|
|
|
|
Don (honorific)
|
| |
|
| |
Don, from Latin dominus, is a Spanish (pron. ), Portuguese (Dom, ), and Italian honorific. The female version is Doņa (Spanish, pron. IPA: []), Dona (Portuguese, pron. IPA: [], and Donna (Italian), abbreviated "DĒ" or simply "D.".
ough originally a title reserved for royalty, select nobles, and church hierarchs, it is now often used as a mark of esteem for a person of personal, social or official distinction, such as a community leader of long standing, a person of significant wealth, or a noble, but may also be used ironically.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Don (honorific)' Start a new discussion about 'Don (honorific)' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
Don, from Latin dominus, is a Spanish (pron. ), Portuguese (Dom, ), and Italian honorific. The female version is Doņa (Spanish, pron. IPA: []), Dona (Portuguese, pron. IPA: [], and Donna (Italian), abbreviated "DĒ" or simply "D.".
Usage
Although originally a title reserved for royalty, select nobles, and church hierarchs, it is now often used as a mark of esteem for a person of personal, social or official distinction, such as a community leader of long standing, a person of significant wealth, or a noble, but may also be used ironically. As a style, rather than a title or rank, it is used with, and not instead of, a person's name.
Syntactically, it is used in much the same way (although for a broader group of persons) as "Sir" and "Dame" are used in English when speaking of or to a person who has been knighted, e.g. "Don Firstname" or "Doņa Firstname Lastname". Unlike "The Honourable" in English, Don may be used when speaking directly to a person, and unlike "Mister" it must be used with a given name. For example, 'Don Diego de la Vega,' or (abbreviating "seņor") 'Sr. Don Diego de la Vega,' or simply 'Don Diego' (the secret identity of Zorro) are typical forms. But 'Don de la Vega,' would be incorrect. In North America, Don has also been made popular by films depicting the Mafia, such as The Godfather series, where the crime boss would claim for the signs of respect that were traditionally granted in Italy to nobility.
Spain
Historically, the term was used to address members of the nobility, e.g. hidalgos and fidalgos. The treatment gradually came to be reserved for persons of the blood royal, and those of such acknowledged high or ancient aristocratic birth as to be noble de Juro e Herdade, that is, "by right and heredity" rather than by the king's grace. But by the twentieth century it was no longer restricted in use even to the upper classes, since persons of means or education, regardless of background, came to be so addressed and, it is now often used as if it were a more formal version of Seņor, a term which was also once a title of nobility.
The honorific was also used among Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jews, as part of the Spanish culture which they took with them after the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.
In the Philippines, Don/Dom or Doņa/Dona is used to refer to wealthy influential people, in substitution for the more common "Seņor" or "Seņora".
Portugal
Among Portuguese nobility, the title Dom was accorded by royal grant, and passed on in most cases through the male line. Strictly speaking, only females born of a nobleman bearing the title Dom would be addressed as Dona, but the style was not heritable through daughters. The exceptions were few and depended solely on the conditions in which the title itself had been granted. A well-known exception is the descent of Dom Vasco da Gama.
In Portugal, today, Dom is ordinarily employed only for higher members of the clergy, and for superiors of religious orders, such as the Order of Saint Benedict, wherein it is also associated with the status of Dom Frater. Dom is similarly used within the Benedictine Order throughout France and the English speaking world. In France, it is also used within the male branch of the Carthusian Order.
In the Portuguese language, the female, Dona, has become common.
Italy
In the Italic peninsula, the title spread to the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily during the Spanish dominion in the sixteenth century. Informally, especially in the countryside, any Italian ruler or nobleman might have been addressed or referred to as Don. For example King Carlos III of Spain was widely known in his Neapolitan realm as "Don Carlo". Officially, Don was the style for a principe or duca (and any legitimate, male-line descendant) who was a member of the nobility (as distinct from a reigning prince or duke, who was generally entitled to the higher style of Altezza). Sometimes it would be preceded by further honorifics like "L'Illustrissimo" (The illustrious) or "Il Magnifico" (The magnificent) depending on the official rank or style of the honoree. The feminine, "Donna", was borne by their wives and daughters. Genealogical databases and dynastic works still reserve the title for this class of noble by tradition, although it is no longer a right under Italian law.
As in Spanish usage, Don is prefixed either to the full name or to the person's given name, never to the surname alone. An untitled nobleman or wealthy property owner might have been styled "Il Signor Don Francesco Gonzaga" [The Lord Sir Francesco Gonzaga]. A priest was addressed as Don + Name + position such as "Don Marco Di Lorenzo, Arciprete" [Don Marco Di Lorenzo, Archpriest] or for a bishop "Monsignore Don Francesco Pignatelli, Vescovo di Benevento" [Monsignor (title for an Italian bishop) Don Francesco Pignatelli, Bishop of Benevento". Casually, a priest was called "Don Marco" whereas a Bishop was addressed as "Monsignore".
Today in Italy, the title is used for Catholic priests and (former) noblemen of ducal or princely origin. Some priests today prefer the title "Sac." or Sacerdote (literally "priest").
Other Uses
At Oxford and Cambridge universities, members of the academic staff are sometimes referred to as Dons - a remnant of the time when these universities were considered religious institutions and their staff a kind of clergy. In practice within these universities it is most commonly used to refer to fellows of the colleges.
See also
- Don Benito, a town in Spain.
- Don Bosco, an Italian canonized priest.
- Don Camillo, a fictional Italian priest.
- Don Juan Carlos, current King of Spain.
- Don Corleone, a fictional American mafioso.
- Don Francisco, a Chilean television host.
- Don Giovanni, an Italian opera of Spanish subject.
- Don Juan, a fictional Spanish lover.
- Don Joseph Nasi, Jewish diplomat and administrator
- Don Pasquale, an Italian opera.
- Dom Pedro, a Portuguese king.
- Don Quixote, a fictional Spanish knight.
- Don Todros, father of Don Yuįaff; Don Yehuda Mosca; Don Vellocid - prominent members of the Medieval Jewish community at Jerez de la Frontera
- Don Vicente Tinio I de las Islas Filipinas, one of the last Spanish noblemen born in the Philippines
- Don Vito
- Dona Beija, a Brazilian TV series.
- Doņa Bárbara, a Venezuelan Novel by Romulo Gallegos; also adapted to films and TV Series
- Doņana, a Spanish national park named after a certain doņa Ana.
- Don Diego de la Vega Fictional character also known as Zorro
|
| |
|
|
