donne
donne Lexical Profile
donne Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The plural form of donna; Italian ladies or women of rank.
"The Renaissance frescoes in the villa depicted noble donne dressed in richly embroidered silk gowns."
A fundamental premise, assumption, or central thematic idea upon which a literary or artistic work is based (an unaccented spelling of donnée).
"The critic argued that the novelist's central donne was too implausible to sustain a three-hundred-page narrative."
Word Nuance & Usage
When uncapitalized, 'donne' serves either as the Italian plural of 'donna' (lady) or as an unaccented variant of the French literary loanword 'donnée' (a central thematic premise). When capitalized, it refers to the prominent English metaphysical poet John Donne (1572–1631).
• Rhymes for donne
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Sense 1 is borrowed from Italian 'donne', the plural of 'donna' (lady or woman), from Latin 'domina' (mistress of a household). Sense 2 is an unaccented variant of French 'donnée' (that which is given), from the past participle of 'donner' (to give).