Jump To:

• don
  don

  noun

  Mr.; Sir: a Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.
• Don
  Don

  noun

  a river flowing generally S from Tula in the Russian Federation in Europe, to the Sea of Azov. About 1,200 miles (1,930 km) long.

don

¹ American  

[don, dawn] / dɒn, dɔn /

noun

• dons
  plural

1. (initial capital letter) Mr.; Sir: a Spanish title prefixed to a man's given name.

2. (in Spanish-speaking countries) a lord or gentleman.

3. (initial capital letter) an Italian title of address, especially for a priest.

4. a person of great importance.

5. (in the English universities) a head, fellow, or tutor of a college.

6. (in the Mafia) a head of a family or syndicate.

---

don ² American  

[don] / dɒn /

verb (used with object)

• dons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• donned,
  past participle,  past
• donning
  present participle

1. to put on, as clothing or equipment.

   He donned his best shirt and tie for the interview.

   Donning goggles and fins, they dived off the raft one by one.

2. to assume or adopt, as a particular attitude, responsibility, etc..

   The actress is all set to don a new role as first-time director of her own film.

---

don ³ American  

[dohn] / doʊn /

conjunction

1. (in prescriptions) donec.

---

Don ⁴ American  

[don, dawn] / dɒn, dɔn /

noun

1. a river flowing generally S from Tula in the Russian Federation in Europe, to the Sea of Azov. About 1,200 miles (1,930 km) long.

2. a river in NE Scotland, flowing E from Aberdeen county to the North Sea. 62 miles (100 km) long.

3. a river in central England, flowing NE from S Yorkshire to the Humber estuary. 60 miles (97 km) long.

4. a male given name, form of Donald.

---

Don ⁵ American  

[dawn] / dɔn /

noun

Welsh Mythology.

1. a goddess, the mother of Gwydion and Arianrod: corresponds to the Irish Danu.

---

don ¹ British  

/ dɒn /

noun

1. a member of the teaching staff at a university or college, esp at Oxford or Cambridge

2. the head of a student dormitory at certain Canadian universities and colleges

3. a Spanish gentleman or nobleman

4. (in the Mafia) the head of a family

---

Don ² British  

/ dɒn /

noun

1. 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)

2. a river in NE Scotland, rising in the Cairngorm Mountains and flowing east to the North Sea. Length: 100 km (62 miles)

3. a river in N central England, rising in S Yorkshire and flowing northeast to the Humber. Length: about 96 km (60 miles)

---

Don ³ British  

/ don, dɒn /

noun

1. a Spanish title equivalent to Mr : placed before a name to indicate respect

---

don ⁴ British  

/ dɒn /

verb

1. (tr) to put on (clothing)

---

Usage

What is a basic definition of don? Don means to put on or dress in clothing. The word Don is a title for men in Spanish and don is a term for the head of a mafia family. Don has a few other senses as a noun. When used as a verb, don means to put on clothing. When you don a fancy hat, you place it on your head. Sometimes don is used to indicate that you’re putting on fancy clothes.

• Real-life examples: People don formal clothes to attend weddings. The media is often obsessed with the designer clothing that celebrities have donned for an awards show. It is a good idea to don a helmet when riding a bike.
• Used in a sentence: I don my long winter coat whenever it snows.

In Spanish, the title Don is used like Mr. in English to show respect to a man. Don is used before a man’s first name.

• Real-life example: The fictional Don Juan was a legendary womanizer. The fictional Don Quixote is remembered for battling with windmills.
• Used in a sentence: While in Spain, I met with my good friends Don Emilio and Don Diego.

The word don is also used to refer to the head of a mafia family or syndicate. This sense of don is also sometimes used as a title.

• Real-life examples: Actor Marlon Brando played Vito Corleone, the don of the fictional Corleone family, in the film The Godfather. Carlo Gambino was the don of New York City’s Gambino crime family.
• Used in a sentence: The police arrested several low-ranking members of the crime family but could never get evidence against the don.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• dons
  plural

Participles

• donning
  present
• donned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• don
  simple
• dons
  simple
• have donned
  perfect
• has donned
  perfect
• am donning
  progressive
• are donning
  progressive
• is donning
  progressive
• have been donning
  perfect progressive
• has been donning
  perfect progressive

