'tamer' originates from English, formed by adding the agentive/comparative suffix '-er' to the base word 'tame,' where 'tame' comes from Old English 'tam' meaning 'tame' or 'domesticated'.

'tamer' developed as a form of the Old English adjective 'tam' (and verb 'tame') with the suffix '-er' in Middle English; 'tam' itself comes from Proto-Germanic '*tamaz', which yielded Old English 'tam' and later modern English 'tame'.

Initially, the root meant 'tame' (docile, domesticated); over time the form with '-er' came to be used both as the agent noun 'tamer' (one who tames) and as the comparative adjective 'tamer' (more tame).