donn

• don (northern Moselle Franconian, some Ripuarian dialects)
• dun (southern Moselle Franconian)

From Middle High German duon, from Old High German *duon, northern variant of tuon, from Proto-Germanic *dōną.

• IPA^(key): /don/

donn (third-person singular present deet or deit, preterite dät, past participle jedon or jedonn)

1. (many dialects of Ripuarian, including Kölsch) to do
2. (same dialects) Used in the preterite with a following infinitive to form the paraphrastic preterite.

   Ich dät us der Finster luure. ― I looked out the window.

3. (same dialects) Used in the subjunctive with a following infinitive to form the conditional tense.

   Ich dät jo noch jet blieve, ävver meng Frau well heem.

   I would stay some more, but my wife wants to go home.

• The past participle has an open vowel /ɔ/, either long or short, but never /o/ as in the infinitive.
• The paraphrastic preterite can be used with all verbs except auxiliaries and modals. It is preferred especially with regular verbs, though the regular preterite does remain functional in Ripuarian (unlike Moselle Franconian); thus alternatively: Ich luurten us der Finster. (“I looked out the window.”) As in colloquial Standard German the preterite as such is restricted semantically and syntactically, the past being predominantly expressed by the perfect tense.

• (Munster) IPA^(key): /d̪ˠoun̪ˠ/, /d̪ˠəun̪ˠ/
• (Galway) IPA^(key): /d̪ˠaun̪ˠ/
• (Mayo) IPA^(key): /d̪ˠʊn̪ˠ/
• (Ulster) IPA^(key): /d̪ˠʌn̪ˠ/

From Old Irish donn, from Proto-Celtic *dusnos (“brown”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewh₂- (“smoke”).

donn (genitive singular masculine doinn, genitive singular feminine doinne, plural donna, comparative doinne)

1. brown
2. brown-haired, brunette
3. made of hard brown timber
4. strong, solid
5. used as intensifying term

Obsolete spellings

donn m or f (genitive singular doinn or doinne)

1. brown (colour)
2. brown animal (masculine or feminine declined differently)
3. hard brown timber

Feminine (only used to refer to a female brown animal)

donn (present analytic donnann, future analytic donnfaidh, verbal noun donnadh, past participle donnta)

1. (transitive, intransitive) Alternative form of donnaigh (“brown; tan, rust”)

From Old Irish donn (“chief, lord, noble”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰus-no-.

donn m (genitive singular doinn, nominative plural doinn)

2. (literary) noble, prince

• Donn m (proper noun)

donn f (genitive singular doinne, nominative plural donna)

1. Alternative form of dronn (“hump; camber”)

• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “donn”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 donn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 donn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “donn”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
• Finck, F. N. (1899) Die araner mundart (in German), volume II, Marburg: Elwert’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 63
• “donn”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
• Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, page 24

From Arabic. Probably the imperfect of ظَنَّ (ẓanna, “to think, opine, conjecture”) in a phrase like أَظُنُّهُم مُتَضايِقِين (ʔaẓunnuhum mutaḍāyiqīn, “I think them despondent”). Then reconstrued as an adverb (or false verb). Alternatively from the related noun ظَنّ (ẓann, “opinion, conjecture”), but this seems unlikely.

• IPA^(key): /dɔnn/

donn-

1. seemingly, by appearance

   Kienu donnhom imdejqin.

   They seemed despondent.

   (literally, “They were (by) their appearance despondent.”)

   Donnok ma tifhimx.

   You don’t seem to understand.

   (literally, “(By) your appearance you don’t understand.”)

• As above, the word takes pronominal suffixes according to the subject.

• dond

• IPA^(key): /don͈/

From Proto-Celtic *dusnos (“brown”).

donn

1. brown, tawny, dun
2. hazel (of eyes)
3. chestnut (of animals)

Alternative declension:

• Irish: donn
• Manx: dhone
• Scottish Gaelic: donn

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰus-no-.

donn m

1. chief, lord, noble

   Synonyms: mál, toísech, túathach

2. lordship, chieftainship

   Synonyms: flaith, tigernas

• Irish: donn

donn

1. princely, noble

Alternative declension

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

donn (gender unknown, genitive duinn)

1. theft, stolen property

Its gender is unknown, although Binchy in his edition of Críth Gablach provisionally treats it as neuter.

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 donn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “2 donn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language
• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “3 donn”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

donn

1. then, at that time

From Old Irish donn,^[1] from Proto-Celtic *dusnos (“brown”), from Proto-Indo-European *dusnos-, *donnos- (“dark”), from *dʰewh₂- (“smoke”).

• (Lewis) IPA^(key): /d̪̊ɔ̃ũn̪ˠ/, ^[2]
• (North Uist) IPA^(key): /d̪̊oun̪ˠ/^[3]
• (Barra) IPA^(key): ^[4]

donn (comparative duinne)

1. brown
2. (hair color) brown-haired, brunette

• comhachag-dhonn
• dreathan donn

• Edward Dwelly (1911) “donn”, in Faclair Gàidhlig gu Beurla le Dealbhan [The Illustrated Gaelic–English Dictionary]‎, 10th edition, Edinburgh: Birlinn Limited, →ISBN
• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “donn”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎, Stirling, →ISBN