Past

• donned
  simple
• had donned
  perfect
• was donning
  progressive
• were donning
  progressive
• had been donning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will don
  simple
• will have donned
  perfect
• will be donning
  progressive
• will have been donning
  perfect progressive

---

Etymology

Origin of don¹

First recorded in 1515–25; from Italian, Spanish, from Latin dominus “lord, master”

Origin of don²

First recorded in 1560–70; contraction of do ¹ + on; cf. doff

Origin of don³

By shortening of Latin donec ( def. )

---

Explanation

To don means to put on, as in clothing or hats. A hunter will don his camouflage clothes when he goes hunting. What is the opposite of don, an old-fashioned word meaning "to put on?" Doff another old-fashioned word meaning "to take off." These two words have something else in common - both are contractions from the 14th century English expressions do on and do off respectively. Don your boots before going out in the snow and doff them when you come inside again! A don is also a Spanish nobleman and a dean of a college at Oxford or Cambridge, but these meanings come from the Latin dominus meaning "master."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

don Don dons donned donning

Calves still need to be bought and sold, and ranch operations - many multi-generational - don not pause for politics.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

And if you’re familiar with Martin Best, the curmudgeonly doctor with an almost permanently furrowed brow portrayed by Charles, the character’s willingness to don such a getup likely took some coaxing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

Only today’s would-be homesteaders look to TikTok stars like Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman for inspiration or don Gunne Sax-style prairie dresses and call the look cottagecore.

From Salon ● Jul. 11, 2026

The firefighter also asks him to don goggles to protect his eyes as rescuers continue to carefully dig away at the rubble surrounding him.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

I say, ‘Whoa! Be sure and tell that to your frien at the precinc, they don star snatchin my ass for vagran.’

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Don Cantrell, whose grandfather started farming family land that now stretches to 12,000 acres, said he is still getting hit on diesel and admits the president "does some stupid things" and "says some stupid things".

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Don Batie, 67, agrees: "There's a lot of other issues besides agriculture."

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

A federal judge dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit that had accused Diageo of false advertising for Casamigos and Don Julio tequila “100% agave.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

California voters will decide this November whether incumbent Shirley Weber will be reelected as secretary of state of California or her challenger, Republican Don Wagner, will replace her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

The Duke said to Sancho, "Sancho, my friend, I, in the name of the great Don Quixote, appoint you governor of one of my islands."

From "Adventures of Don Quixote" by Argentina Palacios

But for the registered nurse, who dons a Hello Kitty badge reel at work, nostalgia was part of the card’s appeal.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

The dons themselves spared no effort in ensuring that this view became conventional wisdom.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Carney dons his best furniture salesman hat to make the pitch of a lifetime, a deal that could save Robert’s life, or take Carney’s.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

In fact, in her first meet-cute with Mr. Hayward, he dons his own glasses, the first of many acts in which he matches Mary in the series.

From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026

It meant acceptance by a more fashionable and amusing part of Cambridge and allowed him to dismiss the fact that he was not appreciated by a variety of dull and pompous dons.

From "Double Helix" by James D. Watson

Ortiz and six other spy-saboteurs, “their hands and faces already darkened by the unyielding sun, donned gandouras and turbans—what the famed T.E. Lawrence dubbed ‘Arab kit’—mounted a string of camels and rode south.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Nigerian models donned outfits of seemingly impossible amounts of fabric folded and moulded into massive silhouettes, or overlapping in shingled, feather-like patterns.

From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026

Anaheimers donned Halos jerseys and hats like never before.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

She also donned red carpet maternity wear at The Odyssey's US premiere in New York on 14 July.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

So every day, he donned his gray suit, wound his pocket watch, and waited.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

The actress marked the occasion by donning a stunning lace Schiaparelli gown featuring long sleeves and a high neckline.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026

US billionaire owner Michele Kang was also present, donning a new match shirt with her name on the back and posing for photos with fans before kick-off.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Al-Dabba and his sons, donning protective netted hats and wielding metal bee smokers, gently inspect the neat rows of teeming hives.

From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026

People don’t just attend shows; they arrive in elaborate, artist-inspired outfits, from Taylor Swift fans trading friendship bracelets to Beyoncé fans donning cowboy hats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

Not wanting to waste the seal meat, he lifted the carcass in his teeth and flipped it onto the back of Lee Scoresby’s larger sledge before donning the armor.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• dress
• put on
• wear

---