Domesticate Definition: How to Tame Wild Animals

Meaning 1：tame a wild animal (domesticate)

domesticate 🔊

/dəˈmɛstɪkeɪt/

vt.

To train a wild animal to live with and work for humans, making it gentle and useful, like turning wolves into dogs.

Domesticate process: hand feeding a wild fox at dusk

tame a wild animal 🔊

➕

/teɪm ə waɪld ˈænɪməl/

vt.

To train a wild animal to live with and work for humans, making it gentle and useful, like turning wolves into dogs.

📁 Category：Animal Protection 🔖 Level：Intermediate

📘 Details & Usage

📖 Root Explanation

From Latin 'domus' (home) + '-ate' (to make), meaning 'to make at home'.

💡 Mnemonic

Domesticate = 'Home' (domus) + 'make' - imagine making a wild animal feel at home at your domestic place.

📖 Example

Ancient humans learned to domesticate wolves, which eventually became our loyal companions, dogs. 🔊 Ancient humans learned to domesticate wolves, which eventually became their loyal companions—dogs.

🔗 Collocations

domesticate animals – to tame and train animals for human use

domesticate plants – to cultivate plants for human use through selective breeding

domesticate species – to bring a species under human control and adapt it to living with humans

🔄 Synonyms

tame (v.) – to reduce the wildness of an animal, making it less fearful and more obedient

train (v.) – to teach an animal to obey commands or perform specific tasks

breed (v.) – to keep animals and cause them to reproduce under controlled conditions for desired traits

🚫 Antonyms

wild (adj.) – living in a natural state, not tamed or domesticated

feral (adj.) – returned to a wild state after being domesticated

🌱 Derivatives

domestication (n.) – the process of taming animals or cultivating plants for human use

domestic (adj.) – relating to the home, family, or internal affairs of a country

domesticated (adj.) – tamed and kept as a pet or farm animal, or cultivated for human use

📖 Cultural Story

Derives from Latin 'domesticus' (belonging to the house), from 'domus' (home). The process of domestication began with wolves over 15,000 years ago, leading to dogs.