As for dominium, the word is derived from dominus, meaning “master” or “slave-owner,” but ultimately from domus, meaning “house” or “household.” It’s of course related to the English term “domestic,” which even now can be used either to mean “pertaining to private life,” or to refer to a servant who cleans the house. Domus overlaps somewhat in meaning with familia, “family”—but, as proponents of “family values” might be interested to know, familia itself ultimately derives from the word famulus, meaning “slave.” A family was originally all those people under the domestic authority of a
...more
