Sodom
/ˈsɒdəm/noun
A biblical city traditionally associated with divine destruction alongside Gomorrah.
Did you know?The English word “sodomy” developed from Sodom’s name in medieval Christian Latin, even though the biblical account itself does not use that later legal-sexual category.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Hebrew
Hebrew
סְדֹם (Sədōm)
“The name of the biblical city; its original linguistic meaning is uncertain.”
3rd–2nd Century BCE
Greek
Σόδομα (Sódoma)
“The city-name Sodom in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible.”
Late Antiquity
Latin
Sodoma
“The Latin biblical form of the city’s name.”
Medieval Latin
Latin
sodomia
“A term derived from Sodom, used in Christian legal and theological writing for certain sexual acts.”
14th Century
Middle English
Sodom
“The biblical place-name adopted into English religious and literary usage.”
Modern English
English
Sodom
“The biblical city, and figuratively a place imagined as morally corrupt or depraved.”