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• dom
  dom

  noun

  Sometimes Dom a title of a monk in the Benedictine, Carthusian, Cistercian, and certain other monastic orders.
• Dom
  Dom

  noun

  a male given name, form of Dominic.
• DOM
  DOM

  abbreviation

  a potent, long-acting hallucinogen, C 12 H 19 NO 2 , usually taken orally in the form of a tablet: DOM is strictly controlled in several countries, including the United States, where it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, buy, or possess this psychedelic drug.
• -dom
  -dom

  a suffix forming nouns which refer to domain (kingdom ), collection of persons (officialdom ), rank or station (earldom ), or general condition (freedom ).
• dom.
  dom.

  abbreviation

  domain.
• Dom.
  Dom.

  abbreviation

  Dominica.
• d.o.m.
  d.o.m.

  abbreviation

  dirty old man.
• D.O.M.
  D.O.M.

  abbreviation

  to God, the Best, the Greatest.

dom

¹ American  

[dom, dawn] / dɒm, dɔ̃ /

noun

1. Sometimes Dom a title of a monk in the Benedictine, Carthusian, Cistercian, and certain other monastic orders.

2. Usually Dom a Portuguese title affixed to a man's given name; Sir: formerly a title of certain dignitaries.

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dom ² American  

[dom] / dɒm /

noun

1. a dominant in a BDSM sexual encounter or relationship.

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verb (used with object)

dommed, domming

1. to act as the dominant partner in a BDSM sexual encounter or relationship.

verb (used without object)

dommed, domming

1. to act as the dominant partner to (someone) in a BDSM sexual encounter or relationship.

Dom ³ American  

[dom] / dɒm /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Dominic.

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DOM ⁴ American  

abbreviation

Pharmacology.

1. a potent, long-acting hallucinogen, C 12 H 19 NO 2 , usually taken orally in the form of a tablet: DOM is strictly controlled in several countries, including the United States, where it is illegal to manufacture, distribute, buy, or possess this psychedelic drug.

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-dom ⁵ American  

1. a suffix forming nouns which refer to domain (kingdom ), collection of persons (officialdom ), rank or station (earldom ), or general condition (freedom ).

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dom. ⁶ American  

abbreviation

1. domain.

2. domestic.

3. dominant.

4. dominion.

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Dom. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

1. Dominica.

2. Dominican.

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d.o.m. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

Slang.

1. dirty old man.

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D.O.M. ⁹ American  

abbreviation

1. to God, the Best, the Greatest.

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-dom ¹ British  

suffix

1. state or condition

   freedom

   martyrdom

2. rank or office

   earldom

3. domain

   kingdom

   Christendom

4. a collection of persons

   officialdom

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DOM ² British  

abbreviation

1. Deo Optimo Maximo

2. informal Dirty Old Man

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abbreviation

1. Dominican Republic (international car registration)

dom ³ British  

/ dɒm /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) RC Church a title given to Benedictine, Carthusian, and Cistercian monks and to certain of the canons regular

2. (formerly in Portugal and Brazil) a title borne by royalty, princes of the Church, and nobles

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Dom. ⁴ British  

abbreviation

1. Dominican

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Usage

What does -dom mean? The suffix -dom denotes nouns for domains, collections of persons, rank or station, or general condition. It is often used in a variety of everyday and technical terms. The suffix -dom comes from Old English -dōm, meaning “statute, judgment, or jurisdiction.” Another descendant in modern English from this stem is doom, which today means “unavoidable ill fortune; ruin, death” but originally referred to a judgment or legal decision, especially an unfavorable one.

Etymology

Origin of dom¹

First recorded from 1710–20; shortened from Latin dominus “lord, master”

Origin of dom²

First recorded in 1985–90; shortened from dominant ( def. )

Origin of DOM⁴

First recorded in 1965–70; from chemical name 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine; first synthesized in 1963 by U.S. psychopharmacologist Alexander Shulgin (1925–2014)

Origin of -dom⁵

Middle English; Old English -dōm; cognate with Old Norse -dōmr, German -tum; see doom

Origin of D.O.M.⁹

From Latin Deō Optimō Maximō

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dom Dom DOM dom. Dom. D.O.M. dommed

By selling out Shiv, as he always does, and exploiting Kendall's insecurity that he's "not Logan," Roman has kenneled his siblings while securing a new dom in the White House.

