Meanings
domesticate1
present singular third person domesticates · participle present domesticating · participle past domesticated · past domesticated
- transitiveTo make domestic.
- transitiveTo make (more) fit for domestic life.
"To answer your question, Tai's fine. She mostly just smokes socially these days." "You're domesticating her!" "We're domesticating each other. The other day I found myself reading a home decorating blog."
2020, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic), 4263: Peer Decompression - transitiveTo make a legal instrument recognized and enforceable in a jurisdiction foreign to the one in which the instrument was originally issued or created.
domesticate2
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo amend the elements of a text to fit local culture.
More synonyms by meaning
verbadapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment
verbovercome the wildness of; make docile and tractable
verbmake fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
domesticate · verb
- Medieval Latindomesticātus
- Middle Frenchdomestiquer
- Englishdomesticate
First attested in 1620; either borrowed from Middle French domestiquer (Modern French domestiquer) or directly from Medieval Latin domesticātus, perfect passive participle of domesticō (“to domesticate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, domestic + -ate.
More words from Middle French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →domesticate · noun
- Medieval Latindomesticātus“domesticated”
- Englishdomesticate
First attested in 1860; borrowed from Medieval Latin domesticātus (“domesticated”), see Etymology 1 and -ate (noun-forming suffix).
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian опитомявам, опитомявам
- опитомявам (opitomjavam)to make domestic
- опитомявам (opitomjavam)to make fit for domestic life
Catalan domesticar, domesticar
- domesticarto make domestic
- domesticar(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Chinese Mandarin 歸化 /归化, 馴化 /驯化
- 歸化 /归化 (guīhuà)translation studies
- 馴化 /驯化 (xùnhuà)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- 馴化 /驯化 (xùnhuà)(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Danish tæmme, tæmme
- tæmmeto make domestic
- tæmmeto make fit for domestic life
- domesticere(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- tæmme(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- gøre til husdyr(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- tæmme(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Dutch domesticeren, domesticeren
- domesticerento make domestic
- domesticerento make fit for domestic life
- domesticeren(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Finnish kesyttää, kesyttää
- kesyttääto make domestic
- kesyttää(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- kesyyntyä(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
French domestiquer
- domestiquer(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
German domestizieren
- domestizieren(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Greek εξημερώνω, εξημερώνω
- εξημερώνω (eximeróno)to make domestic
- εξημερώνω (eximeróno)to make fit for domestic life
- εξημερώνω (eximeróno)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Hungarian háziasít, domesztikál
- háziasít(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- domesztikál(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Icelandic temja
- temja(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Italian addomesticare, domesticare
- addomesticare(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- domesticare(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Japanese 馴らす
- 馴らす (narasu)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Latin domesticō
- domesticōto make domestic
Norwegian Bokmål domestisere
- domestisere(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Polish udamawiać, udomawiać
- udamawiać(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomawiać(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomowiać(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomowić(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udamawiać się(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomawiać się(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomowiać się(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
- udomowić się(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Portuguese domesticar, domesticar
- domesticarto make domestic
- domesticarto make fit for domestic life
- domesticar(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- domesticar-se(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Romanian domestici, domestici
- domesticito make domestic
- domestici(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Russian прируча́ть, приручи́ть
- прируча́ть (priručátʹ)to make domestic
- приручи́ть (priručítʹ)to make domestic
- одома́шнивать (odomášnivatʹ)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- одома́шнить (odomášnitʹ)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Spanish domesticar, domesticar
- domesticarto make domestic
- domesticarto make fit for domestic life
- domesticar(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- domesticarse(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Swedish domesticera
- domesticera(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Turkish ehlileştirmek, evcilleştirmek
- ehlileştirmek(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- evcilleştirmek(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- ehlileşmek(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
- evcilleşmek(intransitive) to adapt to live with humans
Ukrainian одома́шнювати, одома́шнити
- одома́шнювати (odomášnjuvaty)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
- одома́шнити (odomášnyty)(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Vietnamese thuần hoá
- thuần hoá(transitive) to adapt to live with humans
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
domesticate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/domesticate
“domesticate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/domesticate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “domesticate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/domesticate.
Source: domesticate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.