Don is derived from the Latin dominus: a master of a household, a title with background from the Roman Republic in classical antiquity. With the abbreviated form having emerged as such in the Middle Ages, traditionally it is reserved for Catholic clergy and nobles, in addition to certain educational authorities and persons of high distinction.
The older form of Dom is the variant used in Portuguese, which in Brazil is reserved for bishops. The title is also used among Benedictinemonks for those members of the community who have professed perpetual religious vows. The equivalent of Doña or Dame is used by nuns of the Order.
In Spanish, although originally a title reserved for royalty, select nobles, and church hierarchs, it is now often used as a mark of esteem for an individual of personal, social or official distinction, such as a community leader of long-standing, a person of significant wealth, a noble, or the member of an order of merit. As a style, rather than a title or rank, it is used with, rather than in place of, a person's name.
The feminine equivalents are Doña (Spanish:[ˈdoɲa]), Donna (Italian:[ˈdɔnna]), Doamnă (Romanian) and Dona (Portuguese:[ˈdonɐ]) abbreviated 'D.ª', 'Da.', or simply 'D.' It is a common honorific reserved for women, especially mature women. In Portuguese Dona tends to be less restricted in use to women than Dom is to men.[1] Today in the Spanish language, Doña is used to respectfully refer to a mature woman. In present-day Hispanic America, the title Don or Doña is sometimes used in honorific form when addressing a senior citizen. In some countries, Don or Doña may be used as a generic honorific, similar to Sir and Madam in the United States.
In Spanish, don and doña convey a higher degree of reverence. Unlike The Honourable in English (but like the English Sir for a knight or baronet), Don may be used when speaking directly to a person, and unlike Lord it must be used with a given name. For example, "Don Diego de la Vega" or simply "Don Diego" (the secret identity of Zorro) are typical forms. But a form using the last name (e.g. "Don de la Vega") is not considered correct and rarely would be used by Spanish speakers ("señor de la Vega" would be used instead).
Spanish-speaking countries and territories
Historically, don was used to address members of the nobility, e.g. hidalgos, as well as members of the secular clergy. The treatment gradually came to be reserved for persons of the blood royal, e.g. Don John of Austria, 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. However, there were rare exemptions to the rule, such as the mulattoMiguel Enríquez who received the distinction from Philip V due to his privateering work in the Caribbean. It is now often used as a more formal version of Señor, a term which itself was also once used to address someone with the quality of nobility (not necessarily holding a nobiliary title).[2][3]
Spain
During the reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain from 1975 until his abdication as monarch on 19 June 2014, he was titled Su Majestad [S. M.] el Rey Juan Carlos (His Majesty King Juan Carlos). Following the abdication, Royal Decree 1368/1987 gave Juan Carlos and his wife the official style S. M. el Rey Don Juan Carlos (H.M. King Juan Carlos) and S. M. la Reina Doña Sofía (H.M. Queen Sofía)—the same as during his reign, with the honorific Don/Doña prefixed to the names. Don Juan Carlos' successor is S. M. el Rey Felipe VI.
The Spanish usage is similar among Basque speakers in Spain using don[4] and doña.[5] The honorific is sometimes adapted as on as in the priest and scholar on Joxemiel Barandiaran (Spanish: Don José Miguel Barandiarán) or fictional knight On Kixote (Don Quixote).[6][7]
The honorific title Don was widely used in Crown documents throughout Hispanic America by those in nobility or landed gentry. It can be found in the many 'Padrones' and "Aguas y Tierras" records in Mexican archives. The honorific in modern times is also widely used throughout the Americas. This is the case of the Mexican New Age author Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz,[8] the Chilean television personality Don Francisco,[9] and the Puerto Rican industrialist and politician Don Luis Ferré,[10] among many other figures. Although Puerto Rican politician Pedro Albizu Campos had a doctoral degree, he has been titled Don.[11] Likewise, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín has often been called Don Luís Muñoz Marin instead of Governor Muñoz Marin.[12] In the same manner, Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz is an M.D.[13] Additionally the honorific is usually used with people of older age.
