A shared understanding and checklist of activities that must be completed before a work item can be considered finished. It ensures quality standards and consistency across all deliverables in a project.
Emerged from Agile and Scrum methodologies in the early 2000s. While 'definition' comes from Latin 'definire' (to limit, determine) and 'done' from Old English 'don,' the specific phrase gained prominence as teams struggled with varying interpretations of completion.
The Definition of Done is actually a psychological safety net! Teams that don't have one often experience the 'almost done' syndrome where work lingers at 90% complete indefinitely. A clear DoD forces honest conversations about technical debt and quality shortcuts.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.