Tame , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tamed (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Taming.]
[AS. tamian, temian,
akin to D.
tammen, temmen, G. zähmen, OHG. zemmen, Icel. temja, Goth. gatamjan. See Tame, a.]
1. To reduce from a
wild to a domestic state; to make gentle and familiar; to reclaim; to domesticate; as, to tame a
wild beast.
They had not been tamed into submission, but baited into savegeness and stubbornness.
Macaulay.
2. To subdue; to conquer; to repress; as, to tame the pride or
passions of youth.
Tame , a.
[Compar. Tamer (?);
superl. Tamest.]
[AS.
tam; akin to D. tam, G. zahm, OHG.
zam, Dan. & Sw. tam, Icel. tamr,
L. domare to tame, Gr. &?;, Skr. dam to be tame, to tame, and perhaps to E.
beteem. √61. Cf. Adamant, Diamond,
Dame, Daunt,
Indomitable.] 1.
Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness; accustomed to man; domesticated; domestic; as, a tame
deer, a tame bird.
2. Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.
Tame slaves of the laborious plow.
Roscommon.
3. Deficient in spirit or
animation; spiritless; dull; flat; insipid; as, a tame
poem; tame scenery.
Syn. -- Gentle; mild; meek. See Gentle.
Tame (?), v. t. [Cf. F. entamer to cut into, to broach.]
To broach or
enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
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.
Fuller.
Hear it pronounced