don

Formsdons, donning, donned

Pluraldons

1. 1
   put on clothesverbtransitive

   To put on a piece of clothing or other article of personal attire.

   Visitors must don hard hats and safety glasses before entering the plant.

   Having donned his best suit, he set off for the interview.

   UsageOften with uniforms and safety gear: don a hard hat. In everyday talk, put on is the usual choice.

   Similardress, clothe, attire

   Oppositedoff

   Note

   A different word from the Oxford don: this is do on run together, from Old English dōn on, and its opposite, doff, is do off built the same way. It is at home with uniforms and protective gear, as when Paul Bigland, writing in RAIL in 2022, dons his PPE before walking onto a tunnel site. Source

   Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

   • The clothing verb has a different origin from the academic noun don. en.wikipedia.org
   • The clothing verb combines do and on and descends from Old English dōn on. en.wiktionary.org
   • Doff similarly contracts the expression meaning do off. en.wiktionary.org
   • Paul Bigland's 2022 RAIL article describes putting on PPE before walking through a tunnel construction site. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   title of respectnouncountable

   A title of respect put before a man's first name in Spanish- and Italian-speaking countries, given to noblemen and men of standing and, in Italy, to Catholic priests.

   Everyone on the estate addressed the landowner as Don Esteban.

   On summer evenings the dons and their families strolled around the plaza in their finest clothes.

   UsageCapitalized before a man's first name: Don Esteban.

   Similarnobleman, gentleman, lord

   Note

   A title that English writers like to pair with donna: Charles F. Ellerman's "Reminiscences of the Island of Cuba" (1845) watches the dons and donnas assemble in the square at evening. The pair still works playfully for any rich or powerful men and women, as in Caleb Stewart Rossiter's dot-com dons and donnas of 2010. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Charles F. Ellerman's Reminiscences of the Island of Cuba contains an 1845 passage describing dons and donnas assembling in a square in the evening. en.wiktionary.org
   • Caleb Stewart Rossiter uses the phrase dot-com dons and donnas. en.wiktionary.org
3. 3
   mafia bossnouncountable

   A boss in the mafia, the head of a group of organized criminals.

   The aging don still ran the family's gambling rackets from a back room of the restaurant.

   Prosecutors spent years looking for a witness willing to testify against the don.

   Similarboss, godfather, kingpin

4. 4
   university teachernounUKcountable

   A university teacher, especially a fellow or tutor of a college at Oxford or Cambridge.

   As a young don at Cambridge, he spent his mornings lecturing and his afternoons in the college library.

   The dons dined at high table while the undergraduates sat on long benches below.

   UsageIn American English, professor is the usual word.

   Similarlecturer, academic, professor, fellow

   Note

   The word belongs to British universities, and above all to Oxford and Cambridge. It comes from Latin dominus, "lord, head of household", the same source as the Spanish and Italian title. Thomas Hughes's Tom Brown at Oxford seats the dons at high table, and George Eliot's Daniel Deronda (1876) has donnish for their scholarly style. Source

   Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

   • Don derives from Latin dominus, meaning "lord, head of household", and shares this source with the Spanish and Italian title. en.wiktionary.org
   • Thomas Hughes wrote Tom Brown at Oxford. gutenberg.org
   • Tom Brown at Oxford depicts dons dining at high table. gutenberg.org
   • George Eliot wrote Daniel Deronda, first published in 1876. en.wikisource.org
   • Daniel Deronda uses donnish to describe academic writing. gutenberg.org
5. 5
   residence workernounCanadacountable

   An employee of a university residence who lives among the students housed there.

   She worked as a don in first-year residence, living on the same floor as forty students.

   If the noise gets out of hand, call your don before you call campus security.

   Note

   Canadian campuses use the word this way, and it travels badly: a British reader would take a don to be a university teacher, not a member of the residence staff who lives on the students' floor. Source

   Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

   • Canadian universities use 'don' for residence staff who live among students. vic.utoronto.ca
   • Residence dons can live on the students' floor. residence.uwo.ca
   • The British academic meaning of 'don' is a university teacher. ox.ac.uk
6. 6
   noundialectalMulticultural London Englishcountable

   Any man, referred to in a casual, familiar way.

   Some don at the chicken shop tried to push in front of me, innit.

   Two dons from the next estate turned up at the party.

   Similarguy, bloke, geezer

   Note

   In Multicultural London English a don is simply some man, with no respect or rank implied. It sounds most at home in the speech of young Londoners and in London rap: Loski's "Olympic Chinging" (2017) uses it in a question demanding to know who some stranger is.

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