Meaning & use
Donar
Last updated
Meanings
proper nounproper
The thunder god of the ancient West Germanic peoples, matching the Norse god Thor.
Grammar: Always capitalized and used without an article: Donar was feared and honored.
Patterns
- the god Donar
Early Germanic tribes honored Donar as the god of thunder.
Historians link Donar with the Norse god Thor.
Missionaries cut down a sacred oak said to belong to Donar.
proper nounproper
The god's name as it survives in the German word for Thursday, Donnerstag, meaning Donar's day.
Grammar: A historical name; in this use it explains the origin of a weekday name.
Patterns
- named after Donar
The German word Donnerstag preserves the name of Donar.
Thursday in English is named for Thor, the Norse counterpart of Donar.
Language scholars trace the weekday to Donar's day.
Common combinations
- the god Donar
- The god Donar was said to wield a hammer.
- Donar's Oak
- The felling of Donar's Oak was a famous event.
- worship of Donar
- The worship of Donar spread across Germanic lands.
- Donar and Thor
- Scholars compare Donar and Thor.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Thor
- Thor is the Norse form of the name, used in Scandinavian sources, while Donar is the continental West Germanic form.
Word family
Commonly confused: Donar or donor?
Donar vs donor
A donor is a person who gives something such as blood or money. It sounds a little like Donar in English but has no connection to the god.
Practice
Donar is best described as a ____.
Choose one answer.
Donar was the thunder god of the West Germanic peoples, the counterpart of Thor. The other options name unrelated figures or roles.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Donar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.