Dominate and dominant are words that are close in spelling and pronunciation and may be considered confusables. We will examine the different meanings of the confusables dominate and dominant, the word origins of the terms, and some examples of their English usage in sentences.
Dominate is a verb that means to control, to guide, to exert one’s stronger influence, to rule. Related words are dominates, dominated, dominating, domination. The word dominate is a transitive verb, which is a verb that takes an object. It is derived from the Latin word, dominari, which means to govern or to rule.
Dominant is an adjective that describes something that is supreme over others, something that is successful, something that is commanding. The word dominant is also derived from the Latin word, dominari.
Examples
The shakeup has ramifications for the industries that are likely to dominate business moving forward, and investors would be wise to consider these forces when putting together long-term stock portfolios. (Winston-Salem Journal)
He also noted that Denmark’s CDC has issued stark warnings about the potential impact of the B117 variant, noting that it could raise a country’s R number by as much as 0.4 to 0.7 and that it will soon “dominate” the world. (Irish Mirror)
For the first time since the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych and the banning of his once-dominant Party of Regions, multiple surveys show that its successor, the pro-Russian “Opposition Platform-For Life,” has become the most popular political party in Ukraine, overtaking both president Volodymyr Zelensky’s “Servant of the People,” and former president Petro Poroshenko’s “European Solidarity.” (National Interest)
Last month’s elections left a hung parliament, without a dominant party to push through the appointment of speaker and other key posts. (Reuters)