Unfamiliarise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Causes a person or thing to lose its familiar quality, so that it seems strange or unknown again
2. Makes something that was once well known become unfamiliar or hard to recognize through neglect or change
3. Removes the sense of familiarity that someone had with a subject, place, or object over time

Etymology: "Unfamiliarise" is a plain English formation: the prefix "un-" added to the verb "familiarise," which itself comes from "familiar." The verb "familiarise" was first recorded in the early 1800s, and "unfamiliarise" follows the same pattern, meaning to make something no longer familiar, or to cause a person to lose their acquaintance with something. The base word traces back further. "Familiar" entered English in the late 1300s from Old French "familier," which came from Latin "familiaris," meaning "of the household" or "of a family," from "familia." The original sense was intimate, domestic association, and the idea of being known through close living together carried over into the modern sense of something recognised. The "-ise" ending is the common verb suffix that English took from Old French "-iser" and Greek "-izein," used to turn adjectives and nouns into verbs. "Unfamiliarise" is therefore best understood as a straightforward combination of three familiar parts, not a word with a dramatic history of its own.

Synonyms: estrange, alienate

Antonyms: familiarise, acquaint, accustom