dom-, domo-, domat-, domato-
(Greek > Latin: house, home; master or lord of the house)
2. A building or complex containing apartments or townhouses: The condominium on the corner has a great view of the ravine and river that is just across the street.
3. In politics, a country governed by two or more different countries with joint responsibilities: The countries on both sides of the river agreed to a condominium so that neither one would have sole ownership of the river and the commerce that used it.
4. Etymology: from Modern Latin, "joint sovereignty", apparently coined in German about 1700 from com-, "together" + dominum, "right of ownership".
The sense of "privately owned apartment" came into existence in American English, about 1962, as a special use of the legal term.

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2. Someone or something that may cause harm, injury, or loss.
3. Etymology: "power of a lord or master, jurisdiction", from Anglo-French daunger, from Old French dangier, "power to harm, mastery"; alteration of dongier, from Vulgar Latin dominarium, "power of a lord", from Latin dominus, "lord, master"; so, danger is said to be a parallel formation of dominion.
2. Characteristic of the involvement of something that is perilous, hazardous, or risky and unsafe.
2. Having made a person feel slightly frightened or worried about the ability to achieve something.
3. Etymology: from Old French danter, a form of donter, from Latin domitare, domare, "to tame, to subdue, to vanquish, to conquer"; literally, "to accustom to the house", from domus, "house".
2. Relating to being depressing, intimidating, demoralizing, or frightening to someone.
The dauntless soldier received a great deal of praise from his comrades for saving them from death after they had run out of ammunition and he had returned with a new supply of bullets, despite the dangers he had to face as he went back to them.
2. Unlikely, or unable, to be frightened or to be discouraged; not afraid: Carol's small but dauntless cat braved going out into the hall where she encountered the large cat which lived down the hall.


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2. Any tyrant or oppressor: There are some despots, even in these modern times, who are ruling their people in cruel and inhumane ways.
3. Etymology: from Greek: despotes, "a master, a lord"; from Latin domus "house, home" + potis, "master, husband".
Originally, a title meaning "master", applied to certain classes of rulers, an honorary title applied to a Byzantine emperor, afterward to members of his family, and later to Byzantine vassal rulers and governors; then to bishops or patriarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church, etc. Now, it refers to anyone who is in charge and acts like a tyrant or a ruler who exercises his or her power in a harsh or oppressive way.

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Go to this Word A Day Revisited Index
so you can see more of Mickey Bach's cartoons.
Other names include the following modern dictators who have advocated despotism:
- Joseph Stalin (U.S.S.R or Russia)
- Mao Zedong (Mao Tse Tung) (China)
- Kim Jong-il (North Korea)
- Muammar Al-Gaddafi (Libya)
- Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)
- Plus many others throughout history!
