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(te
m) [ME. tamen, f. TAME a., taking in the 14th c. the place of the earlier TEME:
OE. t
mian, f. tam adj.]
1. trans. To bring (a wild animal) under the control or into the service of man; to reclaim from the wild state, to domesticate. Also fig.
c1315 SHOREHAM Poems vi. 65
at vnicorn
at was so wyld..
ou hast y-tamed [hyt], and i-styld.
1390 GOWER Conf. II. 161 Hou men hem scholde ryde and tame.
c1440 Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tamyn, or make tame,
domo.
1593 SHAKES. Lucr. 956 To tame the vnicorne, and Lion wild.
1710 STEELE Tatler No. 222
3 As People tame Hawks and Eagles, by keeping them awake.
1863 LYELL Antiq. Man 24 At a later period..the lake-dwellers succeeded in taming that formidable brute the
Bos primigenius, the Urus of Cæsar.
1877 E. R. CONDER Bas. Faith i. 23 Or tames the lightning to be his newsmonger and his lamplighter.
b. To bring (a wild plant) under or into cultivation; to reclaim or improve (land) by cultivation.
1601 DOLMAN La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 795 Many great personages..haue taken paines to tame them, and cause them to grow in gardens.
1697 DRYDEN Virg. Georg. I. 144 For he with frequent Exercise Commands Th' unwilling Soil, and tames the stubborn Lands
a1722 LISLE Husb. (1757) 100 (E.D.D.) By that time the ground will be tamed.
1746 W. D
UNKIN in Francis
Horace, Ep. II. ii. 280 Another shall..tame the savage Soil.
2. To overcome the wildness or fierceness of (a man, animal, or thing); to subdue, subjugate, curb; to render gentle, tractable, or docile.
1382 WYCLIF Dan. ii. 40 Hou yrun brekith to gydre alle thingus, and dauntith [
gloss or tamith].
c1400 Destr. Troy 2194 Soche tyrandes to tame,
at vs tene wirkes.
1526 TINDALE 1 Cor. ix. 27 But I tame my body and brynge hym into subjeccion.
a1548 HALL Chron., Hen. IV 23 The prince..had tamed & brideled the furious rage of the wild and sauage Welshemen.
1667 MILTON P.L. XII. 191 This River-dragon tam'd at length submits To let his sojourners depart.
1748 GRAY Alliance 43 Industry and gain..Command the Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep.
1783 CRABBE Village II. 165 To tame the fierce grief and stem the rising sigh.
1838 DICKENS Nich. Nick. ix, She hoped she had tamed a high spirit or two in her day.
1852 MRS. STOWE Uncle Tom's C. xix, I took him in hand, and in one fortnight I had him tamed down as submissive and tractable as heart could desire.
1859 Art Taming Horses, etc. i. 20 Mr. Rarey had tamed Cruiser, the most vicious stallion in England.
1863 [see sense 1].
b. intr. To become tame; to grow gentle, submissive, or sedate. Also with down.
1646 SHIRLEY Narcissus lxxiii, All wilde shall tame before thee as thou go'st.
1655 H. VAUGHAN Silex Scint. I.
Disorder & Frailty iii, My weak fire..after all my height of flames, In sickly expirations tames.
1853 C. M. YONGE Heir of Redclyffe xii, She had..tamed down into what gave the promise of a sensible woman.
3. trans. To reduce the intensity of; to tone down; to temper, soften, mellow; also, to render dull or uninteresting.
?a1500 Chester Pl. vii. 78 Hemlockes, and herif..With Tarboyst most bene all tamed.
1697 DRYDEN Virg. Georg. III. 836 Nor cou'd Vulcanian Flame The Stench abolish, or the Savour tame.
1700 
Baucis & Philemon 69 This in the pot he plung'd without delay To tame the flesh, and drain the salt away.
1847 H. ROGERS Ess. I. v. 221 The first editors had tamed down some of the more startling statements of Pascal.
1871 PALGRAVE Lyr. Poems, Brecon Bridge, Manhood's colours tamed to gray.
4. Combs. (n. or adj.) of the verb-stem with a n. (as obj.), as tame-grief, n. that which subdues grief, or adj. that subdues grief; tame-horse = tamer of horses (tr. Gr. 
); tame-poison, a name of Vincetoxicum officinale (also called Asclepias or Cynanchum Vincetoxicum), the root of which was used as an antidote to poisons.
1605 SYLVESTER Du Bartas II. iii.
I.
Vocation 151 Soule's remedy! O contrite heart's restorer! Tears-wiping tame-griefe!
c1611 CHAPMAN Iliad II. 16 Sleepes the wise Atreus-tame-horse sonne?
1785 MARTYN Rousseau's Bot. xvi. (1794) 216 Common Swallow-wort or Tame poison.
1866 Treas. Bot. 1217 The root..was formerly in some repute as a medicine;..as an antidote to
poisons
whence it has been named Contrayerva Germanorum and Tame-poison.
Hence tamed, 
taming ppl. adjs.
1552 HULOET, Tamed,
domesticus,..domitus.
1582 STANYHURST Æneis II. (Arb.) 55 Tamde men haue one saulfty.
1697 DRYDEN Virg. Georg. III. 227 Let 'em run at large; and never know The taming Yoak.
1836 J. H. NEWMAN in
Lyra Apost. (1849) 217 Time hath a taming hand!
1894 A. WHYTE S. Rutherford xi. 87 Tamed and softened..by that taming and softening book.
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