dominion

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English dominioun,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Old French dominion (“dominion, rule, power”),^[5][2][6][7] or Middle French in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster,^[8][3] and partly directly from Medieval Latin dominiō (“lordship”),^[5][4] which the OED gives as an unrecorded Latin form.^[9] It is a derivative of dominium (“property, ownership”),^[5][9][8][6] from dominus (“lord, master”),^[5][9][7] from domus (“house”),^[5][10] from Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“house, household”).^[5][2] It is a doublet of domain,^[8] and shares its Latin source with demesne, dominant, dominate, domineer, dominie, domino and don, and ultimately with danger and dungeon.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Middle English it meant sovereignty or majesty, a domain or precinct, and dominance.^[4] The first record is in Mannyng's Chronicle, composed before 1338, in the sense of a domain or precinct.^[4] The OED's first record, in the sense of sovereign authority, is from about 1430, in Lydgate's Story of Thebes;^[9] Barnhart dates the word to probably before 1425, and Etymonline to the mid-15th century.^[8][5]

Semantic evolution

The sense of the power or right to govern, sovereignty, rule or control, came first and is still the main one.^[9][5][7] From 1512 the word also meant the lands of a feudal lord, and since 1548 the territory owned by or subject to a ruler or government.^[9][5] In law, from 1651 in Hobbes, it meant ownership or the right of possession, like Latin dominium.^[9][5] Milton used dominions in 1667 for one of the orders of angels, the same as dominations.^[9] Johnson (1755) gave first "sovereign authority; unlimited power", quoting Paradise Lost.^[11] From the early 17th century a dominion was a country outside England or Britain owing allegiance to the Crown, and later the title of the larger self-governing nations of the British Commonwealth;^[6][9] after the 1867 union Canada's formal title was the Dominion of Canada, celebrated on Dominion Day, and Virginia's nickname "the Old Dominion" is recorded from 1778.^[5][6] Collins notes that the Dominion could also mean New Zealand.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1338 – a domain or precinct.^[4]
• c. 1430 – sovereign authority, lordship, rule.^[9]
• 1512 – the lands of a feudal lord.^[9]
• 1548 – the territory of a ruler or government.^[9][5]
• early 17th century – a country under the British Crown; later a self-governing Commonwealth nation.^[6]
• 1651 – in law, ownership, the right of possession.^[9][5]
• 1667 – dominions, an order of angels.^[9]
• 1778 – the Old Dominion, Virginia.^[5]
• 1867 – the Dominion of Canada.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The power to rule or control; sovereignty, authority: The empire held dominion over the coast for centuries.^[12][3][9]
2. The land or territory ruled by a single ruler or government; a domain.^[12][9][6]
3. An area of influence or control.^[12]
4. (often capitalized, historical) A self-governing country of the British Commonwealth, such as Canada or New Zealand.^[12][6][9]
5. dominions (in Christian tradition): an order of angels, the dominations.^[9][6]
6. (law) Ownership; the right of possession; dominium.^[12][9][6]

Word family

• interdominion

Related words

• dominate
• domination
• domineering
• domino
• domain
• dominium
• demesne
• dominant
• domineer
• dominie
• don
• danger
• dungeon
• dome
• domestic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins