Disaccustom

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To aid a person in breaking away from familiar practices and habits To support the process of shedding ingrained behaviors and routines To assist an individual in moving away from their established customs and norms
2. To help someone stop their usual habits or customs
3. To encourage the breaking of habitual behavior or routine

Etymology: The verb "disaccustom" is a straightforward formation: the prefix "dis-", meaning reversal or removal, attached to "accustom," which means to make someone familiar with a habit or custom. Taken together, it means to undo that familiarity, to wean someone off a practice they have grown used to. Its route into English ran through French. Medieval English borrowed the word from Old French "desacostumer," which meant "render unfamiliar," and the French form survives today as "désaccoutumer." The English version has the same literal sense: a person is made strange to something they once knew well, so that the old routine no longer feels natural.

Synonyms: unaccustom, detach, disengage

Antonyms: accustom, familiarize