dominion definition

English dominion definition

Etymology

From Middle English dominion, from Middle French dominion, from Latin dominium (“lordship, right of ownership”), from dominus (“lord”), from domus (“house”). See demain, demesne, domain, dominium.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dəˈmɪnjən/, /doʊˈmɪnjən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪnjən
• Hyphenation: do‧min‧ion

Noun

dominion (countable and uncountable, plural dominions)

1. Power or the use of power; sovereignty over something; stewardship, supremacy.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Daniel 4:34, column 1:

     And at the end of the dayes, I Nebuchad-nezzar lift vp mine eyes vnto heauen, and mine vnderſtanding returned vnto me, and I bleſſed the moſt high, and I praiſed, and honoured him that liueth for euer, whoſe dominion is an euerlaſting dominion, and his kingdome is from generation to generation.

   • 1881, Benjamin Jowett, Thucydides Translated into English

     To choose between dominion or slavery.

   • 1887, H. Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure‎^[1]:

     'Behold! once more I kiss thee, and by that kiss I give to thee dominion over sea and earth, over the peasant in his hovel, over the monarch in his palace halls, and cities crowned with towers, and those who breathe therein.'

2. predominance; ascendancy
   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, John Dryden, transl., De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], OCLC 261121781:

     Objects placed foremost ought […] have dominion over things which are confus'd and transient.

3. (sometimes figuratively) A kingdom, nation, or other sphere of influence; governed territory.

   the dominions of a king  the dominion of the passions

   • 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Four. The Last of the Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], OCLC 55746801, page 137:

     Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion!

4. (taxonomy) kingdom
5. (Christianity) An order of angel in Christian angelology, ranked above virtues and below thrones.

   Synonym: domination

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Colossians 1:16, column 2:

     For by him were all things created […], whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him.

Related terms

• dominate
• domination
• dominator
• domineering
• domino
• subdominion

Descendants

• → Norwegian Bokmål: dominion
• → Norwegian Nynorsk: dominion

Translations

Further reading

• dominion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• dominion in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911

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Finnish dominion definition

Noun

dominion

1. Genitive singular form of dominio.

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French dominion definition

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin dominium, with the ending reinterpreted as French -on.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɔ.mi.njɔ̃/

• Audio (CAN)

  (file)

Noun

dominion m (plural dominions)

1. dominion

Descendants

• → Romanian: dominion

Further reading

• “dominion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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Norwegian Bokmål dominion definition

Etymology

From English dominion, from Latin dominium.

Noun

dominion m (definite singular dominionen, indefinite plural dominioner or dominions, definite plural dominionene)

1. a dominion

Usage notes

The use of dominions as indefinite plural may be from Danish via Riksmål.

References

• “dominion” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “dominion” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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Norwegian Nynorsk dominion definition

Etymology

From English dominion, from Latin dominium.

Noun

dominion m (definite singular dominionen, indefinite plural dominionar, definite plural dominionane)

1. a dominion

References

• “dominion” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Romanian dominion definition

Etymology

From French dominion.

Noun

dominion n (plural dominioane)

1. dominion

Declension