tame

tame · adjective, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tamjaną“to tame”
2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*tammjan
3. Old English · inherited fromtemian“to tame”
4. Middle English · inherited fromtamen
5. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*demh₂-“to tame, dominate”
6. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*tamaz“brought into the home, tame”
7. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*tam“tame”
8. Old English · inherited fromtam
9. Middle English · inherited fromtame
10. English todaytame

From Middle English tame, tome, weak inflection forms of Middle English tam, tom, from Old English tam, tom (“domesticated, tame”), from Proto-West Germanic *tam (“tame”), from Proto-Germanic *tamaz (“brought into the home, tame”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to tame, dominate”). Cognate with Scots tam, tame (“tame”), Saterland Frisian tom (“tame”), West Frisian tam (“tame”), Dutch tam (“tame”), Low German Low German tamm, tahm (“tame”), German zahm (“tame”), Danish tam (“tame”), Swedish tam (“tame”), Icelandic tamur (“tame”). The verb is from Middle English tamen, temen, temien, from Old English temian (“to tame”), from Proto-West Germanic *tammjan, from Proto-Germanic *tamjaną (“to tame”).

tame · verb²

1. Middle English · inherited fromtamen“to cut into, broach”
2. English todaytame

From Middle English tamen (“to cut into, broach”). Compare French entamer.

Tame · proper noun³

1. Middle English · inherited fromtame
2. English todayTame

English surname, from the adjective Middle English tame as a nickname, and in some cases a habitational surname from Thame in Oxfordshire.

Words from the same roots