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
Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes—I fear the Greeks even when bringing gifts.
From Jovinian A Story of the Early Days of Papal Rome by William Henry Giles Kingston
He could say heartily with the Trojan priest, "Quicquid id est timeo Danaos et dona ferentes."
From George Washington, Volume I by Henry Cabot Lodge
In 1906, not yet having learned the lesson of "Cavete Graecos dona ferentes," and moved by the representations of Sir Harry H. Johnston, the country negotiated a new loan of £100,000.
From A Social History of the American Negro Being a History of the Negro Problem in the United States. Including A History and Study of the Republic of Liberia by Benjamin Griffith Brawley
But whenever we hear from Aguinaldo over his own signature, we hear him saying whatever means in Tagalo “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.”
From The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. Blount
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
Each one claims to be guarding it for the doña.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
José will bring the doña as many guavas as she is wanting.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
With Doña Sylvia’s consent, her bouquets were also sold at the event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 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 Ana County is home to Hatch, a village at the edge of the Rio Grande that has come to be known as the “Chile Capital of the World.”
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2023
“But, señor,” said Doña Lola from the back of the room, “none of the fruits or vegetables on your chart grow in Puerto Rico.”
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Niwunhellage Dona Nirodha Kalapni Niwunhella, known as Nirodha, 32, died at the scene at South Morgan Place in Riverside, Cardiff, on 21 August 2025.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 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
For Ryan and Amanda Dona, who got married in February, a wedding was a way to signal to their friends and families that they had graduated into a more secure stage of their lives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2025
From a family vault at the old Calvary Cemetery, in 1903, the body of Dona Maria Alvarado de Pico, dead nearly 50 years, was dragged out and left some 50 feet away.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
A few days later, on the way to cut alfalfa for the guinea pigs, I spot Dona Mercedes feeding her chickens.
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.
