domestication

noun

do·​mes·​ti·​ca·​tion də-ˌme-sti-ˈkā-shən 

: the act or process of domesticating something or someone or the state of being domesticated: such as

a

: the adaptation of a plant or animal from a wild or natural state (as by selective breeding) to life in close association with humans

Wild and feral dogs are hunters, but domestication and differential breeding have modified breed and individual predatory motivation.

—Julia Albright

Horse domestication revolutionized transport, communications, and warfare in prehistory, yet the identification of early domestication processes has been problematic.

—Alan K. Outram et al.

b

: the process of adapting someone or the state of being adapted to domestic life

But my father-in-law was also the very soul of domestication and familial responsibility, a man of regular habits who tied up his garbage with the spare lengths of string he collected in a Maxwell House coffee can …

—Garret Keizer

c

: the adaptation of something to meet the expectations or tastes of ordinary people

When you think about it, the whole buzzy excitement surrounding The Aristocrats, with its torrents of obscenity, points to another new phenomenon this summer: the domestication of raunch.

—Gregory Kirschling

Examples of domestication in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, evidence shows that through genomic selection and domestication, a new non-toxic variety was developed and cultivated around the time of the Pharaohs. —Delaney Nothaft, USA TODAY, 9 Sep. 2023

With enough samples, scientists could analyze the ancient genome and compare it to modern plants to trace the history of madder plant domestication. —Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Oct. 2023

This is a chance to see the birth of sports announcers, the first domestication of canines, the various ways that vases were the tabloids of their time and, through one of Hippocampus’ investigations, the origins of criminal forensics. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Sep. 2023

The sound of these meows has evolved during domestication to more effectively communicate with us. —Jonathan Losos, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2023

Other investigators thought domestication first happened in the Caucasus. —Mark Fischetti, Scientific American, 19 Sep. 2023

Additionally, the study created a general timeline of carrot domestication and found more evidence that carrots were domesticated in the 9th or 10th century CE in western and central Asia. —Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 28 Sep. 2023

Add a layer of domestication, and cattle become even more familiar. —WIRED, 26 Aug. 2023

The most significant evolutionary changes during cat domestication involve their behavior. —Jonathan Losos, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

1718, in the meaning defined above