English
domus
Domus comes from Latin domus ‘house, home’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-1‘to build’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓm1‘house, home’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domos1‘house, home’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdomus2‘house, home’
- Englishearliest quotation 2017domus2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin domus
- 2 Wiktionary, English domus
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, James C Scott, New Haven and London: Yale University: “The domus was a unique and unprecedented concentration of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-Wiktionary, Latin domus‘to build’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓmWiktionary, Latin domus‘house, home’reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domosWiktionary, Latin domus‘house, home’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdomusWiktionary, English domus‘house, home’
- Englishearliest quotation 2017domusWiktionary, English domus. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2017, James C Scott, New Haven and London: Yale University: “The domus was a unique and unprecedented concentration of…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’
timber, domino, despotic, toft, teem, domaine, 19 more
through Proto-Indo-European *dṓm ‘house, home’
danger, don, domain, dominate, domination, damsel, despot, dominatrix, 20 more
through Proto-Italic *domos ‘house, home’
through Latin domus ‘house, home’
Today it means
noun A farmstead with its people, plants and animals, considered as a unit.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “domus”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin domus. 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- / domus