domesticate

[duh-mes-ti-keyt] /dəˈmɛs tɪˌkeɪt/
verb (used with object), domesticated, domesticating.
1.
to convert (animals, plants, etc.) to domestic uses; tame.
2.
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.
3.
to adapt (a plant) so as to be cultivated by and beneficial to human beings.
4.
to accustom to household life or affairs.
5.
to take (something foreign, unfamiliar, etc.) for one's own use or purposes; adopt.
6.
to make more ordinary, familiar, acceptable, or the like:
to domesticate radical ideas.
verb (used without object), domesticated, domesticating.
7.
to be domestic.
Origin
1635-45; < Medieval Latin domesticātus (past participle of domesticāre), equivalent to domestic- domestic + -ātus -ate1
Related forms
domesticable
[duh-mes-ti-kuh-buh l] /dəˈmɛs tɪ kə bəl/ (Show IPA), adjective
domestication, noun
domesticative, adjective
domesticator, noun
nondomesticated, adjective
nondomesticating, adjective
overdomesticate, verb (used with object), overdomesticated, overdomesticating.
undomesticable, adjective
undomesticated, adjective
well-domesticated, adjective
Examples from the web for domesticate
  • Stone's movie, there is the danger of trying to domesticate an overwhelming tragedy.
  • When the glaciers began to melt and the climate to improve, several groups learned how to grow crops and domesticate animals.
  • Only a tiny fraction of wild plants and animals were both useful and possible to domesticate.
  • He believed that he could investigate these questions about domestication by attempting to domesticate wild foxes.
  • No way to relate to it, and therefore no way to mentally domesticate it.
  • Societies that did not domesticate large animals labored at a disadvantage.
  • It can take years of research to domesticate a new species.
  • Don't think you can domesticate it, because you can't.
  • Anyone willing to make the effort can observe and attempt to domesticate them.
  • Their efforts to domesticate emotion with reason were regularly foiled by insurrections of the heart.
British Dictionary definitions for domesticate

domesticate

/dəˈmɛstɪˌkeɪt/
verb (transitive)
1.
to bring or keep (wild animals or plants) under control or cultivation
2.
to accustom to home life
3.
to adapt to an environment: to domesticate foreign trees
Derived Forms
domesticable, adjective
domestication, noun
domesticative, adjective
domesticator, noun
Word Origin and History for domesticate
v.

1630s, of animals; 1741, of persons, "to cause to be attached to home and family;" from Medieval Latin domesticatus, past participle of domesticare "to tame," literally "to dwell in a house," from domesticus (see domestic). Related: Domesticated; domesticating.