doom English · revision 39482

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=Old English, Vespasian Psalter|origins=gem-pro *dōmaz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /duːm/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|dom]], [[inh|ang|dōm|t=law, judgement, condemnation]],^(AHD 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[gem-pro|*dōmaz]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Kroonen 2013)^(Orel 2003) whose other descendants include [[ofs|dōm]] and [[osx|dōm|t=statute, judgement]], [[goh|tuom]], [[non|dómr|t=judgement, decree]] and [[got|𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃|tr=dōms|t=discernment, fame]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The Germanic noun is built on the base of [[do]], "to put, place", so that it meant literally "that which is set up", a statute.^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005) Kroonen derives it from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to put]], and Barnhart and Klein compare [[grc|θωμός|tr=thōmós|t=heap]] and [[sa|धामन्|tr=dhā́man|t=abode, law]];^(Kroonen 2013)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966) Etymonline calls the PIE connection only probable.^(Etymonline) The OED compares the parallel development of [[grc|θέμις|tr=thémis|t=law]] and [[la|statūtum|t=statute]].^(OED 2026)^(SOED 2002) The verb, recorded in the late 14th century according to Etymonline and in 1503 according to the OED, was made from the noun; the Old English verb from the same source is [[deem]].^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Old English, a statute, law or decree, recorded in the Vespasian Psalter, and a judgement or sentence, in the Old English translation of Bede.^(OED 2026) Barnhart dates the Old English word to about 725.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Old English ''dōm'' covered law, judgement in court, a sentence, justice, and the power to judge;^(OED 2026)^(Cresswell 2021) the compound ''dōmesdæg'' gave [[doomsday]], whose early spelling survives in ''Domesday Book''.^(Ayto 2005)^(Cresswell 2021) Because a judgement was so often a condemnation, the word came to mean the sentence one could not escape, and by about 1400 one's fate, usually an unhappy one.^(OED 2026)^(Ayto 2005) Shakespeare's ''Sonnets'' (1609) show the further step to final ruin or death.^(OED 2026) Meanwhile the senses of law, justice and authority died out or became historical,^(OED 2026) and Johnson (1755) still put "judicial sentence" first among its meanings.^(Johnson 1755) The ''Doom'' was also the Last Judgement and a painting of it, now mainly in the phrase ''crack of doom''.^(OED 2026) The verb, first "to judge", took on "to condemn" in Shakespeare's ''Titus Andronicus'' (1594) and "to destine to an ill fate" in ''Hamlet'' (1603).^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – Old English ''dōm'', law, judgement.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * Old English – a statute or decree; a judicial sentence; justice; power to judge.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1200 – the Last Judgement.^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1386 – personal judgement or opinion, in Chaucer (obsolete after 1624).^(OED 2026)

+ * c. 1400 – fate, usually an evil one.^(OED 2026)

+ * late 14th century – the verb, to judge; the OED's first example is from c. 1503.^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)

+ * 1594 – verb, to condemn, in Shakespeare.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1603 – verb, to destine to a bad fate, in Shakespeare.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1609 – final ruin or death.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[death]], ruin or some other terrible [[fate]] that cannot be avoided: ''The rebels marched to their doom.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) A judgement or [[sentence]], especially an unfavourable one.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) The [[Last Judgement]], or a painting of it.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (historical) A law, statute or decree.^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To make certain that someone or something will fail, die or suffer: ''A lack of money doomed the project from the start.''^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (archaic) To pronounce judgement against; to [[condemn]].^(OED 2026)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[doomy]]

+ * [[doomsman]]

+ * [[doomful]]

+ * [[doomsayer]]

+ * [[doomsday]]

+ * [[doomster]]

+ * [[gloom and doom]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[deem]]

+ * [[-dom]]

+ * [[do]]

+ * [[kingdom]]

+ * [[theme]]

+ * [[thesis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}