domesticate
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.
to adapt (a plant) so as to be cultivated by and beneficial to human beings.
to accustom to household life or affairs.
to take (something foreign, unfamiliar, etc.) for one's own use or purposes; adopt.
to make more ordinary, familiar, acceptable, or the like: to domesticate radical ideas.
to be domestic.
Origin of domesticate
1Other words from domesticate
- do·mes·ti·ca·ble [duh-mes-ti-kuh-buhl], /dəˈmɛs tɪ kə bəl/, adjective
- do·mes·ti·ca·tion [duh-mes-ti-key-shuhn], /dəˌmɛs tɪˈkeɪ ʃən/, noun
- do·mes·ti·ca·tive, adjective
- do·mes·ti·ca·tor, noun
- non·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
- non·do·mes·ti·cat·ing, adjective
- o·ver·do·mes·ti·cate, verb (used with object), o·ver·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, o·ver·do·mes·ti·cat·ing.
- un·do·mes·ti·ca·ble, adjective
- un·do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
- well-do·mes·ti·cat·ed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for domesticate
sometimes US domesticize (dəˈmɛstɪˌsaɪz)
/ (dəˈmɛstɪˌkeɪt) /
to bring or keep (wild animals or plants) under control or cultivation
to accustom to home life
to adapt to an environment: to domesticate foreign trees
Derived forms of domesticate
- domesticable, adjective
- domestication, noun
- domesticative, adjective
- domesticator, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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