Tame
/teɪm/
adjectiveverbB1
Definition
Tame describes animals or things that are calm, gentle, and controlled instead of wild or dangerous. As a verb, tame means to train a wild animal or control something so it becomes calm and easier to handle.
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See It in Action
Adjective: Not wild, calm, gentle
- •The tame cat sat quietly on the sofa.
- •The park has many tame birds that come close to people.
- •This lion is tame and does not attack visitors.
Verb: To make wild animals calm or controlled
- •They tried to tame the wild horse so it could be ridden.
- •The trainer tamed the lion after many weeks of work.
- •It takes time to tame a wild animal.
Make It Stick
- ✓Think of "tame" like "calm" (A1 word), but used especially for animals or wild things that become gentle and easy to manage
- ✓Picture a wild horse becoming calm and friendly after someone spends time with it every day
- ✓It's the feeling when a wild dog stops barking and becomes your quiet, friendly pet
- ✓Sounds like "tame" → imagine someone gently holding a wild animal to make it calm and safe
- ✓Remember stories where people train lions or wolves to live peacefully with humans
- ✓NOT like "wild" (free and uncontrolled), "tame" means controlled and calm
- ✓NOT like "train" (general learning), "tame" focuses on making wild nature calm and gentle
- ✓NOT like "pet" (already domesticated animal), "tame" often means changing wild animals into pets or calm creatures
Try Other Words
- •Domesticate: to train wild animals to live with humans (Use when talking about animals living with people for a long time)
- •Control: to manage or limit something (Use when focusing on managing behavior or actions)
- •Train: to teach skills or behavior (Use when focusing on teaching, not just calming wildness)
Unboxing
- •Word parts: (no prefix or suffix, root word "tame")
- •Etymology: Old English "tam" meaning domesticated or gentle
- •Historical development: Originally used for animals made gentle by humans; later used for controlling wild things or describing gentle behavior
- •Modern usage: Used for animals, behavior, and even ideas or situations that are controlled or less wild
- •Key insight: "Tame" connects to making something wild calm and manageable
Reflect & Connect
•How does taming an animal change the relationship between humans and nature?
•Can ideas or emotions be "tame"? What would that mean in your life?
Fill in the blanks
1.Farmers work hard to ___ wild animals so they can live safely with people.
2.A tame animal usually shows ___ behavior and does not try to run away.
3.Unlike wild animals, tame ones are ___ to humans and often friendly.
4.When a person tries to tame something, they want to ___ its wild nature.
5.The lion was ___ by the trainer after many weeks of careful work.
6.You cannot call an animal tame if it still shows ___ wild behavior.
7.People often keep tame animals as ___ because they are calm and safe.