Etymograph

English

dominus

Dominus comes from Latin dominus ‘master’, and goes back to Proto-Italic *dom-o/u-nos ‘of the house’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nos1‘of the house’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominus2‘master’
  3. Englishtodaydominus2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin dominus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English dominus

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*dom-o/u-nosWiktionary, Latin dominus‘of the house’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdominusWiktionary, English dominus‘master’
  3. EnglishtodaydominusWiktionary, English dominus

Linked words

through Latin dominus ‘master’

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

Today it means

noun master; sir; a title of respect formerly applied to a knight or clergyman, and sometimes to the lord of a manor, castle or an academic master

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “dominus”; 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-Italic *dom-o/u-nos / dominus

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