*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of doom

From Middle English doom, dom, from Old English dōm (“judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic *dōm, from Proto-Germanic *dōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos. Cognates Compare Dutch doem (“condemnation, doom; judgemen

1 source sectionExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 1 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
verb

To pronounce judgment or sentence on; to condemn. · To destine; to fix irrevocably the ill fate of. · To judge; to estimate or determine as a judge. · To ordain as a penalty; hence, to mulct or fine.

noun

Destiny, especially terrible. · An undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable. · Dread; a feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness, or despair. · A law.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English doom, dom, from Old English dōm (“judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic *dōm, from Proto-Germanic *dōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos. Cognates Compare Dutch doem (“condemnation, doom; judgement”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish dom (“judgement”), Faroese and Icelandic dómur (“judgement”), Gothic 𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃 (dōms, “insight, judgement”); also Ancient Greek θωμός (thōmós, “heap”), Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian ду́ма (dúma, “thought”), Polish duma (“pride”). Doublet of duma. See also deem.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*dʰeh₁-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentiondoomenm
  • Inherited-form mentiondōmang · judgement
  • Inherited-form mention*dōmgmw-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*dōmazgem-pro
  • Inherited-form mention*dʰóh₁mosine-pro
  • Cognate mentiondoemnl · condemnation, doom; judgement
  • Cognate mention𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃got · insight, judgement
  • Cognate mentionθωμόςgrc · heap
  • Cognate mentiondumapl · pride
  • Doublet mentiondumaen

This page abbreviates 6 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dʰeh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "doom"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English doom"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "dōm",
        "t": "judgement"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English dōm (“judgement”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*dōm"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *dōm"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
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        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*dōmaz"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *dōmaz"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*dʰóh₁mos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos"
    },
    {
      "name": "col-top",
      "args": {
        "1": "2",
        "2": "cog"
      },
      "expansion": "Cognates"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "doem",
        "t": "condemnation, doom; judgement"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch doem (“condemnation, doom; judgement”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da,nb,nn,sv",
        "2": "dom",
        "t": "judgement"
      },
      "expansion": "Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish dom (“judgement”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fo,is",
        "2": "dómur",
        "t": "judgement"
      },
      "expansion": "Faroese and Icelandic dómur (“judgement”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "got",
        "2": "𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃",
        "t": "insight, judgement"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic 𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃 (dōms, “insight, judgement”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "θωμός",
        "t": "heap"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek θωμός (thōmós, “heap”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "bg,mk,ru,uk",
        "2": "ду́ма",
        "t": "thought"
      },
      "expansion": "Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, and Ukrainian ду́ма (dúma, “thought”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "pl",
        "2": "duma",
        "t": "pride"
      },
      "expansion": "Polish duma (“pride”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "duma"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of duma"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "doom",
      "doom#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dom",
      "dom#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "dōm",
      "dom#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "judgement",
      "judgement"
    ],
    [
      "*dōm",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/dōm"
    ],
    [
      "*dōmaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/dōmaz"
    ],
    [
      "*dʰóh₁mos",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dʰóh₁mos"
    ],
    [
      "doem",
      "doem#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Danish",
      "dom#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "dom#Norwegian_Bokmål"
    ],
    [
      "Norwegian Nynorsk",
      "dom#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "dom",
      "dom#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "Faroese",
      "dómur#Faroese"
    ],
    [
      "dómur",
      "dómur#Icelandic"
    ],
    [
      "𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃",
      "𐌳𐍉𐌼𐍃#Gothic"
    ],
    [
      "θωμός",
      "θωμός#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "Bulgarian",
      "дума#Bulgarian"
    ],
    [
      "Macedonian",
      "дума#Macedonian"
    ],
    [
      "Russian",
      "дума#Russian"
    ],
    [
      "ду́ма",
      "дума#Ukrainian"
    ],
    [
      "duma",
      "duma#Polish"
    ],
    [
      "duma",
      "duma#English"
    ],
    [
      "deem",
      "deem#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To pronounce judgment or sentence on; to condemn.",
        "To destine; to fix irrevocably the ill fate of.",
        "To judge; to estimate or determine as a judge.",
        "To ordain as a penalty; hence, to mulct or fine."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive",
        "obsolete"
      ],
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    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Destiny, especially terrible.",
        "An undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable.",
        "Dread; a feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness, or despair.",
        "A law."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "obsolete"
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalSenses": 6,
    "glosses": 0
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}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for doom →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-ZG9vbQ