domesticar

Forms

domesticar (first-person singular present domestico, first-person singular preterite domestiqué, past participle domesticado)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish doméstico + -ar, the adjective meaning “of the house; tame”.^[2][1][3][4] Corominas and the DLE both derive the verb from the Spanish adjective.^[3][2]

doméstico is a learned word, taken from Latin domesticus (“of the house, domestic”), which is derived from domus (“house”).^[3][4] The OLD suggests a base *domestis, built like agrestis, with the suffix of rūsticus.^[5] The same formation in the other Romance languages is Catalan domesticar, French domestiquer and Italian domesticare, beside the older Provençal domesgar and domesjar.^[6][7]

The Diccionario de Autoridades of 1732 traced the verb directly to the Latin word for “house” and noted that it was irregularly formed.^[8] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 first gave the derivation from the adjective.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas finds the verb once in 1386, in López de Ayala, and considers this lone record somewhat suspicious; the verb only becomes common at the end of the 16th century, with Fray Luis de Granada.^[3][10] The earliest record from the Americas, from Santo Domingo in 1517, already has the sense “to make tame and peaceable”, used of people: teniéndolos domesticados y pacíficos “keeping them tamed and peaceful”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 1732 Autoridades the verb means to soften and tame an untamed, fierce animal, and sometimes a person; its quotation from Fray Luis de Granada is El lobo nunca se puede domesticar “the wolf can never be tamed”.^[8] Terreros (1786) also records it as a term of falconry, for training birds of prey to hunt.^[12] From 1817 the Academy defined it as accustoming a wild animal to the sight and company of people, a definition the DLE still keeps.^[13][2]

The figurative sense, to make a person tractable and curb a harsh temper, is in Salvá's dictionary of 1846, and the DLE lists it as its second sense, also as a pronominal verb.^[14][2] Moliner adds teaching an animal to obey or to perform tricks.^[15]

Timeline

• 1386 – a single record in López de Ayala, which Corominas treats as doubtful.^[3][10]
• 1517 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[11]
• 1570 – the date the BDELC gives for the verb's regular use.^[4]
• Late 16th century – frequent in Fray Luis de Granada.^[3][16]
• 1732 – the Diccionario de Autoridades defines it and derives it from Latin domus.^[8]
• 1786 – Terreros records the falconry sense.^[12]
• 1846 – Salvá records the figurative sense “to calm someone's pride or temper”.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy derives it from doméstico.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To tame or domesticate a wild animal, getting it used to the sight and company of people: Los pastores domesticaron a los perros salvajes.^[2][1]
2. To make a person easier to deal with, softening a rough or harsh character; also used reflexively: Con los años se ha domesticado bastante.^[2][15]
3. To train an animal to obey or to perform tricks.^[15][17]

Word family

• domesticación
• domesticable
• domesticado

Related words

• doméstico
• domicilio
• Latin domus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. domesticar
3. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 414
4. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. doméstico
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Echegaray, Eduardo de (1887–1889), Diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: José María Faquineto, p. s.v. domesticar
7. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. s.v. domesticar
8. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 3, 331
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 398
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. domesticar
11. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. domesticar
12. ^ a b Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 1, 698
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 334
14. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 415
15. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. domesticar
16. ^ Cuervo, Rufino José (1886–1893), Diccionario de construcción y régimen de la lengua castellana, vols. I–II (A–D), París: A. Roger y F. Chernoviz, p. 2, 1314
17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. domesticar