Etymologically
Log in

domna

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word domna

Confidence
Established
First attested
Imperial inscriptions
Ultimate origin
Latin domina
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin domina
French dame
German Dame
Latin domna
Italian donna
From the same root
French madame ← dame

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈdɔm.na][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈdɔm.na][1]

Forms

domna f (genitive domnae, masculine domnus); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin domina (“mistress, lady”), with syncope of the unstressed vowel.[1][2] It became Italian donna (“woman”),[3] and in Catalan documents it appears beside the Romance title ⟨na⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL lists the spelling ⟨domn-⟩ for domina in a number of inscriptions in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.[5]

Semantic evolution

Gaffiot records it in Venantius Fortunatus' poems.[2] Wiktionary notes that the syncopated form was widely used in Vulgar, Late and Medieval Latin, for a lady or a mistress.[1] In Catalan charters domna, dompna or donna is a title of respect placed before a woman's name, as in a donation of 887.[4]

Timeline

  • Imperial period – The spelling ⟨domn-⟩ in inscriptions.[5]
  • 6th century AD – Venantius Fortunatus, Carmina 8.18.[2]
  • 887 – A Catalan charter uses donna as a title before a name.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Late Latin, Medieval Latin) A lady, mistress.[1][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) A title of respect before a woman's name.[4]

Usage notes

Georges, the MLW and the Polish medieval dictionary treat domna under domina.[6][7][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  5. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  7. ^ Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  8. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl

Descendants

Cite this entry

“Domna.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/domna. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·