Emily Dickinson Lexicon

TAME, v.t. [Sax. tamian, getemian; Goth. ga-tamyan; Dan. tæmmer; Sw. tämia; D. tammen; G. zahmen; L. domo; Gr. δαμαω; Fr. dompter; Sp. and Port. domar; It. domare; Ch. and Heb. דו, to be silent, dumb; or Ar. كَظَمَ kathama, to restrain, to stop, shut, silence, subdue, tame. See Class Dm, No. 3, 25, and No. 23, 24.]

1. To reclaim; to reduce from a wild to a domestic state; to make gentle and familiar; as, to tame a wild beast.
2. To civilize; as, to tame the ferocious inhabitants of the forest.
3. To subdue; to conquer; to depress; as, to tame the pride or passions of youth.
4. To subdue; to repress; as wildness or licentiousness. The tongue can no man tame. James iii.