Etymograph

English

domino

Domino comes from French domino ‘black hooded cloak worn by priests in winter’, from Medieval Latin 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)’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nos2‘of the house’reconstructed
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dominus1‘lord, master’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domino1oblique case of dominus
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdomino1‘black hooded cloak worn by priests in winter’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1749domino1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English domino
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin dominus
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones: “all the women were desirous of having the bundle…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-Wiktionary, English domino‘to build (up)’root named by Wiktionary
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nosWiktionary, Latin dominus‘of the house’reconstructed
  3. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dominusWiktionary, English domino‘lord, master’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500dominoWiktionary, English dominooblique case of dominus
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentdominoWiktionary, English domino‘black hooded cloak worn by priests in winter’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1749dominoWiktionary, English domino. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones: “all the women were desirous of having the bundle…”

The story

1801, borrowed from French domino (1771), originally the term for a hooded garment, itself from Medieval Latin domino, oblique case of dominus (‘lord, master’); compare Medieval Latin dominicale (‘a kind of veil’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

domestic, timber, despot, domicile, toft, teem, domaine, domus, 25 more

through Medieval Latin dominus ‘lord, master’

do, danger, dan, don, dame, domain, donna, dungeon, damsel, 14 more

Today it means

noun A tile divided into two squares, each having 0 to 6 (or sometimes more) dots or pips (as in dice), used in the game of dominoes.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “domino”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin dominus. 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- / domino

Shirt and support for this word