The same happens in other Hispanic American countries. For example, despite having a doctoral degree in theology, the Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia was usually styled as "Don". Likewise, despite being a respected military commander with the rank of Brigade General, Argentine Ruler Juan Manuel de Rosas was formally and informally styled "Don" as a more important title.
Prior to the American ownership of the Southwest, a number of Americans immigrated to California, where they often became Mexican citizens and changed their given names to Spanish equivalents, for example "Juan Temple" for Jonathan Temple.[14] It was common for them to assume the honorific "don" once they had attained a significant degree of distinction in the community.
Philippines
In Spanish colonial Philippines, this honorific was reserved to the nobility, the prehispanic datu[15] that became the principalía,[16]:218 whose right to rule was recognised by Philip II on 11 June 1594.[17]:tit. VII, ley xvi Similar to Latin America, the title Don is considered highly honoured,[18] more so than academic titles such as "Doctor", political titles such as "Governor", and even knights titled "Sir". Usage was retained during the American period, although traditional official positions of the principalía (e.g., gobernadorcillo and cabeza de barangay) were replaced by American political positions such as the municipal president.[19] The practise slowly faded after World War II, as heirs of the principalía often did not inherit the title, and as civic leaders were chosen by popular election. Prior to 1954,[20] the appointment and tenure of mayors was at the pleasure of the president of the Philippines, pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 158 amending Commonwealth Act No. 57., Section 8 of Commonwealth Act No. 158, as amended by Republic Act No. 276.[21] The 1987 Constitution, meanwhile, explicitly prohibits recognition of titles of nobility, thus the terms Don and Doña are now courtesy titles with no requirements for their attainment other than common usage for socially prominent and rich persons.
Officially, Don was the honorific title exclusively reserved for a member of a high noble family such a principe or a duca, excluding a marchese or a conte (and any legitimate, male-line descendant thereof). A reigning prince or duke would also be entitled to some form of the higher style of Altezza (eg Sua Altezza Serenissima, Sua Altezza Reale) in addition to the Don. This was how the style was used in the Almanach de Gotha for extant families in its third section focused on the 200 non sovereign princely and ducal families of Europe.[citation needed]
The last official Italian nobility law (abrogated 1948) stated that the style belonged to members of the following groups:
those from the Kingdom of Sardinia who bore either a title of hereditary knight or of the titled nobility (whatever the main title of the family).[22]
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.
In practice, however, the style Don/Donna (or Latin Dominus/Domina) was used more loosely in church, civil and notarial records. The honorific was often accorded to the untitled gentry (e.g., knights or younger sons of noblemen), priests, or other people of distinction. It was, over time, adopted by organized criminal societies in Southern Italy (including Naples, Sicily, and Calabria) to refer to members who held considerable sway within their hierarchies.
In modern Italy, the title is usually only given to Roman Catholicdiocesan priests (never to prelates, who bear higher honorifics such as monsignore, eminenza, and so on). In Sardinia, until recently it was commonly used for nobility (whether titled or not), but it is being presently used mainly when the speaker wants to show that he knows the don's condition of nobility.
Outside of the priesthood or old nobility, usage is still common in Southern Italy, mostly as an honorific form to address the elderly, but it is rarely, if ever, used in Central Italy or Northern Italy. It can be used satirically or ironically to lampoon a person's sense of self-importance.[citation needed]
Don is prefixed either to the full name or to the person's given name. The form "Don Lastname" for crime bosses (as in Don Corleone) is an American custom. In Southern Italy, mafia bosses are addressed as "Don Firstname" by other mafiosi and sometimes their victims as well, while the press usually refers to them as "Firstname Lastname", without the honorific.
