don English · revision 4331

+ English has two common words spelled ''don'': a Spanish title of respect, from Latin dominus “master”, and a verb “to put on”, a contraction of do on.^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /dɒn/, US /dɑːn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|title, college fellow}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1523|origins=la dominus}}

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+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|es|don]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) or Portuguese dom,^(Etymonline) from [[la|dominus|t=lord, master, owner]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from domus “house”, from [[ine-pro|*dem-|t=house, household]].^(Etymonline) The Mafia sense is from [[it|don]], a title of respect for a man, a shortening of earlier donno, from Late Latin domnus.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[dominate]], [[dame]] and [[donna]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ 1523, as a title prefixed to a Spanish man's Christian name, formerly only for men of high rank.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A Spanish gentleman, or any Spaniard, is from 1610, in Ben Jonson's The Alchemist,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and a distinguished or important man from before 1634.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) From that general sense came, about 1660, the English university sense of a head, fellow or tutor of a college, first in students' slang.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) In dialect, in Scotland and England, a don was also an adept, a clever fellow, and as an adjective “grand, superior”.^(Wright 1898) The sense of a powerful member of the Mafia is from 1952,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and it was in general use in American English before 1963.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1523 – a Spanish title.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610 – a Spanish gentleman.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1634 – a distinguished man.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1660 – a college fellow or tutor.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1952 – a Mafia leader.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A Spanish title of courtesy, used before a man's name.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A head, [[tutor]] or [[fellow]] of a college, especially at Oxford or Cambridge.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A university [[professor]].^(AHD)

+ # The leader of an organized-crime family.^(AHD)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A person of importance.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[donnish]]

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+ {{homograph|2|put on}}

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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=a. 1350}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a Middle English contraction of [[do]] and [[on]], do being used in the sense “to put”.^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Compare [[doff]], from do off.^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “To put on” clothing: probably before 1350 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-14th century in Etymonline,^(Etymonline) 1567 in the OED's quotations.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ According to the OED, after 1650 it lived on in popular use only in northern dialect, but in the 19th century it became very frequent as a literary archaism.^(Etymonline) The extended sense “to dress oneself” is from 1801, chiefly northern dialect,^(OED 1989) and “to take on, assume”, as an air or a role, is in Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage.^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) In dialect it was used across Scotland, Ireland and England for putting on any article of clothing.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1350 – to put on.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * after 1650 – mainly northern dialect.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1801 – to dress oneself.^(OED 1989)

+ * 19th century – a literary archaism.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put on (an article of [[clothing]]).^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To take on; to [[assume]]: ''donned an air of innocence''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[donzel]]

+ * [[doff]]

+ * [[dominate]]

+ * [[dame]]

+ * [[donna]]

+ * [[dominion]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A third, obsolete don meant a gift or donation, from French don, 1524;^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) it survived in Scots.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}