From Salon ● May 20, 2023

When exactly dom dancers started performing with men is unknown.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2021

Fizzy wine wasn’t desirable, and removing the fizz was the problem that the dom was trying to fix.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2017

Lord Ashcroft, the Tories' deputy chairman and biggest single donor, announced at the beginning of March that he was a "non dom" - someone who does not pay UK tax on overseas earnings.

From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2010

As he leaned against it, panting, Heqet dropped from the branches of the dom palm and ran toward him.

From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw

Essex took an hour to wrap up the last three Sussex wickets despite Cook removing Dom Goodman playing down the wrong line to the first ball of the morning.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

For a dozen years, Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan has operated a side gig in Montauk: a seafood shack that draws celebrities and influencers with sunset views, Dom Pérignon and a $97 lobster salad.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

When the dot-com boom and bust of 1998-2002 started, Dom Rizzo, the global technology equity fund manager at T. Rowe Price, was only five years old.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

“I tried to write it in a way where everything that Bourdain went through was something that Dom, in some way or another, had been through himself,” says Johnson.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026

Except for my brother Dom, fortified with the constitution of a bull, we were ill for much of the voyage.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

The growing American appetite for chain pizza made Domino’s Pizza DOM -2.52%decrease; red down pointing triangle one of the best restaurant stocks to own for decades.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

Because MPs DOM is chemically complex and constantly changing, the researchers suggest that machine learning tools could help forecast how these substances behave in natural waters.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 31, 2025

Mixed with alchemical precision, the monthly rotating selection features rare extravagances like the Prince of Wales, a heady mix of Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac, Dry Orange Curaçao, DOM Benedictine and Champagne.

From New York Times ● Aug. 12, 2015

We want somebody who can build code, analyze the DOM, understands page performance, and implement design and functionality changes that produce results.

From Slate ● Jul. 2, 2015

The first object of my visitation at Manheim, on the morrow, was the house of DOM.

From A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume Three by Thomas Frognall Dibdin

Bi þare séé in ore vt lete. þar he demeþ mony riht dom. ⁊ diht ⁊ wryt mony wisdom.

From Selections from early Middle English, 1130-1250 Part I: Texts by Joseph Hall

And eueruyches monnes dom.     to his owere dure churreþ.

From Selections from early Middle English, 1130-1250 Part I: Texts by Joseph Hall

“And the other person who had that presence was Dom. And he was gone as well.”

From The Guardian ● Mar. 12, 2021

“So it has been a little bit of a process with Dom. It’s not always, ‘Here’s an opening, here you go.’

From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2018

"Oh—hi, Mrs. Van Dom. This is Bobby. I'm really sorry to be calling so late. Could I talk to Alicia?"

From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements

Dom. that the great calamity happened, the which took place on a Sabbath evening in the month of February.

From The Annals of the Parish; or, the chronicle of Dalmailing during the ministry of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder by John Galt

Dom. was one of the Sabbaths of my ministry.

From The Annals of the Parish; or, the chronicle of Dalmailing during the ministry of the Rev. Micah Balwhidder by John Galt

The hotel’s full name, Deo Optimo Maximo, abbreviated D.O.M., derives from a Latin inscription found in an adjacent church and evokes the site’s previous ecclesiastical incarnation.

From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2014

"There, master, I haint been drinking none on't, but this plaguey ship is so dommed uneasy, I can't walk steady, and I feels very sick, I does; I think I be's going to die."

From Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 2 August 1848 by Various

“Here I am,” he exclaimed, “with no nipple on me gun, and the whole dommed Confederacy right on us!”

From A Raw Recruit's War Experiences by Ansel D. Nickerson

But Oi 'm dommed if he did n't come down in the cage wid' us, for Oi counted the lot o' yez.

From Beth Norvell A Romance of the West by Randall Parrish

The Scottish savant looked up: ‘It is a dommed mismanaged affair,’ he said. 

From The Disentanglers by Andrew Lang

There followed a sound of falling rocks below, a fierce shaking of the suspended rope, and then a muffled voice sang out an order, "H'ist away, and be dommed ter yer."

From Beth Norvell A Romance of the West by Randall Parrish