Domus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A private residence or household of a family in ancient Rome, or more broadly, one's home or dwelling place
2. A type of building that served as the main living place for a family in ancient Rome
3. The traditional household structure where Roman families lived and conducted their daily activities

Etymology: "Domus" is the Latin word for "house" or "household," and it is the same word that gave English "dome." Both descend from an ancient root meaning to build, and the Latin term came to name the home itself. In Roman usage it referred to the physical house as well as the family that lived in it, which is why the word could stand for both a building and the people and daily life within its walls. English borrowed the Latin word directly, so "domus" arrived as a learned term rather than through everyday speech. Its relationship to "dome" is a doublet: the two English words come from the same Latin source but reached the language by different routes and took on different shapes and meanings. "Duomo," the Italian word for a cathedral, is a third member of the same family, linking the idea of a house to the rounded roof that tops many churches.