Etymologically

Etymology and origin of the Old Church Slavonic word домъ

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
Codex Zographensis and Codex Marianus (Gospels)
Inherited from
Proto-Slavic *domъ
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *dṓm

Forms

домъ (domŭ) m, u-stem, Glagolitic ⰴⱁⰿⱏ[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Slavic *domъ (“house”), an old u-stem; the OCS word also has o-stem endings.[2][3][4] The same word is Russian дом (dom), Ukrainian дім (dim), Bulgarian дом (dom), Serbo-Croatian dȏm, Slovene dọ̑m, Czech dům, Slovak dom, Polish dom and Upper Sorbian dom.[2][3]

It goes back to Proto-Balto-Slavic *damús and Proto-Indo-European *dom-u-s, from *dṓm (“house, home”).[1][2] The cognates are Latin domus (“house”), Ancient Greek δόμος (dómos, “building, house”) and Avestan dam- (“house”); another ablaut grade is in Ancient Greek δῶμα (dôma, “house”), and the root is that of δέμω (démō, “to build”) and Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐌼𐍂𐌾𐌰𐌽 (timrjan, “to build”).[3][5][2] Vasmer connects Lithuanian nãmas (“house”) rather with Ancient Greek νέμω (némō, “to dwell, to pasture”) than with this word.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is very frequent in the oldest manuscripts (SNSP counts more than 400 uses), mostly for Ancient Greek οἶκος (oîkos, “house”) and οἰκία (oikía): иже на кровѣ • да не сълазѧтъ въ домъ “let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house” (Mc 13, 15, Codex Zographensis and Codex Marianus).[6]

Semantic evolution

The SJS distinguishes three senses: a house or dwelling, a household with its servants (for Ancient Greek θεραπεία (therapeía) and οἰκετεία (oiketeía)), and a house in the sense of a family line, as in домоу ꙇздраилева “of the house of Israel” (Mt 10, 6).[7] Въ домоу means “at home” and въ домъ свои “home, homewards”.[6] With an adjective such as божии or молитвьнꙑи it is the house of God, a temple.[4]

Timeline

  • End of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century – домъ renders οἶκος in the Euchologium Sinaiticum, beside храмъ.[8]
  • 14th century – the Serbian Athonite translation of Gregory of Nyssa uses it for οἶκος and οἴκησις.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A house, a dwelling, home; for οἶκος, οἰκία.[7][6][1]
  2. A household, the servants of a house; for θεραπεία, οἰκετεία.[7]
  3. A house in the sense of a family line, lineage; for οἶκος.[7]
  4. (with божии) The house of God, a temple.[4]

Word family

  • дома
  • домовитъ
  • домовьнъ
  • домовьникъ
  • Russian дом (dom)

Usage notes

Sedakova, who lists Church Slavonic words whose meaning differs from Russian, gives for домъ the senses lineage (Ps 113, 1, домꙋ іаковлѧ “the house of Jacob”), family, servants of a household (Mt 24, 45) and building.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 113
  3. ^ a b c d Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress, p. 1, 526–527
  4. ^ a b c Havlová, Eva; Erhart, Adolf; Janyšková, Ilona (eds.) (1989–2022), Etymologický slovník jazyka staroslověnského, 21 fascicles, Praha: Academia / Brno: Tribun EU
  5. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 410–411
  6. ^ a b c Slovník nejstarších staroslověnských památek (digital ed., Gorazd, Slovanský ústav AV ČR, gorazd.org); cf. Cejtlin, R. M.; Večerka, R.; Blagova, É. (eds.) (1994), Staroslavjanskij slovar' (po rukopisjam X–XI vekov), Moskva: Russkij jazyk
  7. ^ a b c d Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
  8. ^ a b SlaVaComp Metaglossar Griechisch–Kirchenslavisch, Universität Freiburg, slavistik-portal.de
  9. ^ Sedakova, O. A. (2005), Slovar' trudnyx slov iz bogosluženija: cerkovnoslavjano-russkie paronimy, Moskva: Grēko-latinskij kabinet Ju. A. Šičalina

Related etymologies

  • рещи · also from Proto-Slavic
  • тъ · also from Proto-Slavic
  • иже · also from Proto-Slavic
  • отъ · also from Proto-Slavic
  • на · also from Proto-Slavic
  • не · also from Proto-Slavic
  • въ · also from Proto-Slavic
  • же · also from Proto-Slavic
Cite this entry

“Домъ.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/cu/%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BC%D1%8A. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·