don French · revision 17687

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 10th century, Passion de Clermont|origins=la dō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''don''' ''m'' (plural dons)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|don]], [[inh|la|dōnum|t=act of giving; gift, present, offering]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 138b) The Latin noun is derived from [[m|la|dō|t=to give]], the source of [[date]] and [[datif]].^(DHLF 1992) Littré compares [[grc|δῶρον|tr=dôron|t=gift]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|dono]], [[pro|do]], [[es|don]] and [[pt|dom]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its first record, in the ''Passion de Clermont'' (second half of the 10th century), is the phrase ''faire don'', to give something freely to someone.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By metonymy it named the thing given, first concretely in the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100), then abstractly (about 1130) one's lot or fate, in bad or, more often, in good part, as a blessing or favour of heaven: ''don de Dieu'' in Oresme (1370–72).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In the 16th century it took the sense of an innate gift or aptitude, as in Amyot's ''don de prophétie'', especially in religious contexts and in fairy tales; in that sense it corresponds to [[doué]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The DHLF notes that ''don'' generally works as a noun derived from [[donner]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Second half of the 10th century – ''Faire don'' in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – “Thing given” in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1130 – “Lot, fate”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1283 – Beaumanoir uses it in the legal sense of a gift.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1370–72 – ''Don de Dieu'' in Oresme.^(TLFi)

+ * 16th century – “Innate gift”, ''don de prophétie'' in Amyot.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of giving something freely; a [[m|en|donation]]: ''faire don de quelque chose'', ''le don du sang''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A thing given, a [[m|en|gift]] or present.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Le don de soi'': self-sacrifice, devotion.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # An innate [[m|en|talent]] or [[m|en|knack]]: ''avoir un don pour la musique'', ''(ironic)'' ''il a le don de m'agacer''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Don du ciel'': a godsend.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[donner]]

+ * [[donation]]

+ * [[doué]]

+ * [[la|dōnum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Don'' is also a Spanish title of honour placed before a first name (''Don Juan'', ''Don Quichotte''), recorded in French from the early 16th century; it was borrowed from [[es|don]], from Latin [[m|la|dominus|t=master]], and the Grand Robert and Petit Robert give it a numbered entry of its own.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 16th and 17th centuries it was sometimes written ''dom'', after the monastic title.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}