23 SEPTEMBER 1949, Page 4

A request for a definition of " don " (in

the university sense) cannot be denied. The Oxford English Dictionary (very largest size) says "a head, fellow or tutor of a college," tracing the usage back cc i66o, with the agreeable quotation, " the raving insolence which those spiritual dons from the pulpit were wont to show [at Oxford] " ; the two words in brackets are not my addition, but I am glad they are there. Now this is all very well, but what about a lecturer who, though neither a head, tutor nor fellow, sits at the high table ? Such persons do exist, and I think they must be accepted as dons. My own venture would be: " A senior resident member of a university, actively engaged in teaching, administration or research."