Tame Definition | Definition of Tame at Dictionary.com

tame

[teym]

,adjective, tam⋅er, tam⋅est, verb, tamed, tam⋅ing.

–adjective

1.	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

Related forms:

tamely, adverb

tameness, noun

tamer, noun

Synonyms:
3. meek, subdued. 4. flat, empty, vapid, boring, tedious, uninteresting. 5. cowardly, dastardly. 9. break, subdue. 12. calm, mollify.

Antonyms:
1. wild.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tame (tām)

adj. tam·er, tam·est

Brought from wildness into a domesticated or tractable state.
Naturally unafraid; not timid: "The sea otter is gentle and relatively tame" (Peter Matthiessen).
Submissive; docile; fawning: tame obedience.
Insipid; flat: a tame Christmas party.
Sluggish; languid; inactive: a tame river.

tr.v. tamed, tam·ing, tames

To make tractable; domesticate.
To subdue or curb.
To tone down; soften.

[Middle English, from Old English tam; see demə- in Indo-European roots.]
tam'a·ble, tame'a·ble adj., tame'ly adv., tame'ness n., tam'er n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Tame

Tame\, v. t. [Cf. F. entamer to cut into, to broach.] To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]

In the time of famine he is the Joseph of the country, and keeps the poor from starving. Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which not his covetousness, but providence, hath reserved for time of need. --Fuller.

Tame

Tame\, a. [Compar. Tamer; superl. Tamest.] [AS. tam; akin to D. tam, G. zahm, OHG. zam, Dan. & Sw. tam, Icel. tamr, L. domare to tame, Gr. ?, Skr. dam to be tame, to tame, and perhaps to E. beteem. [root]61. Cf. Adamant, Diamond, Dame, Daunt, Indomitable.]

1. Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness; accustomed to man; domesticated; domestic; as, a tame deer, a tame bird.

2. Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.

Tame slaves of the laborious plow. --Roscommon.

3. Deficient in spirit or animation; spiritless; dull; flat; insipid; as, a tame poem; tame scenery.

Syn: Gentle; mild; meek. See Gentle.

Tame

Tame\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Taming.] [AS. tamian, temian, akin to D. tammen, temmen, G. z["a]hmen, OHG. zemmen, Icel. temja, Goth. gatamjan. See Tame, a.]

1. To reduce from a wild to a domestic state; to make gentle and familiar; to reclaim; to domesticate; as, to tame a wild beast.

They had not been tamed into submission, but baited into savegeness and stubbornness. --Macaulay.

2. To subdue; to conquer; to repress; as, to tame the pride or passions of youth.

Language Translation for : tame

Spanish: domesticado; doméstico,

German: zähmen,

Japanese: 飼いならされた

More Translations »

tame (adj.)

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.

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