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# donna

«donna» in Mova's school dictionary: **a woman's first name** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (Italian; a donna, donne); a name (Donna)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (a name) Donna is a woman's first name. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#m1)

2) (Italian) The Italian word for «woman» or «lady», and an old title of respect for a lady, like «Madam». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#m2)

3) In the phrase «prima donna»: the main woman singer in an opera, and (informal) a person who is vain and expects special treatment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday English «donna» is mostly met as a name or in «prima donna», which tells the reader someone is behaving like a fussy star. In music lessons, the prima donna is the leading opera singer. Phrases: «prima donna», «Madonna» (my lady, a title of Mary, the mother of Jesus).

### examples

- Donna is my mum's best friend. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x1)
- Stop acting like a prima donna and help tidy up! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x2)
- The prima donna sang the final song beautifully. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x3)
- In Italian, «donna» means woman. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x4)
- Madonna, which means «my lady», is a name for Mary in Christian art. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x5)
- He threw a prima-donna tantrum when he lost the game. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x6)
- The 'prima donna' would only act when the lights were red, for she declared that a blue light did not suit her complexion. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/#x7)

### note

Not an ordinary English word on its own: it is Italian, or a name (written with a capital: Donna). Pronounced «DON-a». «Prima donna» can be written with or without a hyphen; it is a mild insult when used about ordinary people.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «donna» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/donna/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.