donnée

Definition

A given; in a literary work, that which is assumed as to characters, situation, etc., as a basis for the plot or story.

Etymology

Borrowed from French donnée.

Example Sentences

• "We must grant the artist his subject, his idea, what the French call his donnée; our criticism is applied only to what he makes of it."
• "There is also some similarity between the general subject of both, which is that favourite romance donnée of the heir kept out of his own."
• "The donnée is from Boccaccio's Decameron, where a party of Florentine gentry flee to the countryside to escape the Black Death."