| 释义 |
▪ I. tame, a.|teɪm|
Forms: 1, 4 tam, 3– tame, 4–5 Sc. tayme; 1 tǫm, 2–3 tom, 4 tome.
[OE. tam (tǫm) = OFris. (EFris.) tam, OLG. *tam (MLG., LG., MDu., Du. tam), OHG., MHG. zam (Ger. zahm), ON. tamr:—OTeut. *tamoz (evidenced in Goth. only by the deriv. vb. tamjan to tame). The Teut. stem tam- is cognate with that of L. domāre, Gr. δαµ-ᾶν to tame, subdue. The OE. variant tǫm was retained in southern Early ME. down to c 1300; the existing tame represents the inflected forms of tam: cf. also tame v.1]
1. a. Of animals (rarely of men): Reclaimed from the wild state; brought under the control and care of man; domestic; domesticated. (Opp. to wild.)
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxv. §6 Wildu ðior..woldon..standon swilce hi tame wæron. c1000ælfric Saints' Lives (1900) II. 326 Se wulf folᵹode..swylce he tam wære. c1000Ags. Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 481/22 Subjugalis, tam. c1250Gen. & Ex. 174 He made on werlde al erue tame. Ibid. 1482 Esau wilde man huntere, And Iacob tame man tiliere. a1300Cursor M. 25430 (Cott.) Of all þin sandes wild and tam, Man þou scop and gaf him nam. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints xxix. (Placidas) 318 Wyld hors & tayme. 1526Tindale 2 Pet. ii. 16 The tame and dom beast speakynge with mannes voyce. 1653Walton Angler ii. 44 I'll try if I can make her [a young otter] tame. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 166 They have also tame Lions. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 271 From a Salvage Prince rendred himself a tame Follower of the Patriarch. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 32 Small and tame animals breed fast. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 372 The beasts of the forest, or the scarcely tamer human beings. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn xxviii, A tame black belonging to us. He is great at all sorts of hunting.
b. humorously, of a person: Domestic; kept or supported for domestic or private use.
1711Addison Spect. No. 47 ⁋2 It was formerly the Custom for every great House in England to keep a tame Fool dressed in Petticoats. 1895Westm. Gaz. 13 Mar. 8/1 At the Treasury..A tame bookbinder receives {pstlg}105 a year. Mod. They endow ‘tame professors’ to advocate their views.
2. Applied to plants, also (in U.S.) to land: Cultivated, improved by culture; garden- as opposed to wild; now restricted to U.S. use.
tame hay, hay made from specially sown grasses or forage plants; cf. wild hay. (Western U.S.)
1551Turner Herbal i. C v b, I haue not sene yet the right tame Anemone. 1562― Herbal ii. 112 Tame or gardin radice. 1578Lyte Dodoens iii. lix. 399 The tame Hoppe hath rough branches. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iv. xxxi. 295 Cherries, both wilde and tame have not prospered well at the Indies. 1629Parkinson Paradisus (1904) 420 Any Rose either wilde or tame. 1838H. W. Ellsworth Valley Upper Wabash iv. 39 It is very desirable..to get the tame grasses..set as soon as possible. 1857Trans. Illinois Agric. Soc. II. 382 Where tame pasture is resorted to something more needs to be done. 1881Rep. Indian Affairs (U.S.) 107 Some few have raised tame grapes. 1885tr. Hehn's Wand. Plants & Anim. (1887) 94 Herodotus makes the oracle speak of the tame olive. 1887Buck's Handbk. Med. Sc. V. 9/2 The careful pioneer..had his corral..where the land had become ‘tame’. 1936Sun (Baltimore) 15 Sept. 26/8 Tame hay production..is estimated at 355,000 tons. 1962A. Fry Ranch on Cariboo x. 106 In conjunction with his store, he..put up a big field of good tame hay. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 8-d/8 (Advt.), 320 acres, 148 tillable now in tame grass.
fig.1855Thackeray Newcomes xlviii, His lordship sowed tame oats now after his wild ones.
