fixodon on sǣlicum ȳðum, swā dyde Crist þæt hī siððan mid his heofonlīcan lāre manna sāwla ġefixodon; forðan ðe hī ætbrūdon folces menn fram flǣsclīcum lustum, and fram woruldlīcum ġedwyldum tō staðolfæstnysse lybbendra eorðan, þæt is tō ðām ēċan ēðle, be ðām cwæð sē witega þurh Godes Gāst, "Iċ āsende mīne fisċeras, and hī ġefixiað hī; mīne huntan, and hī huntiað hī of ǣlċere dūne and of ǣlċere hylle."
      As they before with a net had fished on the sea waves, so Christ caused them afterwards by his heavenly lore to fish for the souls of men; for they withdrew the people from fleshly lusts, and from worldly errors to the stability of the earth of the living, that is, to the eternal country, of which the prophet, through God's Spirit, said, "I will send my fishers, and they shall fish for them; my hunters, and they shall hunt them from every down and from every hill."
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Memory of the Saints"
      Sē fēorða leahtor is ira þæt is on englisċ wēamōdnyss. Sēo dēð þæt sē man nāh his mōdes ġeweald and macað manslihtas and myċele yfelu.
      The fourth sin is Ira, that is in English, Anger; it causeth that a man have no power over his mind, and bringeth about manslaughters and many evils.
  3. to put
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Mark 7:33
      Hē dyde his fingras on his ēaran.
      He put his fingers in his ears.
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Matthew 26:52
      Þā cwæþ sē Hǣlend tō him, "Dō þīn sweord eft on his sċēaðe."
      Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword back in its sheath."
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Genesis 9:23
      Hwæt þā Sēm and Iapheth dydon ānne hwītel on heora sċuldran and ēodon underbæc.
      So then Shem and Japheth put a blanket on their shoulders and walked backwards.
  4. to add
    • c. 1011, Byrhtferth, Manual‎[5]:
      Blōtmōnaþ hæfþ seofon rēgulārēs. Dō þrītiġ þǣr tō, þonne bēoþ þæt seofon and þrītiġ.
      November has seven regulares. Add thirty to that, and it is thirty-seven.
  5. to take off, remove
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, the Old English Hexateuch, Exodus 3:5
      Dō þīn ġesċȳ of þīnum fōtum! Sōðlīċe sēo stōw þe þū on stentst is hālgu eorðe.
      Take your shoes off your feet! The place you're standing on is holy ground.
  6. to treat someone (+ dative) a certain way
    • c. 973, Æthelwold, translation of the Rule of Saint Benedict
      XXXV. Be þām þæt man eallum munucum ġelīċe dōn sċyle.
      35. On how all monks should be treated equally.
    • late 9th century, King Alfred's translation of Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy
      Ēalā hū yfele mē dōþ maniġe weoroldmenn mid þām þæt iċ ne mōt wealdan mīnra āgenra þēawa.
      Many worldly people treat me so badly, I'm not allowed to use my own strengths.
    • c. 990, Wessex Gospels, Luke 16:19
      Nū iċ neom wierðe þæt iċ bēo þīn sunu nemned. Dō mē swā ānne of þīnum ierðlingum.
      I don't deserve to be called your son anymore. Treat me as one of your fieldworkers.
  7. to give (+dative)
    • late 10th century, Ælfric, "Chair of Saint Peter"
      ...Næbbe iċ seolfor ne gold, iċ þē dō þæt iċ hæbbe...
      ...I have neither silver nor gold, I give thee that I have...

Usage notes

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  • Old English does not have do-support. While dōn does have auxiliary function in Old English, such uses are purely causative, equivalent to modern "to make" or "to cause to" (as per sense 2 above). Therefore, when asking "do you hate me?", one would say hatast þū mē? (literally "hatest thou me?"), not dēst þū mē hatian? (which would instead mean "do you make me hate?").
  • There are some emphatic uses of dōn that bear some resemblance to do-support constructions, often involving the ǣġþer ġe ("both ... and ...") construction and other verbs in apposition, although the apposed verbs are finite rather than infinitives. In such contexts, dōn is generally better translated with "to be", and the apposed verbs with participles or adjectives as necessary: sē catt dēþ ǣġþer ġe slǣpð ġe wacaþ ("the cat is both asleep and awake", or if translated with do-support, "the cat does both sleep and be awake").
  • Dōn can be used as a pro-verb (i.e. standing in for another verb, generally replacing one that was previously mentioned to avoid repetition), like the modern verb: Hatast þū mē swā swā hēo dēþ? ("Do you hate me like she does?")

