changed from the wild or savage state; domesticated: a tame bear.
2.
without the savageness or fear of humans normal in wild animals; gentle, fearless, or without shyness, as if domesticated: That lion acts as tame as a house cat.
3.
tractable, docile, or submissive, as a person or the disposition.
4.
lacking in excitement; dull; insipid: a very tame party.
5.
spiritless or pusillanimous.
6.
not to be taken very seriously; without real power or importance; serviceable but harmless: They kept a tame scientist around.
7.
brought into service; rendered useful and manageable; under control, as natural resources or a source of power.
8.
cultivated or improved by cultivation, as a plant or its fruit.
–verb (used with object)
9.
to make tame; domesticate; make tractable.
10.
to deprive of courage, ardor, or zest.
11.
to deprive of interest, excitement, or attractiveness; make dull.
12.
to soften; tone down.
13.
to harness or control; render useful, as a source of power.
14.
to cultivate, as land or plants.
–verb (used without object)
15.
to become tame.
[Origin: bef. 900; (adj.) ME; OE tam; c. D tam, G zahm, ON tamr; (v.) ME tamen, deriv. of the adj.; r. ME temen to tame, OE temian, deriv. of tam; c. ON temja, Goth gatamjan; akin to L domāre to tame]
O.E. tom, tam "domesticated, docile," from P.Gmc. *tamaz (cf. O.N. tamr, O.S., O.Fris., M.L.G., M.Du. tam, O.H.G. zam, Ger. zahm "tame," Goth. tamjan "to tame"), from PIE *deme- "to constrain, to force, to break (horses)" (cf. Skt. damayati "tames;" Pers. dam "a tame animal;" Gk. daman "to tame, subdue," dmetos "tame;" L. domare "to tame, subdue;" O.Ir. damnaim "I tie up, fasten, I tame, subdue"). Possible ulterior connection with PIE *dem- "house, household" (see domestic). Meaning "spiritless, weak, dull" is recorded from 1602. The verb is M.E. teme, from O.E. temian "make tame;" form altered 14c. by infl. of the adj.
very restrained or quiet; "a tame Christmas party"; "she was one of the tamest and most abject creatures imaginable with no will or power to act but as directed" [ant: wild]
3.
brought from wildness into a domesticated state; "tame animals"; "fields of tame blueberries" [ant: untamed]
4.
very docile; "tame obedience"; "meek as a mouse"- Langston Hughes [syn: meek]
verb
1.
correct by punishment or discipline
2.
make less strong or intense; soften; "Tone down that aggressive letter"; "The author finally tamed some of his potentially offensive statements" [syn: tone down]
3.
adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment; "domesticate oats"; "tame the soil" [syn: domesticate]
4.
overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable; "He tames lions for the circus"; "reclaim falcons" [syn: domesticate]
5.
make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans; "The horse was domesticated a long time ago"; "The wolf was tamed and evolved into the house dog" [syn: domesticate]
Ad"a*mant\ ([a^]d"[.a]*m[a^]nt), n. [OE. adamaunt, adamant, diamond, magnet, OF. adamant, L. adamas, adamantis, the hardest metal, fr. Gr. 'ada`mas, -antos; 'a priv. + dama^,n to tame, subdue. In OE., from confusion with L. adamare to love, be attached to, the word meant also magnet, as in OF. and LL. See Diamond, Tame.]1. A stone imagined by some to be of impenetrable hardness; a name given to the diamond and other substances of extreme hardness; but in modern mineralogy it has no technical signification. It is now a rhetorical or poetical name for the embodiment of impenetrable hardness. Opposed the rocky orb Of tenfold adamant, his ample shield. --Milton. 2. Lodestone; magnet. [Obs.] "A great adamant of acquaintance." --Bacon. As true to thee as steel to adamant. --Greene.
Be*teem"\, v. t. [Pref. be- + an old verb teem to be fitting; cf. D. betamen to beseem, G. ziemen, Goth. gatiman, and E. tame. See Tame, a.]1. To give; to bestow; to grant; to accord; to consent. [Obs.] --Spenser. Milton. 2. To allow; to permit; to suffer. [Obs.] So loving to my mother, That he might not beteem the winds of heaven Visit her face too roughly. --Shak.
Dame\ (d[=a]m), n. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam a mother, Dan, Danger, Dungeon, Dominie, Don, n., Duenna.]1. A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a woman in authority; especially, a lady. Then shall these lords do vex me half so much, As that proud dame, the lord protector's wife. --Shak. 2. The mistress of a family in common life, or the mistress of a common school; as, a dame's school. In the dame's classes at the village school. --Emerson. 3. A woman in general, esp. an elderly woman. 4. A mother; -- applied to human beings and quadrupeds. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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Audio Help [teym] Pronunciation Key, adjective, tam·er, tam·est, verb, tamed, tam·ing. 
