Origin of domestic
1515–25; < Latin
domesticus, derivative of
domus house (see
dome); replacing
domestique < Middle French
historical usage of domestic
The English word
domestic ultimately comes from Latin
domesticus, formed from the noun
domus “house, home, family, household (with dependents), school (of philosophy).” The adjectival suffix
-esticus is a combination of two suffixes:
-estis (the adjective
domestis does not exist in Latin) and
-ticus (borrowed from
rusticus “pertaining to a farm or farming, rural, provincial”).
When the adjective domestic first appeared in English in the early 16th century, it meant “housed.” The sense “relating to one’s own country” dates to 1545, and Shakespeare was presumably the first to use domestic in the sense “relating to one’s home or family affairs.”
The noun domestic “something made in the home” dates from the first half of the 17th century. In the United States, in the first half of the 19th century, domestic developed the specific meaning “homemade cotton cloth.” Its plural domestics now means “household items made of cloth, such as sheets, towels, and tablecloths.”
Domus comes from the Proto-Indo-European root dem-, dom- (with variants) used to form a verb “to chop (wood), build" as well as the noun "a house.” Dom- is also the source of Greek dómos “house,” Sanskrit dáma- “house, building,” Slavic dom “house, home.” The variant dem- forms Greek démein “to build”; the suffixed root demro- becomes timra- in Germanic, whose derivative noun timram “building material, wood,” becomes timber in English.
The English word dome, “a vault, having a circular plan and usually in the shape of a portion of a sphere,” ultimately derives from Latin domus (Deī) “house (of God),” which becomes Italian duomo and German Dom, both meaning “cathedral.”
When the adjective domestic first appeared in English in the early 16th century, it meant “housed.” The sense “relating to one’s own country” dates to 1545, and Shakespeare was presumably the first to use domestic in the sense “relating to one’s home or family affairs.”
The noun domestic “something made in the home” dates from the first half of the 17th century. In the United States, in the first half of the 19th century, domestic developed the specific meaning “homemade cotton cloth.” Its plural domestics now means “household items made of cloth, such as sheets, towels, and tablecloths.”
Domus comes from the Proto-Indo-European root dem-, dom- (with variants) used to form a verb “to chop (wood), build" as well as the noun "a house.” Dom- is also the source of Greek dómos “house,” Sanskrit dáma- “house, building,” Slavic dom “house, home.” The variant dem- forms Greek démein “to build”; the suffixed root demro- becomes timra- in Germanic, whose derivative noun timram “building material, wood,” becomes timber in English.
The English word dome, “a vault, having a circular plan and usually in the shape of a portion of a sphere,” ultimately derives from Latin domus (Deī) “house (of God),” which becomes Italian duomo and German Dom, both meaning “cathedral.”
OTHER WORDS FROM domestic
Words nearby domestic
Example sentences from the Web for domestic
British Dictionary definitions for domestic
domestic
/ (dəˈmɛstɪk) /
adjective
of or involving the home or family
enjoying or accustomed to home or family life
(of an animal) bred or kept by man as a pet or for purposes such as the supply of food
of, produced in, or involving one's own country or a specific country
domestic and foreign affairs
noun
a household servant
informal
(esp in police use) an incident of violence in the home, esp between a man and a woman
Derived forms of domestic
domestically, adverbWord Origin for domestic
C16: from Old French
domestique, from Latin
domesticus belonging to the house, from
domus house