Acclimates

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Becomes accustomed to a different climate or surroundings through gradual exposure
2. Undergoes adaptation to new environmental conditions to function comfortably
3. Adapts one's body or habits to suit a novel climate or setting

Etymology: Acclimate entered English in 1792, borrowed from French "acclimater", and its core is a climate. The French verb is built from "climat", which descends from Latin "clima", from Greek "klima", meaning a slope or inclination. Ancient geographers used the word for the angle at which sunlight struck a given latitude, so a "klima" was a band of the earth defined by how the sun hit it, and the modern sense of weather and temperature grew out of that idea of a region's tilt toward the sun. The French prefix "a-" (from Latin "ad", meaning "to") turns the noun into a verb meaning to bring something into a new climate. The English word therefore began as a description of moving a plant or person to a different region, and only later widened to cover adapting to any new surroundings.

Synonyms: adjusts, adapts, accommodates, fits, harmonizes

Antonyms: stagnates, resists, rejects, disregards, ignores