domesticate
to tame (an animal), especially by generations of breeding, to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal and usually creating a dependency so that the animal loses its ability to live in the wild.
to adapt (a plant) so as to be cultivated by and beneficial to human beings.
to accustom to household life or affairs.
to take (something foreign, unfamiliar, etc.) for one's own use or purposes; adopt.
to make more ordinary, familiar, acceptable, or the like: to domesticate radical ideas.
to be domestic.
Origin of domesticate
1Other words from domesticate
- do·mes·ti·ca·ble [duh-mes-ti-kuh-buhl], /dəˈmɛs tɪ kə bəl/, adjective
- do·mes·ti·ca·tion [duh-mes-ti-key-shuhn], /dəˌmɛs tɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, noun
- do·mes·ti·ca·tive, adjective
- do·mes·ti·ca·tor, noun
- non·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
- non·do·mes·ti·cat·ing, adjective
- o·ver·do·mes·ti·cate, verb (used with object), o·ver·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, o·ver·do·mes·ti·cat·ing.
- un·do·mes·ti·ca·ble, adjective
- un·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
- well-do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use domesticate in a sentence
The results suggest that people domesticated dogs sometime before 23,000 years ago in Siberia, where isolated groups of wolves and people were struggling to survive the Last Glacial Maximum.
Dogs have been our best friends for at least 23,000 years | Kiona N. Smith | February 1, 2021 | Ars TechnicaThose barks were a useful reminder that although he is domesticated, he is an animal.
My dog barked at me. What’s going on in that canine skull of his? | John Kelly | January 31, 2021 | Washington PostBy retaining a hint of wildness that the modern world has long buried, dogs — these domesticated wolves — represent a source of forgotten knowledge.
Traveling through the pandemic in the company of dogs | Walter Nicklin | December 18, 2020 | Washington PostThough Vulpes vulpes, the silver fox, is distantly related to wolves and dogs, it had never before been domesticated.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 22, 2020 | FreakonomicsThe fact is, those are very tame and domesticated versions of a full-on inquiry into origins.
Cats were domesticated roughly ten thousand years before cat videos.
We sink into the domesticated blandness of our interchangeable, modern-era selves.
Duck! Reality TV Returns Us to the Dark Age of Tribal Warfare | James Poulos | December 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThey projected sexual charisma, to be sure, but it was a charisma that was tamed and domesticated for their youngest female fans.
What Made the Beatles So Big? Diagnosing ‘Beatlemania’ | John McMillian | October 31, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHe compared the sizes of domesticated animals everywhere he went.
Orwell’s Lies: His Diaries Reveal Problems with the Truth | Jimmy So | August 19, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe Cat, the little Tyger of our island, whose natural home is the forest, is equally domesticated and caressed.
An Inquiry into the Causes and Effects of the Variolae Vaccinae | Edward JennerNow and then a blue pigeon, like the ancestral form, crops up in a pure breed of domesticated birds.
Man And His Ancestor | Charles MorrisThe Paca very easily becomes domesticated, and is very gentle and tractable, unless when much irritated.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10) | Georges Louis Leclerc de BuffonA panther is spoken of by an English lady, Mrs. Bowdich, who resided for some time in Africa, as being thoroughly domesticated.
Stories about Animals: with Pictures to Match | Francis C. WoodworthLady Jane Grey is a gentle, domesticated cat of many admirable qualities and her name seems very appropriate.
The Red Cow and Her Friends | Peter McArthur
British Dictionary definitions for domesticate
sometimes US domesticize (dəˈmɛstɪˌsaɪz)
/ (dəˈmɛstɪˌkeɪt) /
to bring or keep (wild animals or plants) under control or cultivation
to accustom to home life
to adapt to an environment: to domesticate foreign trees
Derived forms of domesticate
- domesticable, adjective
- domestication, noun
- domesticative, adjective
- domesticator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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