Etymograph

English

domesticate

Domesticate may come from Medieval Latin domesticus ‘to domesticate’, from Latin domus ‘house, home’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-1‘to build’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓm1‘house, home’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domos1‘house, home’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdomus2‘house, home’uncertain
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domesticus3as domesticō, perfect passive participle‘to domesticate’uncertain
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domesticātus3uncertain
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600domestiquer3uncertain
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2020domesticate3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin domus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin domesticus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English domesticate
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic): “"To answer your question, Tai's fine. She mostly just…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dem-Wiktionary, Latin domus‘to build’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*dṓmWiktionary, Latin domus‘house, home’uncertain
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*domosWiktionary, Latin domus‘house, home’uncertain
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdomusWiktionary, Latin domesticus‘house, home’uncertain
  5. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domesticusWiktionary, English domesticateas domesticō, perfect passive participle‘to domesticate’uncertain
  6. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domesticātusWiktionary, English domesticateuncertain
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600domestiquerWiktionary, English domesticateuncertain
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2020domesticateWiktionary, English domesticate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2020, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic): “"To answer your question, Tai's fine. She mostly just…”

first attested First attested in 1620 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1620; either borrowed from Middle French domestiquer (Modern French domestiquer) or directly from Medieval Latin domesticātus, perfect passive participle of domesticō (‘to domesticate’), see -ate (verb-forming suffix).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’

timber, domino, domaine, despotic, toft, teem, 20 more

through Proto-Indo-European *dṓm ‘house, home’

danger, don, domain, dominate, domination, damsel, despot, dominatrix, 21 more

through Latin domus ‘house, home’

donna, dominion, domicile, domus, 10 more

Another origin of domesticate

  1. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500domesticātus‘domesticated’
  2. Englishtodaydomesticate

First attested in 1860; borrowed from Medieval Latin domesticātus (‘domesticated’), see Etymology 1 and -ate (noun-forming suffix).

Today it means

verb To make domestic.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “domesticate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin domus, Latin domesticus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *dem- / domesticate

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