don

Reading level: easy

Estimated CEFR level: A1 — Beginner

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
  2. noun teacher at a university or college (especially at Cambridge or Oxford)
  3. noun the head of an organized crime family

Etymology

From Latin dominus (“lord, head of household”), akin to Italian don, Sicilian don, Spanish don; from domus (“house”). Doublet of dom, domine, dominie, and dominus.

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