Don (honorific)

The terms Don (in Spanish and Italian), Dom (in Portuguese), and Domn (in Romanian), are honorific prefixes derived from the Latin Dominus, meaning "lord" or "owner".Template:Efn The honorific is commonly used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as in the Spanish-speaking world and Portuguese-speaking world, as well as some other places formerly colonized by Spain or Portugal. The feminine equivalents are Template:Lang (Template:IPA), Template:Lang (Template:IPA), Template:Lang (Romanian) and Template:Lang (Template:IPA).

The term is derived from the Latin Template:Lang: 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.

Spanish-speaking world

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.

Historically, Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang, that is, "by right and heredity" rather than by the king's grace. However, there were rare exemptions to the rule, such as the mulatto Miguel 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 Template:Lang, a term which itself was also once used to address someone with the quality of nobility (not necessarily holding a nobiliary title).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Today in the Spanish language, Template:Lang is used to respectfully refer to a mature woman. In present-day Hispanic America, the title Template:Lang or Template:Lang is sometimes used in honorific form when addressing a senior citizen. In some countries,Template:Which Don or Doña may be used as a generic honorific, similar to "sir" and "ma'am" in the United States.

Spain

During the reign of King Juan Carlos of Spain, from 1975 until his abdication on 19 June 2014, he was titled Template:Lang (His Majesty King Juan Carlos). Following the abdication, Royal Decree 1368/1987 gave Juan Carlos and his wife the official style Template:Lang (H.M. King Juan Carlos) and Template:Lang (H.M. Queen Sofía)—the same as during his reign, with the honorific Template:Lang/Template:Lang prefixed to the names. Don Juan Carlos' successor is Template:Lang.[1]

Spanish law grants Spanish nationals who are Knights or Dames of the Order of Civil Merit, the Order of Charles III, and the Order of Isabella the Catholic the formal style Don (for Knights) or Doña (for Dames), used in the same way as Sir or Dame for knighted British nationals.

The usage is similar among Basque speakers in Spain using Template:Lang<ref name="Orotariko">Template:Cite book</ref> and Template:Lang.<ref name="OrotarikoDoña">Template:Cite book</ref> The honorific is sometimes adapted as Template:Lang as in the priest and scholar Template:Lang (Template:Langx) or fictional knight Template:Lang (Don Quixote).<ref name="Morris">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Elhuyar">Template:Cite book</ref>

Hispanic America

The honorific title Template:Lang 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,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Chilean television personality Don Francisco,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Puerto Rican industrialist and politician Don Luis Ferré,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> among many other figures. Although Puerto Rican politician Pedro Albizu Campos had a doctoral degree, he has been titled Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Likewise, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín has often been called Don Luís Muñoz Marin instead of Governor Muñoz Marin.<ref>Primera Hora (Electronic Edition of the El Nuevo Dia newspaper). Senate of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Senate Resolution 937. February 11, 2010. Template:Webarchive</ref> In the same manner, Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz is an M.D.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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 control 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was common for them to assume the honorific "don" once they had attained a significant degree of distinction in the community.

Italy

Template:More citations needed section Officially, Template:Lang was the honorific title exclusively reserved for a member of a high noble family such as 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 Template:Lang, Template:Lang) in addition to the Template:Lang This was how the style was used in the Template:Lang for extant families in its third section focused on the 200 non sovereign princely and ducal families of Europe.Template:Citation needed

The last official Italian nobility law (abrogated 1948) stated that the style belonged to members of the following groups:

• those whose main title was principe, duca, marchese or conte ;
• those who had a special grant;
• those to whom it had been recognized by the former Lombardy (Duchy of Milan); or
• 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).<ref>Template:In lang Template:Lang ("Statute of Italian nobility condition") approved by Royal Decree 651 dated 7 June 1943: art. 39. When opening the link, click on Template:Lang on the left and then on the Template:Lang itself (second link).</ref>

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 Catholic diocesan priests (never to prelates, who bear higher honorifics such as Template:Lang, Template:Lang, 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 Template:Lang'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.Template:Citation needed

Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang 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 world

The usage of Template:Lang was a prerogative of princes of royal blood and also of other individuals to whom it had been granted by the sovereign.<ref name="EB1911">{{#if: |

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  }}{{#ifeq:  ||}}</ref> In most cases, the title was passed on through the male line. Strictly speaking, only females born of a nobleman bearing the title Template:Lang would be addressed as Template:Lang ('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 Template:Lang (or Template:Lang) 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.

In Portugal and Brazil, Template:Lang (Template:IPA) is used for certain higher members hierarchs, such as superiors, of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. In Catholic religious orders, such as the Order of Saint Benedict, it is also associated with the status of Dom Frater. Template:Lang is similarly used as an honorific for Benedictine monks within the Benedictine Order throughout France and the English speaking world, such as the famous Dom Pérignon. In France, it is also used within the male branch of the Carthusian Order.

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).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was also accorded to members of families of the titled Portuguese nobility.<ref name="cedre">Template:Cite journal</ref> Unless ennobling letters patent specifically authorised its use, Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang was the only apparent distinction between cadets of titled families and members of untitled noble families.<ref name="cedre"/>

In the Portuguese language, the feminine form, Template:Lang (or, more politely, Template:Lang), 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.

Other places

Philippines

In the Spanish colonial Philippines, this honorific was reserved to the nobility, the prehispanic datu<ref>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.</ref> that became the principalía,<ref name="blair-tpi-40">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp whose right to rule was recognised by Philip II on 11 June 1594.<ref name="leyes-vi">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Similar to Latin America, the title Don is considered highly honoured,<ref>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.</ref> 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.<ref>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. [2]</ref> 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,<ref>Cf. Jennifer Franco, Heyday of Casique Democracy (1954–1972) in Elections and Democratization in the Philippines, 2001: New York, Routledge, Chapter 3.</ref> 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.<ref>Sample of an actual document, dated 25 July 1953, attesting that Mayors used to be appointed.</ref> 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.

Croatia

Within the Catholic Church, the prefix Template:Lang is usually used for the diocesan priests with their first name, as well as Template:Lang (The Reverend).

Religious usage

Dom is used as a title in English for certain Benedictine (including some communities which follow the Rule of St. Benedict) and Carthusian monks, and for members of certain communities of canons regular. Examples include Benedictine monks of the English Benedictine Congregation (e.g. Dom John Chapman, late Abbot of Downside). Since the Second Vatican Council, the title can be given to any monk (lay or ordained) who has made a solemn profession. The equivalent title for a nun is "Dame" (e.g. Dame Laurentia McLachlan, late Abbess of Stanbrook, or Dame Felicitas Corrigan, author).

In popular culture

In the United States, Template:Lang 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.

See also

• Dominus (title)

References

Notes

Citations