What is the difference between mafia and don?
mafia | don |
(specifically) An international criminal organization of Sicilian origin operating in Italy and the United States.
(by extension) Any organized crime syndicate operating internationally in high-level organized crime; .
A party game modelling a conflict between an informed minority (the mafia) and an uninformed majority (the innocents). Each player is secretly assigned a role within one of these teams, and the innocents attempt to identify the mafia members before they are all "murdered".
(an entity which attempts to control a specified arena).
(clothing) to put on, to dress in
As proper nouns the difference between mafia and don
is that mafia is an international criminal organization of Sicilian origin operating in Italy and the United States while Don is a diminutive of the male given name Donald or Gordon.As nouns the difference between mafia and don
is that mafia is a crime syndicate while don is a university professor, particularly one at Oxford or Cambridge.As a verb don is
to put on, to dress in.mafia
English
(wikipedia Mafia)Alternative forms
* Maffia (less common)Proper noun
- Somehow he managed to upset the Russian Mafia .
Synonyms
* (organization of Sicilian origin) Cosa Nostra, mob * (any organized crime syndicate) mobDerived terms
* mafia * mafia state * Mafioso * MafiyaSee also
* Camorra * capo * godfather * goodfella * 'Ndrangheta * * Thuggee * Triad * Yakuza ----don
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) dominus'', "lord", "head of household", akin to Spanish ''don'' and Italian ''dom''; from ''domus'', "house", + diminutive suffix ''-inus . Compare dominie.Derived terms
* donnishEtymology 2
A contraction of (etyl) do on. Compare also doff.Verb
(donn)- To don one's clothes.