▪ I. tame, a.
(teɪm)
Forms: 1, 4 tam, 3– tame, 4–5 Sc. tayme; 1 tǫm, 2–3 tom, 4 tome.
[OE. tam (tǫm) = OFris. (EFris.) tam, OLG. *tam (MLG., LG., MDu., Du. tam), OHG., MHG. zam (Ger. zahm), ON. tamr:—OTeut. *tamo{supz} (evidenced in Goth. only by the deriv. vb. tamjan to tame). The Teut. stem tam- is cognate with that of L. domāre, Gr. δαµ-ᾶν to tame, subdue. The OE. variant tǫm was retained in southern Early ME. down to c 1300; the existing tame represents the inflected forms of tam: cf. also tame v.1]
1. a. Of animals (rarely of men): Reclaimed from the wild state; brought under the control and care of man; domestic; domesticated. (Opp. to wild.)
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §6 Wildu ðior..woldon..standon swilce hi tame wæron. c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives (1900) II. 326 Se wulf folᵹode..swylce he tam wære. c 1000 Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 481/22 Subjugalis, tam. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 174 He made on werlde al erue tame. Ibid. 1482 Esau wilde man huntere, And Iacob tame man tiliere. a 1300 Cursor M. 25430 (Cott.) Of all þin sandes wild and tam, Man þou scop and gaf him nam. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 318 Wyld hors & tayme. 1526 Tindale 2 Pet. ii. 16 The tame and dom beast speakynge with mannes voyce. 1653 Walton Angler ii. 44 I'll try if I can make her [a young otter] tame. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 166 They have also tame Lions. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 271 From a Salvage Prince rendred himself a tame Follower of the Patriarch. 1772 Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 32 Small and tame animals breed fast. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 372 The beasts of the forest, or the scarcely tamer human beings. 1859 H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxviii, A tame black belonging to us. He is great at all sorts of hunting. |
b. humorously, of a person: Domestic; kept or supported for domestic or private use.
| 1711 Addison Spect. No. 47 ¶2 It was formerly the Custom for every great House in England to keep a tame Fool dressed in Petticoats. 1895 Westm. Gaz. 13 Mar. 8/1 At the Treasury..A tame bookbinder receives {pstlg}105 a year. Mod. They endow ‘tame professors’ to advocate their views. |
2. Applied to plants, also (in U.S.) to land: Cultivated, improved by culture; garden- as opposed to wild; now restricted to U.S. use.
tame hay, hay made from specially sown grasses or forage plants; cf. wild hay. (Western U.S.)
| 1551 Turner Herbal i. C v b, I haue not sene yet the right tame Anemone. 1562 ― Herbal ii. 112 Tame or gardin radice. 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lix. 399 The tame Hoppe hath rough branches. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxi. 295 Cherries, both wilde and tame have not prospered well at the Indies. 1629 Parkinson Paradisus (1904) 420 Any Rose either wilde or tame. 1838 H. W. Ellsworth Valley Upper Wabash iv. 39 It is very desirable..to get the tame grasses..set as soon as possible. 1857 Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. II. 382 Where tame pasture is resorted to something more needs to be done. 1881 Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 107 Some few have raised tame grapes. 1885 tr. Hehn's Wand. Plants & Anim. (1887) 94 Herodotus makes the oracle speak of the tame olive. 1887 Buck's Handbk. Med. Sc. V. 9/2 The careful pioneer..had his corral..where the land had become ‘tame’. 1936 Sun (Baltimore) 15 Sept. 26/8 Tame hay production..is estimated at 355,000 tons. 1962 A. Fry Ranch on Cariboo x. 106 In conjunction with his store, he..put up a big field of good tame hay. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 8-d/8 (Advt.), 320 acres, 148 tillable now in tame grass. |
| fig. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes xlviii, His lordship sowed tame oats now after his wild ones. |
3. a. Having the disposition or character of a domesticated animal; accustomed to man; not showing the natural shyness, fear of, or fierceness to man; familiar; also of persons, their disposition, etc.: made tractable, docile, or pliant.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxv. §1 Seo leo, ðeah hio wel tam se. a 1000 Gnom. Verses 142 Til mon tiles & tomes meares. a 1225 Ancr. R. 144 Noðing ne aweldeð wilde uleschs ne ne makeð hit tommure þen deð muche wecche. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 1318 Þet he ne talde him al tom ear he turnde from us. a 1250 Owl & Night. 1444 Hwich beo þe gome Þat of þe wilde makeþ tome. a 1300 Cursor M. 11628 Al þe bestes þat ar wild For me most be tame and mild. c 1302 Pol. Songs (Camden) 194 Alas! thou seli Fraunce, for the may thunche shome, That ane fewe fullaris maketh ou so tome. c 1374 Chaucer Compl. Mars 278 The pruddest of yow may be made ful tame. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 63 Y wole þee leere To make þi lord to þee tame. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 39 Go home mekely & tame to thy place. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v., To run tame about a house, to live familiarly in a family with which one is upon a visit. 1908 Betw. Trent & Ancholme 26 It [a gull] became tame enough to watch its food being dug. |
b. tame cat: One who is on the footing of the domestic cat; a person who is made a convenience by his friends. So † tame-fellow, † tame goose (obs.). (Cf. 1 b.)
| 1605 Case is Altered (Halliw.), Utterly cast away upon a noddy, a ninny-hammer, a tame-goose. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Canting Crew, Tame-fellow, tractable, easy, manageable. [1878 Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Ab. I. 255 Here has he been in the house continually like a tame cat.] 1885 World 9 Sept. 9 It sheds the gentle glamour of romance over the tame cat himself and the household where he is always welcome. 1900 Daily News 16 Jan. 3/2 He is the tamest of tame cats amongst local officials. |
† c. poet. applied to a thing with which one is familiar. Obs.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 10 All That time, acquaintance, custome and condition, Made tame, and most familiar to my nature. |
4. Subdued as by taming; submissive; meek; poor-spirited, pusillanimous; servile.
| 1563 B. Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 87 The countnaunce sad The drowping Courage tame. 1654 Warren Unbelievers 235 They are a company of tame Souldiers. 1715 Pope Iliad i. 168 Shall I my prize resign With tame content, and thou possess'd of thine? 1761–2 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) V. lxx. 269 They should expose themselves..to public contempt, on account of their tame behaviour. 1769 Junius Lett. xi. (1820) 47 Never hope that the freeholders will make a tame surrender of their rights. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 422 The tribunal lately so insolent, became on a sudden strangely tame. |
5. a. Lacking animation, force, or effectiveness; deficient in striking features; weak, spiritless, insipid, dull.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 18 Be not too tame neyther: but let your owne Discretion be your Tutor: suit the action to the word. 1651 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year I. v. 63 He that is cold and tame in his prayers, hath not tasted of the deliciousness of Religion, and the goodnesse of God. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xv, The tame correct paintings of the Flemish school. 1850 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xvi. (1866) 266 These words fall short: they are too tame and cool. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 217 My delight..was tame compared with that of my companions. 1894 Parry Stud. Gt. Composers, Schubert 232 The tamer style of his instrumental works was probably owing to the same causes which made his song-writing so very remarkable. |
b. Of scenery: Wanting boldness; having no striking features.
| 1807 Sir R. C. Hoare Tour Irel. 186 On descending..the scenery..becomes tamer. 1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 16 A broad expanse of tame arable country. |
6. Comb., as tame-spirited, tame-witted, etc.
| 1596 Nashe Saffron-Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 72 Poore tame-witted silly Quirko. Mod. One could not expect the nation to be so tame-spirited. |
▪ II. tame, v.1
(teɪm)
[ME. tamen, f. tame a., taking in the 14th c. the place of the earlier teme:—OE. tęmian, f. tam adj.]
1. trans. To bring (a wild animal) under the control or into the service of man; to reclaim from the wild state, to domesticate. Also fig.
| c 1315 Shoreham Poems vi. 65 Þat vnicorn þat was so wyld..Þou hast y-tamed [hyt], and i-styld. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 161 Hou men hem scholde ryde and tame. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tamyn, or make tame, domo. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 956 To tame the vnicorne, and Lion wild. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 222 ¶3 As People tame Hawks and Eagles, by keeping them awake. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man 24 At a later period..the lake-dwellers succeeded in taming that formidable brute the Bos primigenius, the Urus of Cæsar. 1877 E. R. Conder Bas. Faith i. 23 Or tames the lightning to be his newsmonger and his lamplighter. |
† b. To bring (a wild plant) under or into cultivation; to reclaim or improve (land) by cultivation.
| 1601 Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 795 Many great personages..haue taken paines to tame them, and cause them to grow in gardens. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 144 For he with frequent Exercise Commands Th' unwilling Soil, and tames the stubborn Lands. a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 100 (E.D.D.) By that time the ground will be tamed. 1746 W. Dunkin in Francis Horace, Ep. ii. ii. 280 Another shall..tame the savage Soil. |
2. To overcome the wildness or fierceness of (a man, animal, or thing); to subdue, subjugate, curb; to render gentle, tractable, or docile.
