domestication

[duh-mes-ti-key-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or process of taming an animal for human use or companionship.

   Shortly after their domestication as companions, dogs were put to use as weapons of war.

2. the act or process of adapting a plant to cultivation or converting it to household use.

   The domestication of modern wheat from wild grasses occurred in the Fertile Crescent and fueled the development of Indo-European culture.

3. the act or process of making someone accustomed to household life or affairs.

   When my friend and former business partner not only got married but became pregnant, I saw it as yet another step in her domestication.

4. the act or process of making a strange or challenging person or thing more familiar and acceptable.

   The author resists domestication of Nietzsche's philosophy, restoring the shock of his style and thought and interpreting him as a revolutionary philosopher.

Word History and Origins

Origin of domestication¹

First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin domesticāt-, stem of domesticāre “to dwell in a house” ( domesticate ( def. ) ) + -ion ( def. )

Example Sentences

Another excavation by the researchers in June 2023 -- of an 8,100-year-old canine jawbone at a nearby site called Hollembaek Hill, south of Delta Junction -- also shows signs of possible domestication.

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But the new research shows that the shrinking genetic diversity associated with domestication happened much faster in horses.

Read more on Seattle Times

"Up to now relatively little has been known, however, about how the root system developed over this period of domestication and afterwards."

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A little more than 10,000 years ago, they cleared the hurdle with one of the most transformative innovations in history: plant and animal domestication.

Read more on Salon

No breed stood out, and all were bested on the same tests by wolves and coyotes-perhaps, the study's authors say, because domestication slackened the evolutionary pressure for a sharp olfactory sense to find food.

Read more on Science Magazine

Related Words

• control 
• development 
• education 
• method 
• practice 
• preparation 
• regulation 
• restraint 
• self-control 
• self-restraint 
• will