Ablactate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˌæblækˈteɪt/

Definitions

1. To wean a young mammal from its mother's milk by introducing alternative food sources
2. The process of transitioning a dependent infant or young animal from breastfeeding to a diet of solid food
3. To stop feeding a young mammal milk from its mother and start giving other foods

Etymology: The verb "ablactate" is a Latin import with a very physical core: it means to take a baby or young animal off the breast. Its Latin ancestor, "ablactare", combined "ab", meaning "away from", with "lactare", meaning "to suckle", which in turn comes from "lac", the word for milk. Put together, the sense is simply "to wean from milk," and the English verb keeps that concrete image intact. Because it came straight from Latin rather than passing through everyday speech, it sounds more clinical than its common synonym "wean," which has Old English roots. English writers adopted it when they needed a precise technical term for the weaning process, and it has stayed largely within medical, veterinary and agricultural writing ever since.