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. *tamoz (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. 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 folȝode … 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.
1576. A. Fleming, trans. Ælianus, I. 4. Pigeons be tame and gentle, but Stockdooues wilde and vnapt to be handled.
1618. M. Baret, Horsemanship, II. xvi. 60–1. When he [the Colt] is made thus tame, you shall let downe the Stirrops and lead him abroad letting them hang downe, to make him acquainted with the beating of them against his sides and shoulders.
1653. Walton, Angler, ii. 44. I’ll try if I can make her [a young otter] tame.
1660. F. Brooke, trans. 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 March, 8/1. At the Treasury… A tame bookbinder receives £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. Obs. in ordinary use since c. 1650.
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. Ibid. (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.
1885. trans. 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.’
fig. 1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, xlviii. His lordship sowed tame oats now after his wild ones.
3. 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. 1225. 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. Cant. Crew, Tame-fellow, tractable, easy, manageable.
[1878. Mrs. H. Wood, Pomeroy Abb., 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. Shaks., 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. Lacking animation, force, or effectiveness; deficient in striking features; weak, spiritless, insipid, dull.
1602. Shaks., Ham., II. 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, -willed, 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.
