don1
- (initial capital letter) Mr.; Sir: a Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.
- (in Spanish-speaking countries) a lord or gentleman.
- (initial capital letter) an Italian title of address, especially for a priest.
- a person of great importance.
- (in the English universities) a head, fellow, or tutor of a college.
- (in the Mafia) a head of a family or syndicate.
Origin of don1
don2
- to put on or dress in: to don one's clothes.
Origin of don2
don3
- (in prescriptions) donec.
Origin of don3
Don1
- a river flowing generally S from Tula in the Russian Federation in Europe, to the Sea of Azov. About 1200 miles (1930 km) long.
- a river in NE Scotland, flowing E from Aberdeen county to the North Sea. 62 miles (100 km) long.
- a river in central England, flowing NE from S Yorkshire to the Humber estuary. 60 miles (97 km) long.
- a male given name, form of Donald.
Don2
- a goddess, the mother of Gwydion and Arianrod: corresponds to the Irish Danu.
Schollander
- DonaldDon, born 1946, U.S. swimmer.
Shula
- Donald FrancisDon, born 1930, U.S. football coach.
Cherry
- Donald EugeneDon, 1936–95, U.S. jazz trumpeter.
Examples from the Web for don
Contemporary Examples
We brought in Don Lemon, the year that he wrote his book, and I told that story to the audience that was there.
Nobody knows chaotic living quite like Don Draper, what with juggling high profile clients, his many paramours, and travel.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Don Draper in Your LifeAllison McNearney
November 29, 2014
The Old-Fashioned is the crème of the cocktail crop—according to Don Draper, at least.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Don Draper in Your LifeAllison McNearney
November 29, 2014
She reportedly also had a book collection worth more than €20 million, including a first edition of Don Quixote from 1605.
Don Terry, a senior writer at the Southern Poverty Law Center, doubts it.
The Klan’s Call to Violence in Ferguson Blows the Lid Off Its Hypocritical RebrandCaitlin Dickson
November 14, 2014
Historical Examples
"Your bearing and your words, Don Martin, are such I should have looked for in you," he remarked.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
And whose death comes so opportunely for thy rise, Don Alvar?
Calderon The CourtierEdward Bulwer-Lytton
In the better light Mr. Don is now able to read his paper if he chooses.
Echoes of the WarJ. M. Barrie
Mr. Don looks into the greyness from which this voice comes, and he sees his son.
Echoes of the WarJ. M. Barrie
Evidently Dick is the taller, for Mr. Don has to look up to him.
Echoes of the WarJ. M. Barrie
don1
- (tr) to put on (clothing)
Word Origin
don2
- British a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, esp at Oxford or Cambridge
- the head of a student dormitory at certain Canadian universities and colleges
- a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
- (in the Mafia) the head of a family
Word Origin
Don1
- a Spanish title equivalent to Mr : placed before a name to indicate respect
Word Origin
Don2
- a river rising in W Russia, southeast of Tula and flowing generally south, to the Sea of Azov: linked by canal to the River Volga. Length: 1870 km (1162 miles)
- a river in NE Scotland, rising in the Cairngorm Mountains and flowing east to the North Sea. Length: 100 km (62 miles)
- a river in N central England, rising in S Yorkshire and flowing northeast to the Humber. Length: about 96 km (60 miles)
cherry
- any of several trees of the rosaceous genus Prunus, such as P. avium (sweet cherry), having a small fleshy rounded fruit containing a hard stoneSee also bird cherry
- the fruit or wood of any of these trees
- any of various unrelated plants, such as the ground cherry and Jerusalem cherry
- a bright red colour; cerise
- (as adjective)a cherry coat
- slang virginity or the hymen as its symbol
- (modifier) of or relating to the cherry fruit or woodcherry tart
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for don
n.
1520s, from Spanish or Portuguese don, title of respect, from Latin dominus "lord, master." The university sense is c.1660, originally student slang; underworld sense is 1952, from Italian don, from Late Latin domnus, from Latin dominus (see domain). The fem. form is Dona (Spanish/Portuguese), Donna (Italian).
v.
early 14c. contraction of do on (see doff). "After 1650 retained in popular use only in north. dialect; as a literary archaism it has become very frequent in 19th c." [OED]. Related: Donned; donning.
cherry
n.
c.1300, earlier in surname Chyrimuth (1266, literally "Cherry-mouth"); from Anglo-French cherise, from Old North French cherise (Old French, Modern French cerise, 12c.), from Vulgar Latin *ceresia, from late Greek kerasian "cherry," from Greek kerasos "cherry tree," possibly from a language of Asia Minor. Mistaken in Middle English for a plural and stripped of its -s (cf. pea).
Old English had ciris "cherry" from a West Germanic borrowing of the Vulgar Latin word (cf. German Kirsch), but it died out after the Norman invasion and was replaced by the French word. Meaning "maidenhead, virginity" is from 1889, U.S. slang, from supposed resemblance to the hymen, but perhaps also from the long-time use of cherries as a symbol of the fleeting quality of life's pleasures.