Word of the Day Archive
Saturday October 2, 2004
acclimate \uh-KLY-mit; AK-luh-mayt\ , transitive and intransitive verb:
To accustom or become accustomed to a new climate, environment, or situation.
Getting acclimated to being in the suburbs, Sally? Mrs. Westin asked.
-- Julia Slavin, The Woman Who Cut Off Her Leg at the Maidstone Club and Other Stories
The Korbels did not have much time to pull their lives together and acclimate themselves to English culture.
-- Ann Blackman, Seasons of Her Life
Acclimate is from French acclimater, from a-, "to" (from Latin ad-) + climat, "climate," from Late Latin clima, climat-, from Greek klima, "inclination; the supposed slope of the earth toward the pole; region; clime," from klinein, "to lean."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for acclimate
