Standard Lemma guide

domestication

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • rhymes with -eɪʃən
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D AH0 M EH2 S T AH0 K EY1 SH AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The act of domesticating, or accustoming to home; the action of taming wild animals or breeding plants.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The act of domesticating, or making a legal instrument recognized and enforceable in a jurisdiction foreign to the one in which the instrument was originally issued or created.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The act of domesticating a text.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, linguistics, sciences, translation-studies

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

accommodation to domestic life

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • her explorer husband resisted all her attempts at domestication

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: adjustment, accommodation, fitting

5

noun

Meaning 5

the attribute of having been domesticated

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: tameness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: tractability, tractableness, flexibility

6

noun

Meaning 6

adaptation to intimate association with human beings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: adaptation, adaption, adjustment

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English domesticate Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin -ātiōlbor. Old French -ationbor. Middle English -acioun English -ation English -ion English domestication From domesticate + -ion.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: اِسْتِئْنَاس (istiʔnās) — the action of taming
  • Bulgarian: опитомяване (opitomjavane) — the action of taming
  • Catalan: domesticació — the action of taming
  • Chinese Mandarin: 馴化 /驯化 (xùnhuà) — the action of taming
  • Dutch: domesticatie — the action of taming
  • French: domestication — the action of taming
  • German: Domestizierung — the action of taming
  • Greek: εξημέρωση (eximérosi) — the action of taming
  • Hebrew: ביות (biut) — the action of taming
  • Hungarian: háziasítás — the action of taming
  • Italian: domesticazione — the action of taming
  • Malay: pembelajinakan — the action of taming
  • Malay: pendomestikan — the action of taming
  • Malay: domestikasi — the action of taming
  • Portuguese: domesticação — the action of taming
  • Romanian: domesticire — the action of taming
  • Russian: одома́шнивание (odomášnivanije) — the action of taming
  • Russian: доместика́ция (domestikácija) — the action of taming
  • Spanish: domesticación — the action of taming
  • Swedish: domesticering — the action of taming
  • Tagalog: sapaamo — the action of taming
  • Ukrainian: одома́шнення (odomášnennja) — the action of taming