I’ve been using the word condo and condominium for over 25 years; it occurred to me that I don’t know where this word originated from. I did a Google search and here’s what I’ve learned.

Key Historical Milestones

18th Century Origins:
The word was likely coined in Germany around 1700. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its first recorded use in English dates to the early 1700s

The word condominium is a Modern Latin term that literally translates to “joint ownership” or “joint rule”. It is a compound formed from two Latin elements:

com- (con-): A prefix meaning “with” or “together”.
Condominium: A noun meaning “right of ownership,” “property,” or “dominion”.
Modern Real Estate: The shift to its current meaning—privately owned units in a shared building—emerged in American English around 1962. This new application was popularized after the passage of the National Housing Act of 1961, which provided federal mortgage insurance for such projects.

Today, while North Americans use “condo,” other regions have different names for the same concept, such as “strata title” in Australia and “commonhold” in the UK.

Remember: “Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” — Jack Canfield