Conjugation

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Conjugation of dōn (irregular)
infinitive dōn dōnne
indicative mood present tense past tense
first person singular dō dyde
second person singular dēst dydest
third person singular dēþ dyde
plural dōþ dydon
subjunctive present tense past tense
singular dō dyde
plural dōn dyden
imperative
singular dō
plural dōþ
participle present past
dōnde (ġe)dōn

Derived terms

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Descendants

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References

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Old French

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin donum.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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don oblique singular, m (oblique plural dons, nominative singular dons, nominative plural don)

  1. gift

Descendants

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  • French: don
  • → Middle English: done

Old Irish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Univerbation of di (“of/from”) +‎ in (“the sg”)

Article

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don

  1. of/from the sg
Alternative forms
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Etymology 2

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Univerbation of do (“to/for”) +‎ in (“the sg”)

Article

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don

  1. to/for the sg
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Etymology 3

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Noun

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don (gender unknown)

  1. misfortune, evil
Descendants
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Mutation

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Mutation of don
radical lenition nasalization
don don
pronounced with /ð(ʲ)-/ 		ndon

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Old Saxon

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *dōn. Compare Old English dōn, Old Frisian dwā, dūa, duā, Old Dutch duon, Old High German tuon.

Verb

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dōn

  1. to do
    • 9th c. Heliand, verse 1456
      Dot im gōdes filu,...
      Do much good for him,...
  2. to put
    • 9th c. Heliand, verse 4389-4390
      ...an thea winistron hand sō duot hē ōk thea sāligon an thea swīđeron half...
      ...in the left hand so put he as well the blessed in the right side..

Conjugation

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Conjugation of dōn (irregular)
infinitive dōn
indicative present past
1st person singular dōm deda
2nd person singular dōs dādi
3rd person singular dōd deda
plural dōth dādun
subjunctive present past
1st person singular dōe dādi
2nd person singular dōes dādis
3rd person singular dōe dādi
plural dōen dādin
imperative present
singular dō
plural dōth
participle present past
dōndi gidōn, dōn

Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Middle Low German: dôn
    • Low German: deoen (Paderbornisch), dohn (Münsterländisch); doon

References

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Köbler, Gerhard, Altsächsisches Wörterbuch (5th edition 2014)

Old Spanish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Late Latin dom, from domnus (“master, sir”), from Latin dominus, from domus (“a house”).

Noun

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don m (plural dones)

  1. (honorific) sir, master; a title prefixed to male given names
    • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 1r:
      [R]emont por la gracia de dios. arçobispo de Toledo. a don almeric. arçidiano de antiochia con grant amor ſalut ⁊ amidtad.
      Remont, by the Grace of God archbishop of Toledo, to master Almerich, archdeacon of Antioch, with great love, haleness and goodwill.
Descendants
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  • Spanish: don (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

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From Latin dōnum (“a gift”), from dō (“I give”).

Noun

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don m (plural dones)

  1. gift, talent
    • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 65r:
      eſtonces el rey dio grandes dones adaniel e diol ſennoria ſobre ſos ſabios e la cibdat de babilonia […]
      Then the king gave Daniel great gifts and gave him rulership over his wise men and the city of Babylon […]
Descendants
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Etymology 3

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Shortening of dont.

Adverb

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don

  1. Apocopic form of dont; where
    • c. 1200, Almerich, Fazienda de Ultramar, f. 56r:
      Euino el ppħa iſaẏas e dixo al reẏ ezechias dõ uinieron eſtos barones. ⁊ q̃ te dixieron dixo el de tierra de luen uinieron de babilonia.
      And the prophet Isaiah came and said to king Hezekiah, “Where did these men come from, and what did they say to you?” He said, “From a distant land. They came from Babylon”.
Descendants
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  • Spanish: do

Scottish Gaelic

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Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /t̪ɔn̪ˠ/
  • Hyphenation: don

Preposition

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don (+ dative)

  1. (higher register) Contraction of do an.
    Chaidh i don bhùth. ― She went to the shop.

Usage notes

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  • Like the bare article an, don triggers lenition if the following noun begins with f, c and g.
  • In the modern language this form is considered to be high register, with dhan being generally more common.

