Domestication vs. Tame — What's the Difference?
By Maham Liaqat & Fiza Rafique — Updated on May 2, 2024
Domestication is a systematic process of breeding and adapting animals over generations to live alongside humans, while taming refers to conditioning individual wild animals to accept human presence and control.
Difference Between Domestication and Tame
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Domestication involves selective breeding over many generations to modify traits in a species, making them more useful and compliant to human needs, such as livestock or agricultural plants. In contrast, taming is about acclimating individual animals to humans, reducing their fear and increasing their manageability without genetic modification.
The process of domestication results in a permanent genetic change in a species, leading to characteristics that are reproducibly passed on to offspring, like reduced fear and increased docility. Whereas taming is a behavioral process affecting only the tamed individual, not altering the animal's genetic makeup or reproductive traits.
Domesticated species, such as dogs, cats, or cows, have traits that are consistently present across the population, including dependency on humans for food and care. On the other hand, tamed animals, such as a tamed elephant or lion, retain their wild instincts and can often survive independently.
While domestication has historical roots stretching back thousands of years, involving a gradual and comprehensive evolution of species alongside human societies, taming can occur within the lifetime of a single animal through repeated and controlled exposure to humans.
Domestication typically serves broader societal or economic purposes, contributing to agricultural productivity or companionship roles. Taming, however, often serves immediate practical purposes, such as using a tamed animal for entertainment, work, or specific tasks within its lifetime.
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Comparison Chart
Definition
Breeding process altering a species genetically
Conditioning an individual animal
Genetic Impact
Permanent genetic changes
No genetic changes; individual behavioral adaptation
Effects on Population
Traits consistent across the species
Effects limited to individual animals
Dependency
Increased dependency on humans
May remain capable of independence
Purpose
Societal, economic
Immediate, practical
Compare with Definitions
Domestication
Involves creating a human dependency.
Domesticated animals rely on humans for food and care.
Tame
May retain natural instincts.
Even tamed, the falcon retains its hunting instincts.
Domestication
The process of breeding species to live with humans.
The domestication of wolves likely led to modern dogs.
Tame
Conditioning a wild animal to accept human presence.
He tamed a wild parrot to sit on his hand.
Domestication
Genetically modifying traits over generations.
Domestication has made sheep woollier and more docile.
Tame
Individual, not inheritable changes.
Taming does not genetically alter the animal.
Domestication
Aimed at making species useful to humans.
Corn underwent domestication to increase kernel size and yield.
Tame
Often for specific, immediate tasks.
Elephants are tamed to help in logging operations.
Domestication
Serves broad human needs.
Domestication of cats helped control pest populations.
Tame
Reducing an animal's fear of humans.
The zookeeper tamed the lion through gradual acclimatization.
Domestication
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which one group of organisms assumes a significant degree of influence over the reproduction and care of another group to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that second group. The domestication of plants and animals was a major cultural innovation ranked in importance with the conquest of fire, the manufacturing of tools, and the development of verbal language.Charles Darwin recognized the small number of traits that made domestic species different from their wild ancestors.
Tame
Brought from wildness into a domesticated or tractable state.
Domestication
To cause to feel comfortable at home; make domestic.
Tame
Naturally unafraid; not timid
"The sea otter is gentle and relatively tame" (Peter Matthiessen).
Domestication
To adopt or make fit for domestic use or life.
Tame
Submissive; docile; fawning
Tame obedience.
Domestication
To train or adapt (an animal or plant) to live in a human environment and be of use to humans.
Tame
Insipid; flat
A tame birthday party.
Domestication
To introduce and accustom (an animal or plant) into another region; naturalize.
Tame
Sluggish; languid; inactive
A tame river.
Domestication
A plant or animal that has been adapted to live in a human environment.
Tame
To make tame; domesticate
Tame a wild horse.
Domestication
The act of domesticating, or accustoming to home; the action of taming wild animals or breeding plants.
Tame
To subdue or curb
Tamed his explosive anger.
Domestication
The act of domesticating, or making a legal instrument recognized and enforceable in a jurisdiction foreign to the one in which the instrument was originally issued or created.
Tame
To change from an uncontrolled or disorderly to a controlled state
Needed some gel to tame his hair.
Domestication
(translation studies) The act of domesticating a text.
Tame
Not or no longer wild; domesticated.
They have a tame wildcat.
Domestication
The act of domesticating, or accustoming to home; the action of taming wild animals.
Tame
Mild and well-behaved; accustomed to human contact.
The lion was quite tame.
Domestication
Adaptation to intimate association with human beings
Tame
(figurative) Of a person, well-behaved; not radical or extreme.
Domestication
The attribute of having been domesticated
Tame
(obsolete) Of a non-Westernised person, accustomed to European society.
Domestication
Accommodation to domestic life;
Her explorer husband resisted all her attempts at domestication
Tame
Not exciting.
This party is too tame for me.
For a thriller, that film was really tame.
Tame
Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.
Tame
Capable of being represented as a finite closed polygonal chain.
Tame
(transitive) To make (an animal) tame; to domesticate.
He tamed the wild horse.
Tame
(intransitive) To become tame or domesticated.
Tame
(transitive) To make gentle or meek.
To tame a rebellion
Tame
To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out.
Tame
To broach or enter upon; to taste, as a liquor; to divide; to distribute; to deal out.
In the time of famine he is the Joseph of the country, and keeps the poor from starving. Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which not his covetousness, but providence, hath reserved for time of need.
Tame
To reduce from a wild to a domestic state; to make gentle and familiar; to reclaim; to domesticate; as, to tame a wild beast.
They had not been tamed into submission, but baited into savegeness and stubbornness.
Tame
To subdue; to conquer; to repress; as, to tame the pride or passions of youth.
Tame
Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness; accustomed to man; domesticated; domestic; as, a tame deer, a tame bird.
Tame
Crushed; subdued; depressed; spiritless.
Tame slaves of the laborious plow.
Tame
Deficient in spirit or animation; spiritless; dull; flat; insipid; as, a tame poem; tame scenery.
Tame
Correct by punishment or discipline
Tame
Make less strong or intense; soften;
Tone down that aggressive letter
The author finally tamed some of his potentially offensive statements
Tame
Adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment;
Domesticate oats
Tame the soil
Tame
Overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable;
He tames lions for the circus
Reclaim falcons
Tame
Make fit for cultivation, domestic life, and service to humans;
The horse was domesticated a long time ago
The wolf was tamed and evolved into the house dog
Tame
Flat and uninspiring
Tame
Very restrained or quiet;
A tame Christmas party
She was one of the tamest and most abject creatures imaginable with no will or power to act but as directed
Tame
Brought from wildness into a domesticated state;
Tame animals
Fields of tame blueberries
Tame
Very docile;
Tame obedience
Meek as a mouse
Common Curiosities
Can a tamed animal breed tamed offspring?
No, taming does not affect the genetic traits passed to offspring.
What are some examples of domesticated plants?
Wheat, rice, and tomatoes have all been domesticated for agricultural use.
How does domestication impact animal behavior?
It typically makes animals more docile and dependent on humans.
Is it easier to tame a domesticated animal?
Yes, domesticated animals are generally more predisposed to interact with humans.
How long does the process of domestication take?
It occurs over many generations, spanning hundreds to thousands of years.
Can any wild animal be tamed?
While many can be tamed, some are more resistant to taming due to strong wild instincts.
Why is domestication considered a form of artificial selection?
Humans selectively breed species for traits beneficial to them, influencing natural selection.
Are there ethical concerns with taming wild animals?
Yes, concerns include the welfare of the animal and the appropriateness of removing it from the wild.
What is the main genetic difference between domestication and taming?
Domestication alters the genetic makeup of a species, while taming does not involve genetic changes.
What is an example of a recently domesticated animal?
The silver fox has been domesticated through extensive breeding experiments in Russia.
What are the risks associated with taming wild animals?
Tamed wild animals can be unpredictable and may revert to wild behavior.
What role did domestication play in human civilization?
It allowed for the development of agriculture and settled societies.
How do tamed animals behave differently from domesticated ones?
Tamed animals may behave well in human presence but retain more of their wild behaviors.
What advantages does domestication offer over taming?
Domestication offers predictable, stable traits across a species, beneficial for consistent human use.
How does domestication affect biodiversity?
It can reduce genetic diversity by focusing on specific traits, potentially impacting overall species resilience.
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Written by
Maham Liaqat
Co-written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
