Suffix · forms nouns
Names a state, condition or domain: free becomes freedom.
Written by Bryan López, English teacher · Updated
The suffix -dom creates nouns that name a state, abstract condition or domain. From "free" you get "freedom"; from "wise" you get "wisdom"; from "bore" you get "boredom". Like -hood, it is a closed-class suffix: you cannot add it freely to new words. Existing -dom words are fixed vocabulary to be learned directly.
The most common -dom vocabulary you will encounter: freedom = liberty wisdom = knowledge combined with good judgement boredom = the state of being bored kingdom = a land ruled by a king stardom = the state of being a star Of all of these, "freedom", "wisdom" and "boredom" are by far the most used in everyday and academic English.
In modern informal English, -dom is sometimes used playfully to name "the world or state of being X": fandom = the world of fans nerddom = the world of nerds These forms appear in internet language and informal media. They are not standard vocabulary, but knowing that -dom can mean "the world of X" helps you decode neologisms when you encounter them.
-dom joins a closed set of adjectives and nouns.
-dom is a Germanic-root suffix, so the bases are almost always native English words rather than Latin-origin ones. This is why there are no direct Spanish -dom cognates: freedom, wisdom and boredom have no -dom equivalents in Spanish.
-dom/dəm/ · soft, unstressed 'dum'
Tap the button to hear how the ending sounds. Each word in the table has its own audio.
Do not stack another suffix onto -dom. "freedom" is already the complete noun.
-dom is not productively added to new adjectives in standard English. For happiness: "happiness".
"random" comes from Old French "randon" and is not a base + -dom combination.
A trick to remember it
Learn the big three: freedom, wisdom, boredom. The rest are rare or specialised. And in internet culture, "fandom" = the community of fans around something.
Exercise 1 · Form the word
Exercise 2 · Pick the right one
What does "boredom" mean?
Exercise 3 · Pick the right one
"kingdom" means...
The suffix -dom names a state, condition or domain: free becomes freedom. In Spanish it usually maps to -dom (no direct equivalent).
The ending -dom is pronounced /dəm/ · soft, unstressed 'dum'. For example, "freedom".
"free" becomes "freedom". It is a typical example of the -dom suffix.
-tion, -ness, -ful, -ly, -able... every ending you need to understand thousands of words at once.