Tame, The Meaning of Peace Around the World

Kimberly Burnham
3 min readFeb 6, 2019

Peace Poetry is good for your brain with 5000 words for peace from around the world.

In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry book, The Little Prince there is a conversation between the little prince and a fox about the meaning of “tame.”

“Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so unhappy.”

“I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed.”

“What does that mean ‘tame’?”

“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. It means to establish ties.”

“To establish ties?”

“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world . . .”

“I am beginning to understand,” said the little prince. “There is a flower … I think that she has tamed me …”

Tame flowers, foxes, and peace in The Little Peace and languages of the world by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash

In some languages the word for peace and the word for tame are translated with the same word.

Gentle Tame Kongo Peace

Kongo an African language /of the Congo translates the word peace / as “kikœndi” which also / means friendship, friendliness, intimacy / a similar meaning to “Ngemba” / peace, friendship and intimacy

Another Kongo word, “Lembama” / has lots of meanings / to be tame and meek / gentle, appeased, demure / civil, calm, quiet / docile and humble / to be at peace / all held within one word.

Tame Aramaic Peacemakers

In Judeo-Aramaic spoken in the Middle East / “mšyn” or “mǝšayyan” means peace-loving and tame / “mšynˀyt” is peacefully or tranquil / “mšynn” or “mǝšayyənānā” is a peacemaker / or peaceful while “mštyn” or “meštayyan” / mean peaceful and reconciled.

Kenyan Tame

Two Kenyan languages merge peace and tame / Tiriki’s “khuhonjeritsa” is make peace and tame / as well as quiet, soothe, calm and pacify / In Wanga the word “omulembe” means peace / “okhuhotseresia” means quiet, soothe, calm / tame, make peace and pacify.

Gambier Island of French Polynesia

On the Gambier Island of French Polynesia, “Aio” or “Ao” means peace. “Magaro” means many things: courteous, pleasant, of easy manners, peaceful, quiet, of an agreeable flavor (said of food). “Aka magaro” is to render soft, to soothe or appease, to bend, to tame, to render quiet, to become accustomed in the Mangareva language of Gambier Island.

Imagine if we all became tame, building ties with each other and then became accustomed to and soothed by to a peaceful world.

Originally published at https://www.raisingconsciousnessnow.com on February 6, 2019.

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Kimberly Burnham

Writer, Poet, Ekphrastic Writer-in-Residence, Nerve Whisperer, Brain Health Coach, Author of The Traveling Brain: Illuminating Peace Poetry in 5000 Languages.