Priests are the only ones to be referred as "Don" plus the last name (e.g. Don Marioni), although when talking directly to them they are usually addressed as "Don" plus the first name (e.g. Don Francesco), which is also the most common form used by parishioners when referring to their priest.
Portuguese-speaking countries and territories
The usage of Dom was a prerogative of princes of royal blood and also of other individuals to whom it had been granted by the sovereign.[23] In most cases, the title was passed on through the male line. Strictly speaking, only females born of a nobleman bearing the title Dom would be addressed as Dona ('D.ª'), but the style was not heritable through daughters. The few exceptions depended solely on the conditions upon which the title itself had been granted. A well-known exception is the descent of Dom Vasco da Gama.
There were many cases, both in Portugal and Brazil, in which the title of Dom (or Dona) was conceded to, and even bought by, people who were not from royalty. In any case, when the title was officially recognized by the proper authority, it became part of the name.
It is also employed for laymen who belong to the royal and imperial families (for example the House of Aviz in Portugal and the House of Braganza in Portugal and Brazil).[24] It was also accorded to members of families of the titled Portuguese nobility.[1] Unless ennobling letters patent specifically authorised its use, Dom was not attributed to members of Portugal's untitled nobility: Since hereditary titles in Portugal descended according to primogeniture, the right to the style of Dom was the only apparent distinction between cadets of titled families and members of untitled noble families.[1]
In the Portuguese language, the feminine form, Dona (or, more politely, Senhora Dona), has become common when referring to a woman who does not hold an academic title. It is commonly used to refer to First Ladies, although it is less common for female politicians.
Croatia
Within the Catholic Church, the prefix Don is usually used for the diocesan priests with their first name, as well as velečasni (The Reverend).
In the United States, Don has also been made popular by films depicting the Italian mafia, such as The Godfather trilogy, where the crime boss is given by his associates the same signs of respect that were traditionally granted in Italy to nobility. However, the honorific followed by the last name (e.g. Don Corleone) would be used in Italy for priests only: the proper Italian respectful form is similar to the Spanish-language form in that it is applied only to the first name (e.g. "Don Vito"). This title has in turn been applied by the media to real-world mafia figures, such as the nickname "Teflon Don" for John Gotti. It is also used in American TV series Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity.
A style of office, also called manner of reference, or form of address when someone is spoken to directly, is an official or legally recognized form of reference for a person or other entity, and may often be used in conjunction with a personal title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal capacity. Such styles are particularly associated with monarchies, where they may be used by a wife of an office holder or of a prince of the blood, for the duration of their marriage. They are also almost universally used for presidents in republics and in many countries for members of legislative bodies, higher-ranking judges, and senior constitutional office holders. Leading religious figures also have styles.
Excellency is an honorific style given to certain high-level officers of a sovereign state, officials of an international organization, or members of an aristocracy. Once entitled to the title "Excellency", the holder usually retains the right to that courtesy throughout their lifetime, although in some cases the title is attached to a particular office and is held only during tenure of that office.
The Spanish nobility are people who possess a title of nobility confirmed by the Spanish Ministry of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, as well as those individuals appointed to one of Spain's three highest orders of knighthood: the Order of the Golden Fleece, the Order of Charles III and the Order of Isabella the Catholic. Some members of the Spanish nobility possess various titles that may be inherited or not, but the creation and recognition of titles is legally the prerogative of the monarchy of Spain.
Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions, the following is a reasonably comprehensive list that provides information on both general ranks and specific differences. Distinction should be made between reigning families and the nobility – the latter being a social class subject to and created by the former.
In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised by a church or other religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community. The term is taken from Latin minister. In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have been ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained.
Infanta Pilar of Spain, Duchess of Badajoz and Viscountess of La Torre, sometimes known more simply as Pilar de Borbón, was the elder daughter of Infante Juan, Count of Barcelona and Princess María Mercedes of the Two Sicilies, and older sister of King Juan Carlos I.