3. a. Having the disposition or character of a domesticated animal; accustomed to man; not showing the natural shyness, fear of, or fierceness to man; familiar; also of persons, their disposition, etc.: made tractable, docile, or pliant.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxv. §1 Seo leo, ðeah hio wel tam se. a1000Gnom. Verses 142 Til mon tiles & tomes meares. a1225Ancr. R. 144 Noðing ne aweldeð wilde uleschs ne ne makeð hit tommure þen deð muche wecche. a1225Leg. Kath. 1318 Þet he ne talde him al tom ear he turnde from us. a1250Owl & Night. 1444 Hwich beo þe gome Þat of þe wilde makeþ tome. a1300Cursor M. 11628 Al þe bestes þat ar wild For me most be tame and mild. c1302Pol. Songs (Camden) 194 Alas! thou seli Fraunce, for the may thunche shome, That ane fewe fullaris maketh ou so tome. c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 278 The pruddest of yow may be made ful tame. c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 63 Y wole þee leere To make þi lord to þee tame. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 39 Go home mekely & tame to thy place. 1785Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue s.v., To run tame about a house, to live familiarly in a family with which one is upon a visit. 1908Betw. Trent & Ancholme 26 It [a gull] became tame enough to watch its food being dug.
b. tame cat: One who is on the footing of the domestic cat; a person who is made a convenience by his friends. So † tame-fellow, † tame goose (obs.). (Cf. 1 b.)
1605Case is Altered (Halliw.), Utterly cast away upon a noddy, a ninny-hammer, a tame-goose. a1700B. E. Dict. Canting Crew, Tame-fellow, tractable, easy, manageable. [1878Mrs. H. Wood Pomeroy Ab. I. 255 Here has he been in the house continually like a tame cat.] 1885World 9 Sept. 9 It sheds the gentle glamour of romance over the tame cat himself and the household where he is always welcome. 1900Daily News 16 Jan. 3/2 He is the tamest of tame cats amongst local officials.
†c. poet. applied to a thing with which one is familiar. Obs.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 10 All That time, acquaintance, custome and condition, Made tame, and most familiar to my nature.
4. Subdued as by taming; submissive; meek; poor-spirited, pusillanimous; servile.
1563B. Googe Eglogs, etc. (Arb.) 87 The countnaunce sad The drowping Courage tame. 1654Warren Unbelievers 235 They are a company of tame Souldiers. 1715Pope Iliad i. 168 Shall I my prize resign With tame content, and thou possess'd of thine? 1761–2Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) V. lxx. 269 They should expose themselves..to public contempt, on account of their tame behaviour. 1769Junius Lett. xi. (1820) 47 Never hope that the freeholders will make a tame surrender of their rights. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ix. II. 422 The tribunal lately so insolent, became on a sudden strangely tame.
5. a. Lacking animation, force, or effectiveness; deficient in striking features; weak, spiritless, insipid, dull.
1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 18 Be not too tame neyther: but let your owne Discretion be your Tutor: suit the action to the word. 1651Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year I. v. 63 He that is cold and tame in his prayers, hath not tasted of the deliciousness of Religion, and the goodnesse of God. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xv, The tame correct paintings of the Flemish school. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xvi. (1866) 266 These words fall short: they are too tame and cool. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xxvii. 217 My delight..was tame compared with that of my companions. 1894Parry Stud. Gt. Composers, Schubert 232 The tamer style of his instrumental works was probably owing to the same causes which made his song-writing so very remarkable.
b. Of scenery: Wanting boldness; having no striking features.
1807Sir R. C. Hoare Tour Irel. 186 On descending..the scenery..becomes tamer. 1894Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. 16 A broad expanse of tame arable country.
6. Comb., as tame-spirited, tame-witted, etc.
1596Nashe Saffron-Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 72 Poore tame-witted silly Quirko. Mod. One could not expect the nation to be so tame-spirited.
▪ II. tame, v.1|teɪm|
[ME. tamen, f. tame a., taking in the 14th c. the place of the earlier teme:—OE. tęmian, 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.
c1315Shoreham Poems vi. 65 Þat vnicorn þat was so wyld..Þou hast y-tamed [hyt], and i-styld. 1390Gower Conf. II. 161 Hou men hem scholde ryde and tame. c1440Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tamyn, or make tame, domo. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 956 To tame the vnicorne, and Lion wild. 1710Steele Tatler No. 222 ⁋3 As People tame Hawks and Eagles, by keeping them awake. 1863Lyell Antiq. Man 24 At a later period..the lake-dwellers succeeded in taming that formidable brute the Bos primigenius, the Urus of Cæsar. 1877E. 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.
