doom

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See also: Doom, dom, Dom, DOM, and -dom

English

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /duːm/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -uːm

Etymology 1

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From Middle English doom, dom, from Old English dōm (“judgement”), from Proto-West Germanic *dōm, from Proto-Germanic *dōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos.

Compare West Frisian doem, Dutch doem, Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish dom, Icelandic dómur. Doublet of duma. See also deem.

Noun

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doom (countable and uncountable, plural dooms)

  1. Destiny, especially terrible.
    • a. 1701 (date written), John Dryden, “The First Book of Homer's Ilias”, in The Miscellaneous Works of John Dryden, […], volume IV, London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson, […], published 1760, →OCLC, page 415:
      This, for the night; by day, the web and loom, / And homely houſhold-taſk, ſhall be her doom,
    • 2007, Billy Lee Brammer, “Fustian Days: Book One: Sonic Goddam Boom”, in Southwest Review, volume 92, number 4, page 495:
      "When should I expect him?" Roy said, resigned to his doom.
    • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire:
      We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom.
    • 2009 December 11, Karen Gormandy, “Robin Hood”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 59, number 8, page 4:
      "After he takes the throne, you will be arrested." / "You lie like your master, Carfax. Your doom is sealed."
  2. An undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable.
    • 2004, Arthur Miller, “The Turpentine Still”, in Southwest Review, volume 89, number 4, page 479:
      unlike Vincent, he wasn't quite taken in by the outbreak of hopefulness on all sides. After all, nothing about the tanks or the process had been resolved; an air of doom still hung undisturbed over the project.
    • 2007 February, Bob Bahr, “Tapestries in Oil”, in American Artist, volume 71, number 773, page 45:
      Such paintings are inherently moody, and Elliott likes that-even as he carefully avoids dictating a specific mood. "Yesterday I painted the last light of the day-the trees looked pink, and the mountain's shadow was coming over them. It created a feeling of nostalgia... or impending doom... or still, quiet, peacefulness. It depends on the viewer's feelings about the scene, not just mine."
    • 2009 April 27, Nate Davis, “After Lions^ gamble, lots of big men tapped”, in USA Today, Sports, page 7C:
      Chung was the first of its four picks in Round 2. His arrival might spell doom for Rodney Harrison.
  3. Dread; a feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness, or despair.
    • 2006, Sophie Jordan, Once upon a wedding night:
      She halted her pacing steps as the ugly significance of Nicholas Caulfield's pending arrival washed over her. Ruin. Destitution. Doom settled like a heavy stone in her chest.
    • 2007, Terry Kay with William J. Scheick, The Year the Lights Came on, page 204:
      Feeling doom, as we learned in the beautiful folk language of blacks who knew the truth of it, began with a single unexpected oddity — a redbird out of season, hail out of cloudless skies, dogs cowering under the house
    • 2008, Beverly Fincham, Real Life Freedom, page 25:
      I'm taking medications every day; never thinking I would be spiraling into nothing but a nightmare that made me feel doom.
    • 2009 March, Deanna Roy, “Forget the rules and make the leap”, in Writer, volume 122, number 3, page 15:
      Then the smiling narrator filled me with doom: I was expected to pull my own rip cord. I nearly fainted.
    • 2010 July 20, Mark Morford, “What to do when it all goes right”, in San Francisco Chronicle:
      perhaps you do that most rare of things when reading the news: You grin, exhale, stop feeling doom in every crevasse and corner of your body.
  4. (countable, obsolete) A law.
    • 1915, Beatrice Adelaide Lees, Alfred the Great: the truth teller, maker of England, 848-899, page 211:
      "What ye will not that other men should do unto you, that do ye not unto other men." "From this one doom," comments Alfred, "a man may bethink him how he should judge every one rightly: he needs no other doombook."
  5. (countable, obsolete) A judgment or decision.
    • 1600, Edward Fairfax, transl., Jerusalem Delivered, translation of Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso:
      And there he learned of things and haps to come, / To give foreknowledge true, and certain doom.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Esdras 7:43:
      But the day of doome shall be the end of this time, and the beginning of the immortality for to come, wherein corruption is past.
    • 1861, Henry Sumner Maine, Ancient Law, page 22:
      Kings are spoken of as if they had a store of "Themistes" ready to hand for use; but it must be distinctly understood that they are not laws, but judgments, or, to take the exact Teutonic equivalent, "dooms."
    • 1915, Beatrice Adelaide Lees, Alfred the Great: the truth teller, maker of England, 848-899, page 208:
      when Alfred in turn set himself to the task of stating and interpreting the law of his kingdom, there were already precedents for him to follow, in the written "dooms" (domas) of his predecessors, — themselves but a small portion of the still unwritten custom
    • 1977, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion, page 88:
      Therefore I say that we will go on, and this doom I add: the deeds that we shall do shall be the matter of song until the last days of Arda.
  6. (countable, obsolete) A sentence or penalty for illegal behaviour.
  7. Death.
    They met an untimely doom when the mineshaft caved in.
    • 1593, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus:
      This is the day of doom for Bassianus.
    • 2006, The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society, “Harley Got Devoured by the Undead”, in An Even Scarier Solstice:
      Harley got devoured by the undead / Lurking down in some old wizard's tomb / You can say there's no such thing as zombies / But that's how Harley Warren met his doom
    • 2009, Anne Kristin Stuart, Tangled lies:
      The engines were rumbling, missing every now and then, and Rachel leaned back in her seat, prepared to meet her doom somewhere over the Pacific. At least there was a priest at hand -- maybe she could entice him to hear a final confession.
  8. (sometimes capitalized) The Last Judgment; or, an artistic representation thereof.
Antonyms
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  • (antonym(s) of “undesirable fate”): fortune
Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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doom (third-person singular simple present dooms, present participle dooming, simple past and past participle doomed)

