doma

Forms

dōma n (genitive dōmatis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek δῶμα (dôma, “house; housetop”).^[2][3][1] Köbler relates the Greek word to δέμω (démō, “to build”) and to Proto-Indo-European *dem- (“to build”).^[4] Its Romance descendants include French dôme, according to the TLL.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Jerome (c. 383–419/420),^[4] who explains in a letter that in the eastern provinces dōma is what Latin calls tectum: in Palestine and Egypt, he says, roofs there have no ridges.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

A word of Church Latin, it is used in the Vulgate for a flat roof or housetop and for a house.^[2][6] Grammarians glossed it as the Greek for tectum,^[3] and Bede notes that its first syllable is long, unlike that of domus.^[3]

In Medieval Latin it meant a roof, a canopy or ciborium, an upper storey, a porch, a house, a stable and a cage,^[7] and also an estate or farmstead.^[8][7] Niermeyer records the phrase major domatum for the mayor of the palace.^[8] British writers used it for a house or home and for a religious house.^[9] English dome came, through French and Provençal, from the Greek word.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 383–419/420 – Jerome explains the word as a flat roof.^[3][4]
• 390–406 – The Vulgate uses it for a housetop.^[2][4]
• 639–709 – Aldhelm uses it for a house.^[9][4]
• 873–876 – John the Deacon, in his Life of Gregory the Great, uses it for an estate on which a monastery was built.^[11][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A flat roof, housetop.^[2][5][3]
2. A house, dwelling.^[2][6]
3. (Medieval Latin) A canopy over an altar, ciborium.^[7]
4. (Medieval Latin) An upper storey; a porch or gallery.^[7]
5. (Medieval Latin) An estate, farmstead.^[8][7][11]
6. (Medieval Latin) In major domatum: the mayor of the palace.^[8]

Related words

• English dome

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
7. ^ a b c d e Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
9. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
10. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
11. ^ a b du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre