Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A judge; an umpire.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete A judge; an umpire.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun obsolete A judge; an umpire.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

See doom and man.

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Examples

  • As an aside: the original meaning of "doom" was "law or judgment" and a judge in those Anglo-Saxon days was called a doomsman.

    B-U-S-H Spells D-O-O-M The Daily Growler 2006

  • Then she bowed her head, and the sword of the doomsman fell.

    A Child's Book of Saints William Canton 1909

  • At the place of execution, Dorothea begged the doomsman to tarry a little, and kneeling by the block, she raised her hands to heaven and prayed earnestly.

    A Child's Book of Saints William Canton 1909

  • "Then shalt thou die," said Sapricius; and he bade the doomsman take her to the place of execution and strike off her head.

    A Child's Book of Saints William Canton 1909

  • Ivan acts merely as the instinctive doomsman of Nature or of God, and the old village Pope, who, as the veil of life grows thin, is feeling after the law above human law, justifies the wielder of the axe, which has been no instrument of vengeance but simply an exponent of the wholesome vitality of earth.

    Robert Browning Dowden, Edward 1904

  • Here the poet's imagination is as intense in its presentation of Christ the doomsman:

    Robert Browning Dowden, Edward 1904

  • Under no circumstances could the poor wretch tell the tale or identify either the prisoners or their doomsman.

    Ben-Hur, a tale of the Christ 1901

  • Then receiveth he penance for every sin [as] enjoined by his doomsman [124] that is grounded in Holy Church by the teaching of the Holy Ghost.

    Revelations of Divine Love 1901

  • Perpetua watched him as calmly as a martyr of old days watched the advance of the doomsman.

    The Proud Prince 1898

  • Guinevere, when she meets her lover, rescuer, and doomsman, is no longer a girl, and Lancelot is almost a boy.

    A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 George Saintsbury 1889

Comments

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  • To uncover truth and illumine

    Is highest of gifts that are human,

    But scoundrels like Trump

    Will cry, “Kill the ump!”

    In justified fear of the doomsman.

    December 1, 2017

  • Most of the usage examples supplied apply the word as a synonym for “executioner.” None of the aggregated dictionaries (nor the OED) extend the word to include this meaning.

    December 1, 2017

  • qms,

    The top example, as I'm viewing it, says: "As an aside: the original meaning of "doom" was "law" or "judgment" and a judge in those Anglo-Saxon days was called a doomsman."

    So a doomsman is a lawman.

    December 4, 2017