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”).
Meanings
Under human control.
(of animals) Docile or tranquil towards humans.
The lion was quite tame.
(figuratively) Of a person, well-behaved; not radical or extreme.
What, for example, were Fraunhofer's lines? McArdle had just been studying the matter with the aid of our tame scientist at the office, and he picked from his desk two of those many-coloured spectral bands which bear a general resemblance to the hat-ribbons of some young and ambitious cricket club. 1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
(obsolete) Of a non-Westernised person, accustomed to European society.
The victim was Captain Bickenson, who had gone there from Port Darwin to try the pearling grounds, and for this purpose employed a number of tame blacks about the schooner. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 290:
Not exciting.
For a thriller, that film was really tame.
This party is too tame for me.
Wow! So the implication there is that even 12-year-olds in France will find the movie tame. “Yes, eet was a, an amusing erotic trifle, I supposa. Ze love-making was passable, but, uh, belt play is a leettle pedestriahn, don’t you seenk?”. 2015 February 15, “Tobacco”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 2, episode 2, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:
Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.
tame slaves of the laborious plough a. 1685, Wentworth Dillon, 4th Earl of Roscommon, Paraphrase on the 148th Psalm:
(of a knot) Capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.
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”).
Meanings
(transitive) To make or become tame; to domesticate (an animal).
Tambourines are shy birds and do not tame easily. 2006, Gayle Soucek, Doves, page 78:
Due to his ingenuity Homo learned to unleash the energy of wood by taming wild fire and stepped into the pyrocultural age. 2018, Johannes Deutsch, “Exploring energy related knowledge in technology and natural science education: Uncovering energy related understanding of students in the German federal state North Rhine-Westphalia at the end of lower secondary education”, in Marc J. de Vries et al., editors, Research in Technology Education: International Approaches, page 45:
He tamed the wild horse.
None but Adrian could have tamed the motley population of London, which, like a troop of unbitted steeds rushing to their pastures, had thrown aside all minor fears, through the operation of the fear paramount. 1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter XIX, in The Last Man. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
Richard Wrangham has noted that the domestication of animals usually tames them by slowing down components of the developmental timetable to retain juvenile traits into adulthood, a process called pedomorphy or neoteny. 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 744:
it diventare mansueto (to become tame) · ko 길들이다 (to make something tame) · ka მოთვინიერება (to make something tame) · el δαμάζω (to make something tame) · nds-de temmen (to make something tame) · kix tāimīe (to make something tame) · fr apprivoiser (to make something tame) · de zahm werden (to become tame) · ru прируча́ть (to make something tame) · bg опитомявам се (to become tame) · tr evcilleştirmek (to make something tame) · grc δαμάζω (to make something tame) · ka მოშინაურება (to make something tame) · pl oswoić (to make something tame) · tr evcilleşmek (to become tame) · fi kesyttää (to make something tame) · pl oswajać (to make something tame) · no temmes (to become tame) · sv tämja (to make something tame) · la mansuesco (to become tame) · pt domar (to make something tame) · nds-de tahm warrn (to become tame) · it mansuescere (to become tame) · sh pripitòmiti (to make something tame) · nl temmen (to make something tame) · fr domestiquer (to make something tame) · el τιθασεύω (to make something tame) · de zähmen (to make something tame) · ar رَوَّضَ (to make something tame) · es domeñar (to make something tame) · ca domar (to make something tame) · la mansuēscō (to make something tame) · grc ἡμερόω (to make something tame) · hu szelídít (to make something tame) · ht donte (to make something tame) · ru прируча́ться (to become tame) · it ammansirsi (to become tame) · ro îmblânzi (to make something tame) · bg опитомявам (to make something tame) · fr dompter (to make something tame) · ga ceansaigh (to make something tame) · it addomesticare (to make something tame) · el εξημερώνω (to make something tame) · it ammansire (to make something tame) · cs zkrotit (to make something tame) · ko 길들다 (to become tame) · cmn 馴化 /驯化 (to make something tame) · cmn 馴服 /驯服 (to make something tame) · el εξημερώνομαι (to become tame) · no temme (to make something tame) · ka მოთვინიერება (to become tame) · gd callaich (to make something tame) · es amansar (to make something tame) · pt domar-se (to become tame) · id menjinakkan (to make something tame) · ca amansir (to make something tame) · ru приручи́ть (to make something tame) · uk приручи́ти (to make something tame) · ang temian (to make something tame) · ar آلَفَ (to make something tame) · fo temja (to make something tame) · hu megszelídít (to make something tame) · uk прируча́ти (to make something tame) · la mansuēfaciō (to make something tame) · enm daunten (to make something tame) · sh припито̀мити (to make something tame) · ca ensinistrar (to make something tame) · ka მოშინაურება (to become tame) · sa दाम्यति (to make something tame) · hu idomít (to make something tame) · cmn 被驯化 (to become tame) · eo dresi (to make something tame) · vi dạy cho thuần (to make something tame) · fi kesyyntyä (to become tame) · hy ընտելանալ (to become tame) · gd ceannsaich (to make something tame) · da tæmme (to make something tame) · nds-de tähmen (to make something tame) · eo malsovaĝigi (to make something tame) · it domare (to make something tame) · pt ser domado (to become tame) · ru приручи́ться (to become tame) · nds-de tamm warrn (to become tame) · ja 飼いならす (to make something tame) · hy ընտելացնել (to make something tame) · la domō (to make something tame) · cs krotit (to make something tame) · es domar (to make something tame)
From Middle English tamen (“to cut into, broach”). Compare French entamer.
Meanings
(UK, dialectal, obsolete) To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out.
In the time of famine he is the Joseph of the country, and keeps the poor from starving. Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which not his covetousness, but providence, hath reserved for time of need. 1642, Thomas Fuller, The Holy State, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel for John Williams, […], →OCLC: