(1) An area over which one rules; domain. (2) Supreme authority.

The ruler of a region has dominion over it, and the area itself may be called the ruler's dominion. In the days of the British Empire, England had dominion over many countries throughout the world. Though Canada has been quite independent of Great Britain since the 19th century, it was generally referred to as the Dominion of Canada in official documents until at least the 1950s. The word has an old-fashioned sound today, and probably shows up in history books, historical novels, and fantasy video games more often than in discussions of modern nations.

Greater in importance, strength, influence, or authority.

Something predominant stands out above all the rest. The predominant theme in an essay is the one that *predominates*—the main idea that the writer wants to express. (Notice the difference between the adjective and the verb; be sure not to spell the adjective with an *-ate* ending.) The word is widely used in many fields. For example, the predominant language of Switzerland is German; the predominant cause of obesity in children is a bad diet; and your predominant reason for wanting a larger vocabulary may be to simply be a better-educated person—though the positive effects of a large vocabulary on one's romantic life are well known.

Tending to control the behavior of others in a bossy manner.

To be domineering is to behave like a lord. (The word *lordly* doesn't express quite the same thing.) Someone who tells you what you can wear or what friends you can spend time with could be called domineering; so could someone who always decides what you're going to do with your free time. Those of us who grow up with a domineering parent usually flee as soon as we're old enough.

(1) Supremacy or power over another. (2) The exercise of governing or controlling influence.

*Domination* may sound like something that's achieved by military force. The total domination of Europe, for example, has never been achieved: The Roman empire could never fully *dominate* the northern Germanic tribes; Napoleon couldn't conquer Spain; and although Adolf Hitler was briefly *dominant* over most of the continent, he never managed to overpower England. But the word's earliest appearances don't necessarily involve physical force; Chaucer, for instance, speaks of a mind's domination by strong drink. So we may observe that a great tennis player has continued his domination of the world's courts this season, or that the domination of popular music by rock and roll was obvious by the end of the 1950s.

An animal that eats both plants and other animals.

Human beings seem to be classic omnivores. Originally living as “hunter- gatherers,” we hunted and fished when possible but also gathered nuts, berries, fruits, seeds, and roots for much of our diet. We're physically well suited for both tasks; our hands are perfect for picking things, and our build is ideal for running down even the fastest game animals because of our great stamina. Some 10,000 years ago humans began practicing agriculture involving both animals and plants. The other *omnivorous* mammals include chimpanzees, pigs, opossums, porcupines, bears, raccoons, skunks, chipmunks, mice and rats, and skunks. But even many mammals classed as *carnivorous* (see VOR) turn out to be capable of shifting to plant foods when necessary.

Having complete or unlimited power; all- powerful.

If you know that *potens* means “power” in Latin (see POT), it's not hard to guess the meaning of *omnipotent*. In Christian services and prayers, the Latin *omnipotens* is translated as “almighty” and always applied to God. But *omnipotence* in a government or ruler is naturally a bit scary; as a British lord observed a century ago, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” So democracies do their best to make omnipotence impossible.

Of or including many things.

In Latin, *omnibus* means “for all.” So an omnibus bill in Congress packages several measures together, an omnibus survey may poll the public on a wide range of issues, and an omnibus edition of a writer's stories may bring together just about all of them. As a noun, *omnibus* used to mean a large vehicle for public transportation—that is, “for all” who could pay the fare— but around 1900 the word began to be shortened to simply *bus*.

Knowing everything; having unlimited understanding or knowledge.

*Omniscience* is something that a totalitarian state may try to achieve by means of informers, cameras, and monitoring of electronic communication. If your English teacher tells you that a novel has an “omniscient narrator,'' she means that the voice telling the story isn't one of the characters but instead knows what each of them is doing and thinking, with the point of view constantly shifting from one to another.