Infante, also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain and Portugal to the sons and daughters (infantas) of the king, regardless of age, sometimes with the exception of the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne who usually bears a unique princely or ducal title. A woman married to a male infante was accorded the title of infanta if the marriage was dynastically approved, although since 1987 this is no longer automatically the case in Spain. Husbands of born infantas did not obtain the title of infante through marriage, although they were occasionally elevated to the title de gracia at the sovereign's command.
Infanta Margarita of Spain, Duchess of Soria, 2nd Duchess of Hernani, Grandee of Spain, is the younger sister of King Juan Carlos and aunt of the reigning King Felipe VI of Spain.
Dominus is the Latin word for master or owner. Dominus was used as a Roman imperial title. It was also the Latin title of the feudal, superior and mesne, lords, and an ecclesiastical and academic title. The ecclesiastical title was rendered through the French seigneur in English as sir, making it a common prefix for parsons before the Reformation, as in Sir Hugh Evans in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. Its shortened form Dom remains used as a prefix of honor for ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church, and especially for members of the Benedictine and other religious orders. The title was formerly also used as is, Dominus, for a Bachelor of Arts.
The Royal and Distinguished Spanish Order of Charles III, originally Royal and Much Distinguished Order of Charles III is a knighthood and one of the three preeminent orders of merit bestowed by the Kingdom of Spain, alongside the Order of Isabella the Catholic and the Order of Civil Merit. It was established by the King of Spain Charles III by means of the Royal Decree of 19 September 1771, with the motto Virtuti et mérito. It rewards political appointees, heads of State and high-ranking government officials for their actions in benefit to Spain and the Crown.
The principalía or noble class was the ruling and usually educated upper class in the pueblos of Spanish Philippines, comprising the gobernadorcillo, tenientes de justicia, and the cabezas de barangay who governed the districts. Also included in this class were former gobernadorcillos or municipal captains, and municipal lieutenants in good standing during their term of office.
These are some of the honorifics used in Italy.
The Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa is a dynastic order of knighthood of the House of Braganza, the former Portuguese Royal Family. The current Grand Master of the Order is Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza, the Head of the House of Braganza.
Dona may refer to:
The Mexican nobility were a hereditary nobility of Mexico, with specific privileges and obligations determined in the various political systems that historically ruled over the Mexican territory.
A nobiliary particle is a type of onomastic particle used in a surname or family name in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. In some languages, it is the same as a regular prepositional particle that was used in the creation of many surnames. In some countries, it became customary to distinguish the nobiliary particle from the regular one by a different spelling, although in other countries these conventions did not arise, occasionally resulting in ambiguity. The nobiliary particle can often be omitted in everyday speech or certain contexts.
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles or simply formal functions, and vary by country and by era. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically hereditary and patrilineal.
Carloctavismo is a branch of Carlism, particularly active in the 1943–1953 period. In terms of dynastical allegiances it advanced the claim to the Spanish throne of Carlos Pio de Habsburgo-Lorena y de Borbón, styled as Carlos VIII, and his relatives. In terms of political line it collaborated very closely with Francoism.
In the Philippine languages, a system of titles and honorifics was used extensively during the pre-colonial era, mostly by the Tagalogs and Visayans. These were borrowed from the Malay system of honorifics obtained from the Moro peoples of Mindanao, which in turn was based on the Indianized Sanskrit honorifics system and the Chinese's used in areas like Ma-i (Mindoro) and Pangasinan. The titles of historical figures such as Rajah Sulayman, Lakandula and Dayang Kalangitan evidence Indian influence. Malay titles are still used by the royal houses of Sulu, Maguindanao, Maranao and Iranun on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. However, these are retained on a traditional basis as the 1987 Constitution explicitly reaffirms the abolition of royal and noble titles in the republic.
References
Notes
↑ Besides Spanish:[don], there is also: Italian:[dɔn]; Portuguese: Dom[dõ]; Romanian: Domn [domn]; all from Latin dominus).
