Acclimatation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of adjusting to a new environment or climate, often involving physiological changes in an organism
2. The act or state of becoming accustomed to different conditions, particularly in relation to temperature and altitude
3. A gradual adaptation to new environmental factors, enabling an organism to thrive in its altered surroundings

Etymology: "Acclimatation" came into English from French "acclimatation," the noun formed from the verb "acclimater," meaning to adapt a plant or animal to a new climate. The French verb itself was built on "climat," the word for a region's climate, which traces back through Latin "clima" to a Greek term for the slope of the earth away from the equator, a reference to the angle of the sun's rays across different latitudes. So the word's core idea was originally geographic: a place's climate was a zone defined by its latitude. English speakers mostly reach for "acclimatization" today, and "acclimatation" is the older, shorter form that the same French root produced. Both carry the same sense of a living thing adjusting to conditions unlike those it came from, whether that means heat, cold, or thin mountain air.

Synonyms: acclimatization, adaptation, adjustment