* Taming: Making the animal less wild and more accustomed to human presence.
* Selective Breeding: Choosing individuals with desirable traits for reproduction, which can lead to changes in behavior and physical appearance over generations.
* Control: Managing the animal's environment, food supply, and breeding, making it dependent on humans for survival.
Here are some key things to remember:
* Domestication is a gradual process. It takes many generations for an animal or plant to become fully domesticated.
* Domesticated animals and plants often differ significantly from their wild ancestors. They might have different physical features, behaviors, and even genetic makeup.
* Domestication can be intentional or unintentional. Sometimes, humans unintentionally create domesticated animals or plants by simply interacting with them and providing them with resources.
Examples of domesticated animals: dogs, cats, cows, horses, chickens
Examples of domesticated plants: wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, tomatoes
In a broader sense, "domesticate" can also mean:
* To make something less wild or dangerous. For example, "We need to domesticate our spending habits."
* To make something more suitable for home use. For example, "The wild grape was domesticated into a cultivated variety."