don

C2+ Topic:Education & Learning

US /dɑn/ UK /dɒn/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like dun /ʌ/ vs /ɑ/

Meanings

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.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to put on a garment; also a... wear assume sportput on

Opposites

doff removetake off

Word family

Related forms doff

Etymology

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').

don on Old English *dōną Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Education & Learning

External links

# don

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɑn/
**IPA (UK):** /dɒn/

## Meanings
1. to put on a garment; also a university teacher or distinguished man

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

## Synonyms
- wear
- assume
- sport
- put on

## Antonyms
- doff
- remove
- take off

## Related Forms
- doff

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: don on
- Root: *dōną

## Etymology
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').

## AI Etymology
Don is 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'). Important recorded forms include don on (Old English) and *dōną (Proto-Germanic). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers to put on a garment; also a university teacher or distinguished man. The wider family includes related words such as doff.

## Topics
- Education & Learning

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