Citations
1 2 3 Tourtchine, Jean-Fred (September 1987). "Le Royaume de Portugal – Empire du Brésil". Cercle d'Études des Dynasties Royales Européennes (CEDRE). III: 103. ISSN0764-4426.
↑ Morris, Mikel (4 November 2003). "on". Morris Student Plus (in Basque). Kultura Saila - Hizkuntza Politikarako Sailburuordetza. Retrieved 3 May 2023. On iz. (G) [ izenen aurrean ] Sir, Don; O~ Mikel Sir Michael
↑ "don". Diccionario Elhuyar (in Basque). Elhuyar Fundazioa. Retrieved 3 May 2023. jaun, On, don
↑ For more information about the social system of the Indigenous Philippine society before the Spanish colonization confer Barangay in Enciclopedia Universal Ilustrada Europea-Americana, Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, S. A., 1991, Vol. VII, p.624.
↑ BLAIR, Emma Helen & ROBERTSON, James Alexander, eds. (1906). The Philippine Islands, 1493–1898. Vol.40 of 55 (1690–1691). Historical introduction and additional notes by Edward Gaylord BOURNE. Cleveland, Ohio: Arthur H. Clark Company. ISBN978-0559361821. OCLC769945730. Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century.
↑ de León Pinelo, Antonio Rodríguez & de Solórzano Pereira, Juan[in Spanish], eds. (1680). Recopilación de Leyes de los Reynos de las Indias (in Spanish). Vol.Libro Sexto. Archived from the original(pdf) on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 8 November 2014. Títulos: i De los Indios. ii De la libertad de los Indios. iii De las Reducciones, y Pueblos de Indios. iv De las caxas de censos, y bienes de Comunidad, y su administracion. v De los tributos, y tassas de los Indios. vi De los Protectores de Indios. vii De los Caciques. viii De los repastimientos, encomiendas, y pensiones de Indios, y calidades de los titulos. ix De los Encomenderos de Indios. x De el buen tratamiento de los Indios. xi De la sucession de encomiendas, entretenimientos, y ayudas de costa. xii Del servicio personal. xiii Del servicio en chacras, viñas, olivares, obrajes, ingenios, perlas, tambos, requas, carreterias, casas, ganados, y bogas. xiv Del servicio en coca, y añir. xv Del servicio en minas. xvi De los Indios de Chile. xvii De los Indios de Tucuman, Paraguay, y Rio de la Plata. xviii De los Sangleyes. xix De las confirmaciones de encomiendas, pensiones, rentas, y situaciones.
↑ The use of the honorific addresses "Don" and "Doña" was strictly limited to what many documents during the colonial period would refer to as "vecinas y vecinos distinguidos". An example of a document of the Spanish colonial government mentioning the "vecinos distinguidos" is the 1911 Report written by R. P. Fray Agapito Lope, O.S.A. (parish priest of Banate, Iloilo in 1893) on the state of the Parish of St. John the Baptist in this town in the Philippines. The second page identifies the "vecinos distinguidos" of the Banate during the last years of the Spanish rule. The original document is in the custody of the Monastery of the Augustinian Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines in Valladolid, Spain. Cf. Fray Agapito Lope 1911 Manuscript, p. 1.Also cf. Fray Agapito Lope 1911 Manuscript, p. 2. In these documents, Spanish Friars would place "D" (Don) before the name of a Filipino notable, and "Da" (Dona) before the name of a filipina notable.
↑ When the Americans appointed local officials at the onset of their rule, like the Spaniards they also acknowledged the ruling class. In the list of the municipal leaders, American documents placed the traditional Spanish title of these local notables – the title of "Don". Cf. Annual report of the Philippine Commission / Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department to the President of the United States, Washington D.C.: 1901, Vol. I, p. 130.
↑ Cf. Jennifer Franco, Heyday of Casique Democracy (1954–1972) in Elections and Democratization in the Philippines, 2001: New York, Routledge, Chapter 3.
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