1601Dolman La Primaud. Fr. Acad. (1618) III. 795 Many great personages..haue taken paines to tame them, and cause them to grow in gardens. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 144 For he with frequent Exercise Commands Th' unwilling Soil, and tames the stubborn Lands. a1722Lisle Husb. (1757) 100 (E.D.D.) By that time the ground will be tamed. 1746W. Dunkin 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.
1382Wyclif Dan. ii. 40 Hou yrun brekith to gydre alle thingus, and dauntith [gloss or tamith]. c1400Destr. Troy 2194 Soche tyrandes to tame, þat vs tene wirkes. 1526Tindale 1 Cor. ix. 27 But I tame my body and brynge hym into subjeccion. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 23 The prince..had tamed & brideled the furious rage of the wild and sauage Welshemen. 1667Milton P.L. xii. 191 This River-dragon tam'd at length submits To let his sojourners depart. 1748Gray Alliance 43 Industry and gain..Command the Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep. 1783Crabbe Village ii. 165 To tame the fierce grief and stem the rising sigh. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. ix, She hoped she had tamed a high spirit or two in her day. 1852Mrs. 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. 1859Art 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.
1646Shirley Narcissus lxxiii, All wilde shall tame before thee as thou go'st. 1655H. Vaughan Silex Scint. i. Disorder & Frailty iii, My weak fire..after all my height of flames, In sickly expirations tames. 1853C. 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.
a1500Chester Pl. vii. 78 Hemlockes, and herif..With Tarboyst most bene all tamed. 1697Dryden 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. 1847H. Rogers Ess. I. v. 221 The first editors had tamed down some of the more startling statements of Pascal. 1871Palgrave 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. ἱππόδαµος); tame-poison, a name of Vincetoxicum officinale (also called Asclepias or Cynanchum Vincetoxicum), the root of which was used as an antidote to poisons.
1605Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iii. i. Vocation 151 Soule's remedy! O contrite heart's restorer! Tears-wiping tame-griefe! c1611Chapman Iliad ii. 16 Sleepes the wise Atreus-tame-horse sonne? 1785Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xvi. (1794) 216 Common Swallow-wort or Tame poison. 1866Treas. 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, ˈtaming ppl. adjs.
1552Huloet, Tamed, domesticus,..domitus. 1582Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Tamde men haue one saulfty. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 227 Let 'em run at large; and never know The taming Yoak. 1836J. H. Newman in Lyra Apost. (1849) 217 Time hath a taming hand! 1894A. Whyte S. Rutherford xi. 87 Tamed and softened..by that taming and softening book.
▪ III. tame, v.2 Now dial.|teɪm|
Also 6 tayme.
[Aphetic f. attame, entame v.]
1. trans. To pierce, cut into (in fighting or carving); to cut or break into, so as to use.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 7405 Her woundes bledde, her flesch was tamet, The holest of hem ful sore was lamet. 1470–85Malory Arthur ii. xviii. 97 Balan..smote hym thorow the shelde and tamyd his helme. 1513Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 265 Tayme that crabbe. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. ii. xviii. 118 Then he tameth his stacks of corn, which..providence hath reserv'd for time of need. 1840H. Ainsworth Tower Lond. xxxix, In the old terms of his art, he leached the brawn,..tranched the sturgeon,..tamed the crab, and barbed the lobster. 1847–78Halliwell, Tame, to cut; to divide. West. 1904in Eng. Dial. Dict. s.v., S. Dev. We shall have to tame the rick.
†b. To broach (a cask, bottle, etc.); also with the liquor as obj. Obs.
a1412Lydg. Two Merchants 701 Who that wil entren to tamen of the sweete, He mvst as weel..To taste the bittir. c1440Promp. Parv. 486/2 Tame, or attame vessellys wythe drynke.., attamino. 1483Vulgaria abs Terentio 15 b, I haue tamed or set a broche all my pypys or tunnys. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1205 To tame a vessel, i.e. to tap or broach it.
†2. fig. To enter upon, broach (a subject); to take upon oneself; to begin upon; begin to do something. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. Prol. 52 (Harl. MS.) And right anoon he haþ his tale tamyd [v.r. attamed]. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 5636 He wolde ha tamyd Tan [= t'han, i.e. to have] touched yonge Rosis new.
†3. To injure, hurt. Obs.
c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 55 Þouȝ ȝe drinke poisoun, it schal not ȝou tame. c1480Life St. Kath. (MS. Cott. Titus A xxvi) 180 Neyþer clothys ne theyr here was tamyd with þe fire. |