[syn: domesticate, tame]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Domesticate \Do*mes"ti*cate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p.
Domesticated; p. pr. & vb. n. Domesticating.] [LL.
domesticatus, p. p. of domesticare to reside in, to tame. See
Domestic, a.]
1. To make domestic; to habituate to home life; as, to
domesticate one's self.
[1913 Webster]
2. To cause to be, as it were, of one's family or country;
as, to domesticate a foreign custom or word.
[1913 Webster]
3. To tame or reclaim from a wild state; as, to domesticate
wild animals; to domesticate a plant.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
domesticate
v 1: adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment;
"domesticate oats"; "tame the soil" [syn: domesticate,
cultivate, naturalize, naturalise, tame]
2: overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable; "He
tames lions for the circus"; "reclaim falcons" [syn:
domesticate, domesticize, domesticise, reclaim,
tame]
3: 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, tame]