don

/dɒn/ (bre, ipa) · [dˈɑn] /dɑːn/ (ame, ipa) · [dˈɑn] /ˈdän/ (ame, mw)

don — noun

  • donsingular
  • donsplural

1. the person who controls a Mafia family or a similar criminal organization

1.名詞C1
釋義

the person who controls a Mafia family or a similar criminal organization

例句

The police hoped the arrest would weaken the don's control of the port.

the don's + area of control

In the film, the don settled family disputes from a dark office.

同義詞
  • mob boss

    close informal equivalent in American English

  • crime lord

    broader and often used in journalism for powerful underworld leaders

  • godfather

    can overlap, but it often stresses symbolic authority within a crime family

文法句型

the don's + noun

the don of + group

用法筆記

Common in news reports, films, and novels about organized crime. Distinguish from sense 2 and sense 3: this sense refers to criminal authority, not academic or Spanish social rank.

常見錯誤

❌Our office don approved the budget.
✅Our boss approved the budget.
💡this sense is limited to Mafia-style criminal leadership, not an ordinary workplace manager.

2. a college teacher in the Oxford or Cambridge system who teaches students and oft

2.名詞C1
釋義

a college teacher in the Oxford or Cambridge system who teaches students and often guides their study work

例句

At Cambridge, Professor Dario was a respected don in the history college.

don = college teacher in Oxbridge

The new don met first-year students over tea in the college hall.

同義詞
  • tutor

    close in Oxbridge colleges, but more general and less tradition-specific

  • fellow

    can overlap in Oxbridge settings, but it refers to college membership as well as teaching

  • lecturer

    general university title, not a special Oxbridge term

文法句型

a don at Oxford/Cambridge

ask your don + to-infinitive

用法筆記

Mainly British and strongly tied to Oxford and Cambridge colleges. Do not use it for an ordinary university teacher in most other places.

常見錯誤

❌My chemistry don at UCLA gave us homework.
✅My chemistry professor at UCLA gave us homework.
💡'don' is a traditional Oxford/Cambridge term, not a general name for any university teacher.

3. a man in Spain, especially in older writing, who belongs to a high social class

3.名詞C2
釋義

a man in Spain, especially in older writing, who belongs to a high social class or is addressed with special respect

例句

The guide said the old portrait showed a young don from Seville.

a don from + Spanish place

In the old novel, the don welcomed Sivan into his Seville town house.

historical don in Spanish setting

同義詞
  • nobleman

    stresses social rank more directly

  • gentleman

    broader and less tied to Spanish history

  • grandee

    very formal and strongly associated with high Spanish nobility

反義詞

文法句型

a Spanish don

the don + verb

用法筆記

Usually appears in historical writing, older fiction, or names such as Don Quixote. In modern English it often sounds literary rather than everyday.

常見錯誤

❌He is a don because he is any Spanish man.
✅He is called a don in the novel because he is a high-status Spanish gentleman.
💡this sense is historical and honorific, not a label for every man from Spain.

don — verb