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don·née (dŏ-nā, dô-)
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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.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.