I. do·mes·ti·cate dəˈmestəˌkāt, dōˈ- usu -ād.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: domestic (I) + -ate
transitive verb
1.
a. : to bring into domestic use : adopt , naturalize
a European custom domesticated here
b. : to bring into a degree of conformity and comfortable accommodation with one's home environment
an alien philosophy difficult to domesticate here
2. : to cause to be domestically engaged, inclined, or adapted
offering home economics to domesticate the female prisoners
whether she could domesticate her explorer husband
3.
a. : to adapt (an animal or plant) to life in intimate association with and to the advantage of man or another species usually by modifying growth and traits through provision of food, protection from enemies, and selective breeding during generations of living in association and often to the extent that the domesticated form loses the ability to survive in nature
the fungi domesticated by certain ants produce special bromatia on which the ants feed
man domesticated the dog
b. : to subject to the control and service of man
settled communities were made possible by domesticating watercourses
4.
a. : to bring to the level (as of understanding) of ordinary people : familiarize
he domesticated the fairy tale and gave it a townsman's home — Robert Lynd
b. : to force into a mold of accepted conduct or thought : make conform
this deliberate attempt of the universities to domesticate our poets, if not to tame them — Conrad Aiken
intransitive verb
1. archaic
a. : to live in the same household
b. : to settle in or become habituated to an ordered household
c. : to make one's home : settle
2. : to obtain a charter of incorporation in a particular state
an unlicensed foreign corporation doing business in the state without domesticating
II. domes·ti·cate -stə̇kə̇]t, -stəˌkā], usu ]d.+V\ noun
( -s )
: a domesticated animal or plant