Etymograph

English

dominate

Dominate comes from Latin dominor ‘to rule, have dominion’, from dominus ‘lord, master’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build (up)’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-1‘to build (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓm1‘home’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domanos1‘master’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominus1‘lord, master’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominor2‘to rule, have dominion’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominātus2perfect active participle of dominor
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1978dominate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dominor
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dominate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Heikki Seppä, Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths: “THE THREE DOMINANT FORMS IN METALSMITHING […] At present,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-Wiktionary, Latin dominor‘to build (up)’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓmWiktionary, Latin dominor‘home’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domanosWiktionary, Latin dominor‘master’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominusWiktionary, Latin dominor‘lord, master’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominorWiktionary, English dominate‘to rule, have dominion’
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominātusWiktionary, English dominateperfect active participle of dominor
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1978dominateWiktionary, English dominate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1978, Heikki Seppä, Form Emphasis for Metalsmiths: “THE THREE DOMINANT FORMS IN METALSMITHING […] At present,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build (up)’

timber, 27 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dṓm ‘home’

domestic, 26 more

through Proto-Italic *domanos ‘master’

7 more

through Latin dominus ‘lord, master’

do, danger, don, dame, domain, dungeon, donna, 16 more

Another origin of dominate

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominātusuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominor‘rule, have dominion’
  3. Englishtodaydominate

Ultimately from Latin dominor (‘rule, have dominion’), either from Latin dominātus, the perfect active participle of dominor (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), or via phonetic alteration of the synonym dominant, from Latin domināns, the present active participle of the same.

Another origin of dominate

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nos‘of the house’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominus‘lord, ruler’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominātus‘rule, command’
  4. Englishtodaydominate

Today it means

verb To govern, rule or control by superior authority or power.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dominate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin dominor. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dem- / dominate

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