Attuning

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of refining one's perception to achieve harmony with others or environments
2. The process of modifying one's responses to better align with different contexts or individuals
3. The practice of adapting one's feelings and behaviors to create a sense of balance with surrounding people or situations

Etymology: "Attuning" is the present participle of "attune," a verb built from the prefix "ad-" ("to, toward") and "tune." The prefix comes from Latin, and the root "tune" is a much older English word, so the verb is a simple combination of two familiar parts: bringing something into tune with something else. The literal sense comes first. To attune an instrument is to adjust it until its pitch agrees with another, so the verb started as a musical idea. Its figurative sense, bringing one thing into harmony with another, grew naturally from that, and the modern sense about adjusting one's feelings and behaviour to fit surrounding people or situations is an extension of the same image.

Synonyms: adjusting, aligning, harmonizing, calibrating, fine-tuning

Antonyms: dissonating, discording, disaligning, misaligning, disturbing