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

The new evidence shows cat domestication didn't start at the dawn of agriculture - in the Levant.

Read more on BBC

This urban domestication starts with trash, the study's co-author, Raffaela Lesch of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, told Scientific American.

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And the researchers' digital scans of the skulls that they studied will allow them to answer more questions about the evolutionary driving forces behind domestication.

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Rendered impotent by domestication, she’ll do anything to influence human events.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

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.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

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