domesticate Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
    naturalize; cultivate; tame; naturalise.
    • domesticate oats
    • tame the soil
  2. verb overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable
    domesticize; domesticise; tame; reclaim.
    • He tames lions for the circus
    • reclaim falcons
  3. verb make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans
    tame.
    • The horse was domesticated a long time ago
    • The wolf was tamed and evolved into the house dog

WordNet

Do*mes"ti*cate transitive verb
Etymology
LL. domesticatus, p. p. of domesticare to reside in, to tame. See Domestic, a.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Domesticated; present participle & verbal noun Domesticating
Definitions
  1. To make domestic; to habituate to home life; as, to domesticate one's self.
  2. To cause to be, as it were, of one's family or country; as, to domesticate a foreign custom or word.
  3. To tame or reclaim from a wild state; as, to domesticate wild animals; to domesticate a plant.

Webster 1913