as in to cultivate
to change (a wild animal or plant) over time to make it more suited to life with or use by humans
Humans domesticated wolves to produce man's best friend.
Related Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of domesticate
Researchers currently believe dogs were first domesticated from grey wolves toward the end of the last Ice Age, and were the first animals to enter into a domestic relationship with humans, the study states.
—
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026
Dogs were domesticated from grey wolves between 32,000 and 11,000 years ago, towards the end of the most recent ice age.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 Mar. 2026
Appreciative of these qualities, humans have domesticated Cucumis sativus and traded it throughout the world, with the fruit’s coolness becoming another, if metaphorical, tendril.
—Andrés Muedano, JSTOR Daily, 25 Mar. 2026
That means that winemakers across what is now France must have switched from domesticating wild grapes to propagating them directly—that is, cloning grapevines by taking cuttings of the plants to start new groves.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for domesticate
Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 27 Mar. 2026
Dogs were domesticated from grey wolves between 32,000 and 11,000 years ago, towards the end of the most recent ice age.
—Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 25 Mar. 2026
Appreciative of these qualities, humans have domesticated Cucumis sativus and traded it throughout the world, with the fruit’s coolness becoming another, if metaphorical, tendril.
—Andrés Muedano, JSTOR Daily, 25 Mar. 2026
That means that winemakers across what is now France must have switched from domesticating wild grapes to propagating them directly—that is, cloning grapevines by taking cuttings of the plants to start new groves.
—Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for domesticate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for domesticate
Verb
-
One garden tip Nielsen recommends when cultivating purple coneflower is to work compost into the soil at least two weeks before transplanting or planting coneflower seeds.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
16 Apr. 2026
-
In California, state and local government agencies have launched dust-mitigation efforts by installing windbreaks, such as cultivating native plants or reshaping the topography with more ridges.—
Tony Briscoe,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
In North America, the sprawling server farms used to train and run artificial intelligence models received a $47 billion investment surge last year, building out everything from cooling equipment to plumbing.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
21 Apr. 2026
-
Morris Kiruga, the writer and journalist behind the exposé, is a good-humored man in his mid-thirties who trained as a forensic scientist.—
Hettie O'Brien,
The Dial,
21 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
When inhaled, this fungus can propagate in the lungs, potentially causing scarring and collapse of lungs.—
Tony Briscoe,
Los Angeles Times,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Snake plants are easy to care for and can be propagated through division or by rooting leaf cuttings in soil or water.—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Los Angeles and Long Beach unified school districts, the county’s two largest districts, do not use LACOE’s portal for electronic tax documents and their employees were not affected, according to those districts.—
Jason Henry,
Daily News,
18 Apr. 2026
-
This interactive balance board connects to a free app where your body becomes the controller, using movement to play engaging games.—
Tory Johnson,
ABC News,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
For more quotidian looks, the Queen often utilized the visual power of color.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Plans by Becknell are to build the speculative structure, to be called Northwind North Business Park, and utilize it for light industrial businesses to rent.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
17 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
That recipe produced 4 2/3 scoreless innings before his brother Aaden came on to get the save in a 6-0 Fox Valley Conference victory over the host Rockets.—
Paul Johnson,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Apr. 2026
-
Sony Pictures Television, where Roberts is under an overall deal, will produce.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Sanjar also has figured out that the most efficient time of year to deploy them is summer, when snakes are fattening up for breeding season in late fall.—
Bill Kearney,
Sun Sentinel,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Ridglan Farms does breed dogs used in medical research.—
Brady Halbleib,
CBS News,
18 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Although the study focused on dysprosium, the researchers believe the technique can be adapted to detect other rare-earth elements such as terbium, europium, erbium, and neodymium.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Spaces like the kitchen—once divided into separate rooms for staff—were opened up, while outdoor areas were adapted for entertaining, including the addition of a large pool and gathering spaces.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
19 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Domesticate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/domesticate. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
