Entry · catalog no. 0623

dommy

/ /ˈdɑmi/ /DOM-ee

n. · Harlem, New York City · 1940s

✓ Verified

Home; a place to live, one's own room or apartment. Also spelled 'domi.'

“Come by the dommy after the set.”

Origin & Attribution

Harlem slang of the early 1940s, recorded in Zora Neale Hurston's 'Glossary of Harlem Slang' (1942) as 'domi' — an ordinary place to live, with her example, 'I live in a righteous domi.' The word also appears in Dan Burley's handbook of Harlem jive. Most likely a clipping of 'domicile' bent to jive cadence.

early 1940s

Current in Harlem jive

1942

Recorded in Hurston's 'Glossary of Harlem Slang'

1944

Appears in Burley's handbook of Harlem jive

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide

Harlem, New York City · 1940s

Spoken by

Harlem hepcats and jivers

$DOMMYThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Faded

84 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

30/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

1942

in the culture

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

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By region — how it actually sounds

@auntiereg

Atlanta, GA

@deltasoul

Memphis, TN

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Citations & Sources

■

Zora Neale Hurston, 'Glossary of Harlem Slang' — 1942

text · cited

■

Dan Burley, 'Original Handbook of Harlem Jive' — 1944

text

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