n. 1. A set of literary or artistic principles or assumptions on which a creative work is based: "He worked outward from the donnée toward the expression of some general theme or idea" (Hugh Honour). 2. A set of notions, facts, or conditions that governs and shapes an act or a way of life: "His heart, his mind, his body, composed the donnée of his life" (Louis Auchincloss). [French, from feminine past participle of donner, to give, from Old French, from Latin dōnāre; see DONATE.] |
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