don

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to put on a garment; also a university teacher or distinguished man

   He paused to don his coat before stepping into the storm.

Simplified etymology

The verb don is a late medieval contraction of do on, meaning “put on,” and parallels doff from do off. The separate Mafia title don, recorded in English in the mid-20th century, ultimately comes from Latin dominus, “master” or “lord.”

A 14th-century contraction of 'do on' ('to put on'), from Old English don ('to do') + on. The noun sense 'university teacher' is unrelated, from Spanish don, from Latin dominus ('lord').

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External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
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