# doom

> English word · Noun · IPA /duːm/ · frequency rank #9,459

## Definitions
1. Destiny, especially terrible.
2. An undesirable fate; an impending severe occurrence or danger that seems inevitable.
3. Dread; a feeling of danger, impending danger, darkness, or despair.
4. A law.
5. A judgment or decision.
6. A sentence or penalty for illegal behaviour.
7. Death.
8. The Last Judgment; or, an artistic representation thereof.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **duo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-duo)
- **dot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dot)
- **DOS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dos)
- **dow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dow)
- **dum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dum)
- **DSM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dsm)
- **DRM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-drm)
- **dor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dor)
- **dox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dox)
- **down** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-down)
- **door** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-door)
- **drop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-drop)
- **dose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dose)
- **drum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-drum)
- **Doug** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-doug)
- **dope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dope)
- **dots** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dots)
- **dove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dove)
- **dorm** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dorm)
- **Dora** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/doom-vs-dora)

## Common misspellings (3)
`ddoom`, `domo`, `doomm`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/doom