Acclimatising

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of becoming accustomed to a new environment necessitates physiological or behavioral adjustments to thrive in that setting
2. Adjusting to unfamiliar climatic conditions involves modifying one’s physical and behavioral attributes for better adaptation
3. Undergoing changes to better suit a different environment or surroundings

Etymology: The verb "acclimatise" is built from "acclimate" plus the suffix "-ise", and the first half carries a clear Greek root. "Clima" was a Greek word for a slope or inclination, and the ancient Greeks used it for the tilt of the earth's surface relative to the sun, which they understood determined how hot or cold a region was. Latin borrowed it as "clima", and it entered English through French "climat", giving us "climate" in the sense of a region's typical weather. "Acclimate" was formed in English by adding the prefix "ac-", from Latin "ad" meaning "to", to "climate", so the word literally means "to make suited to a climate." The Latin verb ending "-āre" and French "-er" passed through to give the English verb. The ending "-ise" came into English from Greek "-izein" by way of Late Latin "-izare", which French and Middle English adopted, so "acclimatise" is a second, more British-style verb formed on the same base.

Synonyms: adapting, adjusting, accustoming

Antonyms: unfitting, disacclimatizing