References

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  • Colin Mark (2003) “do”, in The Gaelic-English dictionary, London: Routledge, →ISBN, page 235

Sicilian

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Both from the shortening of the earlier donnu (“master, sir”) or from Late Latin dom, ultimately from Latin domnus > dominus (“master, owner”), itself from domus (“a house”).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /dɔn/ (Standard)
  • IPA(key): /ɾɔn/ (Rhotacized)
  • Rhymes: -on
  • Hyphenation: don

Noun

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don m (inv)

  1. (obsolete) sir, master, lord
  2. (obsolete) social honorary title referred to men possessing patrimonial assets
  3. a title of respect to a man, especially older, prefixed to first names

Coordinate terms

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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈdon/ [ˈd̪õn]
  • Rhymes: -on
  • Syllabification: don

Etymology 1

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Inherited from Late Latin dom (“a courtesy title for monks and abbots”), from domnus (“master, sir”), from Classical Latin dominus, from domus (“a house”).

Noun

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don m (plural dones, feminine doña, feminine plural doñas)

  1. (obsolete) sir, master, lord
  2. a title of respect to a man, prefixed to first names
    • 1844, José Zorrilla, Don Juan Tenorio‎[7], lines 57–58:
      [Y] dime: don Luis Mejías ¿ha venido hoy?
      [A]nd tell me: mister Luis Mejía, did he come today?
Derived terms
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Descendants
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  • → Catalan: don
  • → Czech: don
  • → Tagalog: Don

Etymology 2

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From Latin dōnum (“a gift”) (whence English donation), from dō (“to give”).

Noun

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don m (plural dones)

  1. gift, present
  2. gift, talent, knack
    Cielos, tu tío realmente tiene un don para gastar todo su dinero en el casino, ¿no?
    Yikes, your uncle really has a knack for blowing all his money in the casino, doesn't he?
Usage notes
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  • Like with the English word "knack", don can be used to describe a positive gift or talent, or a negative one like a bad habit or a neutral tendency to do something.
Derived terms
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Further reading

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Sranan Tongo

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Etymology

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From Dutch dom.

Adjective

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don

  1. stupid

Noun

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don

  1. stupidity
    Sranan odo: don no abi dresi.
    Surinamese proverb: there is no medicine for stupidity.

Descendants

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  • → Caribbean Javanese: dong
  • → Kari'na: don
  • → Saramaccan: dón

Swedish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Low German don (“"doing," work, thing”), from Low German don (“do”), which is cognate with English do, German tun.

Noun

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don n

  1. a tool, an implement
    Synonym: (colloquial) doning

Declension

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Declension of don
nominative genitive
singular indefinite don dons
definite donet donets
plural indefinite don dons
definite donen donens

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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Turkish

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Etymology 1

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From Ottoman Turkish طون (don), from Proto-Turkic *tōn.

Noun

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don

  1. underpants
  2. jogging pants
  3. pants
  4. shorts

Etymology 2

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From Ottoman Turkish طوڭ (doñ), from Proto-Turkic *toŋ. Cognate with Chuvash тӑм (tăm), also related to Chinese 凍 / 冻 (dòng).[1]

Noun

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don

  1. frost

Verb

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don

  1. second-person singular imperative of donmak
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References

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  1. ^ İnayet, A. (1998). Çincedeki Türkçe Kelimeler Üzerine . Türk Dünyası Dil ve Edebiyat Dergisi , (6) , . Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/tdded/issue/12716/154815

Uzbek

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Classical Persian دانه (dāna).

Noun

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don

  1. grain

Vietnamese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “đon seems to be an alternative form of don; cf. đĩa and dĩa, đa and da, etc. Anyway, can't find anything Nôm-related so maybe a recent loan?”

Alternative forms

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Noun

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(classifier con) don

  1. Asiatic brush-tailed porcupine (Atherurus macrourus)

Etymology 2

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

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(classifier con) don

  1. (Quảng Ngãi) kind of clam

Etymology 3

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

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don • (𤈊, 燉, 𱱤) (diminutive reduplication don don)

  1. withered and shrunken
Derived terms
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West Makian

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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don

  1. a cape, headland

References

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  • Clemens Voorhoeve (1982) The Makian languages and their neighbours‎[8], Pacific linguistics

Yogad

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Etymology

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From Proto-Philippine *dahun, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *dahun.

Noun

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don

  1. leaf (of a plant)

Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English don, from Old English dōn on.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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don

  1. To put on, as clothes, dress.
    Synonyms: deen, dieeght

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 36

Zazaki

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Noun

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don

  1. kind of bread

Zou

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Verb

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don

  1. drink

References

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