Dominus (title)

Dominus is the Latin word for master or owner.[1] Dominus saw use as a Roman imperial title. It was also
the Latin title of the feudal, superior and mesne, lords, and an ecclesiastical and academic title. The
ecclesiastical title was rendered through the French sieure in English as sir, making it a common prefix for
parsons before the Reformation, as in Sir Hugh Evans in Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor. Its
shortened form Dom remains used as a prefix of honor for ecclesiastics of the Catholic Church, and
especially for members of the benedictine and other religious orders. The title was formerly also used as is,
Dominus, for a Bachelor of Arts.[2]

Many Romance languages use some form of the honorific Don, which derives from this term.[3] Further,
the Romanian word for God, Dumnezeu, derives from this title through the Latin phrase "Domine
Deus."[4]

Contents
Etymology
Roman imperial use
English use
See Also
References

Etymology
The term derives from the Proto-Italic *dom-o/u-no- meaning "[he] of the house," ultimately relating to the
Proto-Indo-European root *dem- meaning "to build," through domus.[1]

Roman imperial use

Originating from its use by slaves to address their master's, the title was sporadically used in addressing
emperors throughout the Principate, usually in the form of excessive flattery (or political invective) when
referring to the emperor.[5] As a title of sovereignty, the term under the Roman Republic had all the
associations of the Greek Tyrannos; refused during the early principate, it finally became an official title of
the Roman Emperors under Diocletian.[2] Augustus actively discouraged the practice, and Tiberius in
particular is said to have reviled it as sycophancy.[6] Domitian encouraged its use,[7] but none of the
emperors used the term in any semi-official capacity until the reign of Aurelian in AD 274, where coins
were issued bearing the inscription deus et dominus natus.[8]

However, under Diocletian the term dominus was adopted as part of the emperor's official titulature,
forming part of Diocletian's radical reforms.[9] It's from this use that the term Dominate is sometimes used
to refer to the period of Roman history beginning with the reign of Diocletian.[3]
English use
The feminine form Domina was a title formerly given to noble ladies who held a barony in their own right
in old English Law. Many female honorifics used in modern English trace their roots back to this title,
through the Anglo-French and still extant in modern French, dame and madame.[10] The most common are
madam and its contracted form ma'am.[11][12] Another notable example is Dame, a more narrow
equivalent to Sir used for recipients of chivalric honors.[13] (Damehood being the equivalent to the male
knighthood.)[14]

Cambridge University continues to use both Dominus and Domina, abbreviated as Dnus. and Dna.
respectively, for those who have achieved a BA,[15] and its derived term Don continues to see use in
reference to professors, lecturers, and fellows at Oxford and Cambridge.[16][17]

See Also
Don (honorific) - for the derived Romance language titles
Roman Empire

References
1. De Vaan, Michiel (2008). "domus, dominus". Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other
Italic Languages (https://archive.org/stream/MichielVaanEtymologicalDictionaryOfLatin/Mich
iel%20Vaan%2C%20Etymological%20dictionary%20of%20Latin#page/n190/mode/1up).
Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. Vol. 7. Leiden, Boston: Brill. p. 177–
179. ISBN 9789004167971.
2. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dominus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8
(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 405.
3. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dominus"  (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C
3%A6dia_Britannica/Dominus). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press. p. 405.
4. Niculescu, Alexandru. Despre numele lui Dumnezeu în limba română (https://www.diacroni
a.ro/en/indexing/details/A24616/pdf).
5. Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XI, The High Empire (2008) p. 82
6. Shorter, D., Rome and her Empire (2014) p. 174
7. Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. XI, The High Empire (2008) p. 81
8. Watson, A., Aurelian and the Third Century (2004) p. 188
9. Menne, I., Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193–284 (2011) p. 21
10. "Madame - Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9e édition" (https://www.dictionnaire-acade
mie.fr/article/A9D0056). Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
11. "Definition of Madam" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/madam). Dictionary by
Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
12. "Definition of Ma'am" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ma%27am). Dictionary
by Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
13. "Definition of Dame" (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dame). Dictionary by
Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
14. "How to get a Knighthood or Damehood" (https://web.archive.org/web/20181025190151/http
s://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/queens-honours/knighthood-damehood). Awards
Intelligence. 2016. Archived from the original (https://www.awardsintelligence.co.uk/queens-
honours/knighthood-damehood) on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018. "A
knighthood, and the female equivalent, a damehood, is an award given by The Queen to an
individual for a major, long-term, contribution in any activity, usually at a national or
international level."
15. "Dominus/a" (https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/university-archives/glossary/dominusa). Cambridge
University Library — Glossary of Cambridge-related terminology. 29 April 2020. Retrieved
2 December 2021.
16. "Oxford Glossary" (https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history/oxford-glossary).
University of Oxford. Retrieved 2 December 2021.
17. "Don" (https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/university-archives/glossary/don). Cambridge University
Library — Glossary of Cambridge-related terminology. 29 April 2020.

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