verb (used with object), do·mes·ti·cat·ed, do·mes·ti·cat·ing.
- to convert (animals, plants, etc.) to domestic uses; tame.
- 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.
verb (used without object), do·mes·ti·cat·ed, do·mes·ti·cat·ing.
- to be domestic.
verb (tr)
- to bring or keep (wild animals or plants) under control or cultivation
- to accustom to home life
- to adapt to an environmentto domesticate foreign trees
1630s, of animals; 1741, of persons, “to cause to be attached to home and family;” from Medieval Latin domesticatus, past participle of domesticare “to tame,” literally “to dwell in a house,” from domesticus (see domestic). Related: Domesticated; domesticating.