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"
overcome the wildness of; make docile and tractable; "He tames lions for the circus"; "reclaim falcons"
adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment; "domesticate oats"; "tame the soil"
being of crucial importance; "a pivotal event"; "Its pivotal location has also exposed it to periodic invasions"- Henry Kissinger; "the polar events of this study"; "a polar principal"