In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
TAMING
Verb
taming
present participle of tame
Noun
taming (plural tamings)
The process by which a person, animal or thing is tamed.
Anagrams
• mating
Source: Wiktionary
TAME
Tame, v. t. Etym: [Cf. F. entamer to cut into, to broach.]
Definition: 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.
Tame, a. [Compar. Tamer; superl. Tamest.] Etym: [AS. tam; akin to D. tam, G. zahm, OHG. zam, Dan. & Sw. tam, Icel. tamr, L. domare to tame, Gr. 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. [imp. & p. p. Tamed; p. pr. & vb. n. Taming.] Etym: [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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
22 February 2025
ANALYSIS
(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’
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