| 1382 Wyclif Dan. ii. 40 Hou yrun brekith to gydre alle thingus, and dauntith [gloss or tamith]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2194 Soche tyrandes to tame, þat vs tene wirkes. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. ix. 27 But I tame my body and brynge hym into subjeccion. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV 23 The prince..had tamed & brideled the furious rage of the wild and sauage Welshemen. 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 191 This River-dragon tam'd at length submits To let his sojourners depart. 1748 Gray Alliance 43 Industry and gain..Command the Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep. 1783 Crabbe Village ii. 165 To tame the fierce grief and stem the rising sigh. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, She hoped she had tamed a high spirit or two in her day. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xix, I took him in hand, and in one fortnight I had him tamed down as submissive and tractable as heart could desire. 1859 Art Taming Horses, etc. i. 20 Mr. Rarey had tamed Cruiser, the most vicious stallion in England. 1863 [see sense 1]. |
b. intr. To become tame; to grow gentle, submissive, or sedate. Also with down.
| 1646 Shirley Narcissus lxxiii, All wilde shall tame before thee as thou go'st. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Disorder & Frailty iii, My weak fire..after all my height of flames, In sickly expirations tames. 1853 C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe xii, She had..tamed down into what gave the promise of a sensible woman. |
3. trans. To reduce the intensity of; to tone down; to temper, soften, mellow; also, to render dull or uninteresting.
| ? a 1500 Chester Pl. vii. 78 Hemlockes, and herif..With Tarboyst most bene all tamed. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 836 Nor cou'd Vulcanian Flame The Stench abolish, or the Savour tame. 1700 ― Baucis & Philemon 69 This in the pot he plung'd without delay To tame the flesh, and drain the salt away. 1847 H. Rogers Ess. I. v. 221 The first editors had tamed down some of the more startling statements of Pascal. 1871 Palgrave Lyr. Poems, Brecon Bridge, Manhood's colours tamed to gray. |
4. Combs. (n. or adj.) of the verb-stem with a n. (as obj.), as tame-grief, n. that which subdues grief, or adj. that subdues grief; tame-horse = tamer of horses (tr. Gr. ἱππόδαµος); tame-poison, a name of Vincetoxicum officinale (also called Asclepias or Cynanchum Vincetoxicum), the root of which was used as an antidote to poisons.
| 1605 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 151 Soule's remedy! O contrite heart's restorer! Tears-wiping tame-griefe! c 1611 Chapman Iliad ii. 16 Sleepes the wise Atreus-tame-horse sonne? 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. (1794) 216 Common Swallow-wort or Tame poison. 1866 Treas. Bot. 1217 The root..was formerly in some repute as a medicine;..as an antidote to poisons—whence it has been named Contrayerva Germanorum and Tame-poison. |
Hence tamed, ˈtaming ppl. adjs.
| 1552 Huloet, Tamed, domesticus,..domitus. 1582 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Tamde men haue one saulfty. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 227 Let 'em run at large; and never know The taming Yoak. 1836 J. H. Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 217 Time hath a taming hand! 1894 A. Whyte S. Rutherford xi. 87 Tamed and softened..by that taming and softening book. |
▪ III. tame, v.2 Now dial.
(teɪm)
Also 6 tayme.
[Aphetic f. attame, entame v.]
1. trans. To pierce, cut into (in fighting or carving); to cut or break into, so as to use.
| c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 7405 Her woundes bledde, her flesch was tamet, The holest of hem ful sore was lamet. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. xviii. 97 Balan..smote hym thorow the shelde and tamyd his helme. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 265 Tayme that crabbe. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xviii. 118 Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which..providence hath reserv'd for time of need. 1840 H. Ainsworth Tower Lond. xxxix, In the old terms of his art, he leached the brawn,..tranched the sturgeon,..tamed the crab, and barbed the lobster. 1847–78 Halliwell, Tame, to cut; to divide. West. 1904 in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., S. Dev. We shall have to tame the rick. |
† b. To broach (a cask, bottle, etc.); also with the liquor as obj. Obs.
| ? a 1412 Lydg. Two Merchants 701 Who that wil entren to tamen of the sweete, He mvst as weel..To taste the bittir. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tame, or attame vessellys wythe drynke.., attamino. 1483 Vulgaria abs Terentio 15 b, I haue tamed or set a broche all my pypys or tunnys. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1205 To tame a vessel, i.e. to tap or broach it. |
† 2. fig. To enter upon, broach (a subject); to take upon oneself; to begin upon; begin to do something. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. Prol. 52 (Harl. MS.) And right anoon he haþ his tale tamyd [v.r. attamed]. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 5636 He wolde ha tamyd Tan [= t'han, i.e. to have] touched yonge Rosis new. |
† 3. To injure, hurt. Obs.
| c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 55 Þouȝ ȝe drinke poisoun, it schal not ȝou tame. c 1480 Life St. Kath. (MS. Cott. Titus A xxvi) 180 Neyþer clothys ne theyr here was tamyd with þe fire. |