What does domesticate mean?
To domesticate is to take a wild organism — most commonly an animal, but also a plant — and adapt it, usually across many generations of breeding and selection, so that it lives comfortably alongside and at the service of human beings. Dogs, cattle, wheat, and rice are all classic examples of domesticated species. The word extends figuratively to anything wild or unruly that has been brought under human control or made suitable for everyday use: one might say an inventor domesticated a radical technology, making it safe enough for the average household. Less commonly, and now somewhat datedly, it can describe a person who has grown settled and attached to home life. Rooted in Latin domus, meaning house or home, the term carries connotations of order, care, and transformation from wildness to usefulness, which makes it central to conversations about agriculture, history, biology, and even culture.
verbTo tame an animal or adapt a plant for human use and companionship, typically through selective breeding over generations; more broadly, to bring something wild or unruly under control or to accustom a person to domestic life.
- To tame an animal and keep it as a pet, working animal, or livestock, adapting it over generations to live alongside humans.
- To cultivate or breed a wild plant species so it can be grown reliably by humans for food, medicine, or ornament.
- Figuratively: to bring something wild, chaotic, or resistant (an idea, a technology, a landscape) under control or into ordinary use.
- Figuratively and somewhat datedly: to cause a person to become more interested in home life than in work, travel, or adventure.
"Humans first began to domesticate wolves thousands of years before they learned to cultivate grain."
"Archaeologists believe humans began to domesticate goats and sheep in the Fertile Crescent around ten thousand years ago."
"It took centuries of careful breeding to domesticate the wild ancestors of modern maize."
Dogs were likely the very first thing humans ever domesticated — long before farms, cities, or even agriculture itself existed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of domesticate
"Domesticate" derives from the Medieval Latin domesticare, meaning "to dwell in, to make familiar," built on the classical Latin domesticus, "belonging to the house," which in turn comes from domus, "house." The word entered English in the early 17th century. It shares its root with related English words such as "domestic," "domesticity," and "dome," all tracing back ultimately to the Proto-Indo-European *dem- meaning "house" or "household."
Related word forms
How domesticate is actually used
Most often used with animals and plants as direct objects. The figurative sense — applying "domesticate" to abstract things like ideas or technologies — is well established but slightly literary in tone. The sense of accustoming a person to home life is now somewhat dated and occasionally carries a mildly humorous or ironic edge.
Easily confused with domesticate
"Domestic" is an adjective describing something relating to the home or household, or to animals kept as such, whereas "domesticate" is the verb meaning the act of taming or adapting something for domestic use.