domable

English

WOTD – 18 February 2017

Etymology

Young alpacas (Vicugna pacos) in Schwarzenbach, Burgthann, Bavaria, Germany. Alpacas are regarded as domable, or tameable.

From Late Latin domābilis (“tameable”), from domāre (“to tame”), present infinitive of domō (“to break in, to tame”), from Proto-Italic *domaō (“to tame”), from Proto-Indo-European *demh₂- (“to domesticate, to tame”); compare Old French domable.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdəʊməbl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdoʊməbl̩/
• Hyphenation: dom‧a‧ble

Adjective

domable (comparative more domable, superlative most domable)

1. (obsolete, rare) Capable of being tamed; tameable, domesticable.

   Synonyms: domesticable, domesticatable, tamable, tameable

   Antonyms: undomesticable, undomesticatable, untamable, untameable

   • 1617, [John Salkeld], A Treatise of Paradise. And the Principall Contents thereof: […] , London: Printed by Edward Griffin for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, page 188:

     And this may alſo bee the reaſon, why God preſenting all other creatures to the preſence of man, he did not likewiſe bring him the fiſhes as well as the beaſts of all ſpecies and kindes, because the beaſts being domable, and eaſie to be tamed by man (at leaſtway whiles man was ſubject to God) might serue for the vſe of man, while man was not diſobedient to God: […]

   • 1815, Antonio de Alcedo, “Provincial Terms, &c.”, in G[eorge] A[lexander] Thompson, editor, The Geographical and Historical Dictionary of America and the West Indies. Containing and Entire Translation of the Spanish Work of Colonel Don Antonio de Alcedo, […] In Five Volumes, volume V, London: Printed for the author, and published by Carpenter and Son, […]; [et al.], →OCLC, page 8:

     Alpaca. (Camelus Pacos,) also Paco. […] This animal, like the camel, is domable, and will carry from seven to nine stone; it will fall on its knees for the convenient reception and exoneration of its burthen.

   • [1831, Henry Neuman, Giuseppe Marc'Antonio Baretti, edited by M[ateo] Seoane, Neuman and Baretti's Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages; […] In Two Volumes, 5th edition, volumes I (Spanish and English), London: Printed for Longman, Rees, and Co. [et al.], →OCLC, page 336:

     Domáble, a. Tameable, conquerable, domable, susceptive of taming.]

Derived terms

• domableness (obsolete, rare)

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin domābilis, from domō (“to tame”), from domus (“house”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /doˈmable/ [d̪oˈma.β̞le]
• Rhymes: -able
• Syllabification: do‧ma‧ble

Adjective

domable m or f (masculine and feminine plural domables)

1. tamable, controllable, conquerable

Related terms

• doma
• domador
• domadura
• domar
• domeñar
• indomable

 

Further reading

• “domable”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10