Advertisement

Origin and history of doom

doom(n.)

Middle English doome, from Old English dom "a law, statute, decree; administration of justice, judgment; justice, equity, righteousness," from Proto-Germanic *domaz (source also of Old Saxon and Old Frisian dom, Old Norse domr, Old High German tuom "judgment, decree," Gothic doms "discernment, distinction"), perhaps from PIE root *dhe- "to set, place, put, do" (source also of Sanskrit dhaman- "law," Greek themis "law," Lithuanian domė "attention").

Originally in a neutral sense but sometimes also "a decision determining fate or fortune, irrevocable destiny." A book of laws in Old English was a dombec. Modern adverse sense of "fate, ruin, destruction" begins early 14c. and is general after c. 1600, from doomsday and the finality of the Christian Judgment. Crack of doom is the last trump, the signal for the dissolution of all things.

doom(v.)

late 14c., domen, "to judge, pass judgment on," from doom (n.). The Old English word was deman, which became deem. Meaning "condemn (to punishment), pronounce adverse judgment upon" is from c. 1600. Related: Doomed; dooming.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to doom

deem(v.)

Middle English demen, from Old English deman "to judge, decide on consideration, condemn;, think, judge, hold as an opinion," from Proto-Germanic *domjanan (source also of Old Frisian dema "to judge," Old Saxon adomian, Middle Dutch doemen, Old Norse dma, Old High German tuomen, Gothic domjan "to deem, judge"), denominative of *domaz, from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put" (compare doom). Related: Deemed; deeming.

Originally "pronounce judgment" as well as "form an opinion." Compare Old English, Middle English deemer "a judge." The two judges of the Isle of Man were called deemsters in 17c., a title formerly common throughout England and Scotland and preserved in the surname Dempster.

doomsday(n.)

"day of the last judgment," Middle English domesdai, from Old English domes dæg, from domes, genitive of dom (see doom (n.)) + dæg "day" (see day (n.)).

In medieval England doomsday was expected when the world's age had reached 6,000 years from the creation, which was thought to have been in 5200 B.C.E. Bede, c. 720, complained of being pestered by rustici asking him how many years till the sixth millennium ended. However there is no evidence for the story of a general panic in Christian Europe in the year 1000 C.E.

Doomsday machine as the name of a hypothetical nuclear bomb powerful enough to wipe out human life (or all life) on earth is from 1960.

Advertisement

Trends of doom

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

judge
c. 1200, iugen, "examine, appraise, make a diagnosis;" c. 1300, "to form an opinion about; inflict penalty upon, punish; try (someone) and pronounce sentence," also intransitive, "make a decision, decide, think, suppose;" from Anglo-French juger, Old French jugier "to judge, pron
destine
mid-14c., destinen, "set apart, ordain or appoint to a use," from Old French destiner (12c.), from Latin destinare "make fast or firm, establish," from de- "completely, formally" (see de-) + -stinare (related to stare "to stand") from PIE *steno-, suffixed form of root *sta- "to
fate
late 14c., "one's lot or destiny; predetermined course of life;" also "one's guiding spirit," from Old French fate and directly from Latin fata (source also of Spanish hado, Portuguese fado, Italian fato), neuter plural of fatum "prophetic declaration of what must be, oracle, pre
devote
From 1640s as "to doom, consign to some harm or evil," and the word commonly had a negative sense in 18c.: The second and...third meanings in Johnson's Dictionary (1755) are "to addict, to give up to ill" and "to curse, to execrate; to doom to...
condemn
from Old French condamner, condemner "to condemn" (11c.) and directly from Latin condemnare, condempnare "to sentence, doom...
convict
mid-14c., "to convince by arguments, convince of wrongdoing or sin" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin convictus, past participle of convincere "to 'overcome' in argument, to overcome decisively; to convict of crime or error," from assimilated form of com-, here perhaps an intens
guarantee
1670s, "person that gives security," altered (perhaps via Spanish garante or confusion with legalese ending -ee), from earlier garrant "warrant that the title to a property is true" (early 15c.), from Old French garant "defender, protector; warranty; pledge; justifying evidence,"
sentence
c. 1200, "doctrine, authoritative teaching; an authoritative pronouncement," from Old French sentence "judgment, decision; meaning; aphorism, maxim; statement of authority" (12c.) and directly from Latin sententia "thought, way of thinking, opinion; judgment, decision," also "a t
insure
mid-15c., insuren, spelling variant of ensuren "to assure, give formal assurance" (late 14c.), also "make secure, make safe" (c. 1400), from Anglo-French enseurer, Old French ensurer, from en- "make" (see en- (1)) + seur, sur "safe, secure, undoubted" (see sure (adj.)). The parti
reprobate
early 15c., "rejected as worthless," from Late Latin reprobatus, past participle of reprobare "disapprove, reject, condemn," from Latin re- "back, again," here perhaps indicating "opposite of, reversal of previous condition" (see re-) + probare "prove to be worthy" (see probate (

Share doom

Advertisement
Trending
Dictionary entries near doom
Advertisement