Etymology

From the name Δαμιανος (Damianos) which was derived from δαμαω (damao) "to tame". Saint Damian was martyred with his twin brother Cosmo early in the 4th century. They are the patron saints of physicians. Another saint by this name was Saint Peter Damian, an 11th-century cardinal and theologian from Italy.

Quotations

• 1380s-1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales: The Merchant's Prologue and Tale

  O January, drunken in pleasance

  Of marriage, see how thy Damian,

  Thine owen squier and thy boren man,

  Intendeth for to do thee villainy: