Etymograph

English

domesticate

Domesticate may come from Middle French domestiquer.

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600domestiqueruncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2020domesticate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600domestiqueruncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2020domesticate

Earliest quotation: 2020, Jeph Jacques, Questionable Content (webcomic): “To answer your question, Tai's fine. She mostly just…”

Equivalent to domestic + -ate

Proto-Indo-European *dem- ‘to build’

…

Proto-Italic *domos ‘house’

Latin domus ‘house’

Latin domesticus ‘of the house’

Middle French domestique

English domestic

first attested First attested in 1620 (as stated in the 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).

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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Middle French domestiquer / domesticate

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