  1. (transitive) To pronounce judgment or sentence on; to condemn.
    a criminal doomed to death
    • 1697, Virgil, “The Sixth Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.
    • 2019 April 28, Alex McLevy, “Game Of Thrones Suffers the Fog of War in the Battle against the Dead (Newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎[1], archived from the original on 31 May 2021:
      There was certainly plenty of badass Arya before and after—more on that soon—but here was Arya the living, breathing human, outnumbered and petrified of making the one slight wrong move that would doom her.
  2. To destine; to fix irrevocably the ill fate of.
  3. (obsolete) To judge; to estimate or determine as a judge.
    • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      And while we know not that the King of heaven hath not doomed this place our safe retreat
  4. (obsolete) To ordain as a penalty; hence, to mulct or fine.
  5. (archaic, New England) To assess a tax upon, by estimate or at discretion.
Translations
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See also

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Etymology 2

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Phrase

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doom

  2. (Internet slang) Initialism of didn't organize, only moved; used in compounds designating a miscellaneous collection of items which one has failed to properly organize.
    Alternative form: DOOM
    I tried to organize my stuff but just ended up making a big doom pile.
    • 2022 June 1, “’Body doubling,’ an ADHD productivity tool, is flourishing online”, in The Washington Post‎[2], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2 June 2023:
      One day in April of 2021, Lindsey Bee decided it was time to deal with the laundry "doom piles" that had formed around her house. So she did what many people do when faced with a boring task. She turned to TikTok.
    • 2023 February 24, Jancee Dunn, quoting Kerry Lakey, “How to Clear Out Digital Clutter”, in The New York Times‎[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-05-10:
      While digital clutter may not be physical, like the "doom piles" and junk drawers in your home, the anxiety and distress it induces is real, said Kerry Lakey, a lecturer in psychology at Northumbria University in England, who studies behavior around digital data.
    • 2023 April 28, Alexandrea Cantwell, “"My Doom Piles Screamed 'Undiagnosed ADHD'"”, in ADDitude‎[4], archived from the original on 2023-06-09:
      The doom in 'doom pile' is actually an acronym. It stands for "Didn't Organize, Only Moved" – an experience many people with ADHD can apparently relate to when they try to organize their spaces, whether physical or virtual. Instead of sorting things in their rightful places, they end up stacking them along with other random, unsorted things to be organized later – or never. That's how people end up with doom piles, doom boxes, doom bags, doom folders and drives, doom rooms and closets, and other kinds of doom arrangements.
    • 2023 June 20, Kristin Wilcox, “Is Your ADHD Making You a DOOM Piler?”, in Psychology Today‎[5], New York, N.Y.: Sussex Publishers, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 August 2023:
      DOOM piles are a cleaning tactic and a way of reducing visual clutter. Essentially, it's stashing random items that need to be organized in one place, to be dealt with later. We all have DOOM piles — a junk drawer or a place where we put piles of clutter before guests visit. There can be DOOM piles, DOOM bags, DOOM boxes, or one of my son's favorites, a DOOM desk.
    • [2023 February 9, Allie Cantwell, CBC News‎[6], archived from the original on 2023-08-28:
      The term "doom pile" or "doom box" stands for "Didn't Organize, Only Moved" and is usually a failed attempt by adults with ADHD to organize paperwork.]

Anagrams

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Kemi Sami

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Russian дом (dom). Compare Skolt Sami dom and Kildin Sami до̄ма (dōma).

Noun

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doom

  1. house, building

Further reading

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  • Koponen, Eino, Ruppel, Klaas, Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008), “dōm”, in Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎[7], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

Middle English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Inherited from Old English dōm, from Proto-West Germanic *dōm, from Proto-Germanic *dōmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰóh₁mos.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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doom

  1. a judgement, (legal) decision or sentence
  2. a decision or order
  3. a court or trial issuing judgement
  4. final judgement after death
  5. justice, rulership, authority

Descendants

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  • English: doom
  • Middle Scots: dome, dume

References

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Wolof

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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doom (definite form doom ji)

  1. child, offspring

Noun

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doom (definite form doom bi)

  1. fruit, seed
  2. tablet, pill

References

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  • Jean-Léopold Diouf (2003) Dictionnaire wolof-français et français-wolof, Éditions KARTHALA, →ISBN, page 109
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