dona
noun
Madam; Lady: a Portuguese title prefixed to a woman's given name.
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dona
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doña
doñanounMadam; Lady: a Spanish title prefixed to a woman's given name.
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Doña
Doñanouna Spanish title of address equivalent to Mrs or Madam : placed before a name to indicate respect
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Dona
Donanouna Portuguese title of address equivalent to Mrs or Madam : placed before a name to indicate respect
dona
1 American
[daw-nah]
/ ˈdɔ nɑ /
noun
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(initial capital letter) Madam; Lady: a Portuguese title prefixed to a woman's given name.
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(in Portuguese-speaking countries) a lady or gentlewoman.
doña
2
American
[daw-nyah]
/ ˈdɔ njɑ /
noun
-
(initial capital letter) Madam; Lady: a Spanish title prefixed to a woman's given name.
-
(in Spanish-speaking countries) a lady or gentlewoman.
Doña
1
British
/ ˈdɒnjə, ˈdoɲa /
noun
Dona
2
British
/ ˈdõːnə /
noun
Etymology
Origin of dona1
1615–25; < Portuguese < Latin domina, feminine of dominus
Origin of doña2
1615–25; < Spanish < Latin domina, feminine of dominus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Sin dona is serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S.
From Time Magazine Archive
Moreover, one may say that the gifts given in the expectation that they will harm are the gifts of an enemy, ‛εχθρων δωρα αδωρα, Hostibus eveniant talia dona meis.
From Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil by E.M. Huggard
“But timeo Danaos et dona ferentes,” he continued bitterly.
From Count Hannibal A Romance of the Court of France by Stanley John Weyman
It is composed of three anthems taken from the book of Job, a paternoster, and a collect, and ends with the formula, Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine.
From Roman Catholicism in Spain by Anonymous
For several successive evenings, great flocks of Rollers mustered shortly before sunset on some dona trees near the fountain, with all the noise but without the decorum of Rooks.
From Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 1, No. 2 February, 1897 by Various
She looked more the part of a Mexican doña as she dawdled around her tiny apartment on a chilly Friday morning not long before coronavirus became a national crisis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2020
Today you come back from a run to find her on the stoop, talking to la doña.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 16, 2012
The doña can just wait in the car, and he will be back in no time with someone from the Miranda place.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
The chauffeur calls out, Buenos días, doña Tatica, and tips his cap at Tatica who lifts her head high above his riffraff.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
"You must excuse him, doña," the woman apologizes.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
Oracle set out last year to lease a massive AI data-center campus being built in New Mexico’s Doña Ana County, part of a blitz of deals to create computing power for OpenAI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Gallegos, of TODEC, said the situation faced by Doña Chela and so many others bring to mind a song by Los Tigres del Norte — “La Jaula de Oro.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
In fact, although much remains to be studied, the Doña Rama site would seem to be a mining town complete with a foundry, a processing area and, possibly, a fortress.
From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024
That's not how Doña Berta Silvestre sees it.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2024
Doña Lola handed him a tin plate mountained with white rice and red beans.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Other local farmers have followed suit, focusing on the premium Ri6, Musang King and Dona varieties.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
A Stack Infrastructure project for a fourth OpenAI facility in Dona Ana County, N.M., raised about $18 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Marcelo hides out in a compound run by Dona Sebastiana, played by 78-year-old breakout star Tânia Maria.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
The fossils were uncovered during a May 2025 excavation in the municipality of Dona Francisca in southern Brazil.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025
She stops in the center, turns around, and pauses with a smile pasted on her face as Dona Amelia reads a little about her.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
