do·mes·ti·cate
də-ˈme-sti-ˌkāt 
domesticated; domesticating
1
2
: to adapt (an animal or plant) over time from a wild or natural state especially by selective breeding to life in close association with and to the benefit of humans
The Asian equids, including the now-endangered Przewalski's horse, apparently provided the stock from which the horse was domesticated five to six thousand years ago.—
Bruce J. MacFadden
Bruce J. MacFaddenBut every reader addicted to coffee can thank ancient Ethiopian farmers for domesticating the coffee plant.—Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond3
: to cause to become adapted to life in a household : to make fit for domestic life
wasn't interested in becoming domesticated
4
: to bring to the level of ordinary people
do·mes·ti·cate
də-ˈme-sti-kət
-ˌkāt
: a domesticated (see domesticate entry 1 sense 2) animal or plant
Examples of domesticate in a Sentence
Verb
Horses and oxen have been domesticated to work on farms.
She jokes that dogs are easier to domesticate than men.
Recent Examples on the Web
Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2025
This process is akin to how humans have domesticated plants and animals for millennia.
—Shraddha Lall, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2025
Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 11 Jan. 2024
Today some wild-horse-advocacy groups think of wild horses as a reintroduced native species; other groups cast them, more negatively, as feral animals, domesticates that escaped their bonds.
—Tove Danovich, The Atlantic, 18 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for domesticate
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Verb
Some give him credit for trying to domesticate the Shiite militias.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2025
This process is akin to how humans have domesticated plants and animals for millennia.
—Shraddha Lall, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2025
Noun
As the world’s first domesticates, dogs were tamed and domesticated gradually through the generations.
—Sam Walters, Discover Magazine, 11 Jan. 2024
Today some wild-horse-advocacy groups think of wild horses as a reintroduced native species; other groups cast them, more negatively, as feral animals, domesticates that escaped their bonds.
—Tove Danovich, The Atlantic, 18 Aug. 2023
See All Example Sentences for domesticate
Cite this Entry
“Domesticate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/domesticate. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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