accustom

American  

[uh-kuhs-tuhm] / əˈkʌs təm /

verb (used with object)

accustoms, present (3rd person singular) accustomed, past participle, past accustoming present participle

1. to familiarize by custom or use; habituate.

   to accustom oneself to cold weather.

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accustom British  

/ əˈkʌstəm /

verb

1. to make (oneself) familiar (with) or used (to), as by practice, habit, or experience

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preaccustom
  verb (used with object)
• reaccustom
  verb (used with object)
• unaccustom
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• accustoming
  present
• accustomed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• accustom
  simple
• accustoms
  simple
• have accustomed
  perfect
• has accustomed
  perfect
• am accustoming
  progressive
• are accustoming
  progressive
• is accustoming
  progressive
• have been accustoming
  perfect progressive
• has been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Past

• accustomed
  simple
• had accustomed
  perfect
• was accustoming
  progressive
• were accustoming
  progressive
• had been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will accustom
  simple
• will have accustomed
  perfect
• will be accustoming
  progressive
• will have been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of accustom

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English word from Middle French word acoustumer. See ac-, custom

Explanation

The verb accustom means to become used to or familiar with something; to make something a habit. If there is a new baby in your family, you will most likely become accustomed to changing diapers. Although the verb accustom looks like it should be related to the word custom, it actually comes through costume, through the Old French acostumer, with à, meaning "to," and costume, meaning "fashion or habit." Now it retains the meaning to make something a habit. You can accustom yourself to loud sirens if you live in a city or to the sound of crickets if you live in the country. Parents often cannot become accustomed to the musical taste of their kids.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

accustom accustoms accustomed accustoming

Trent, the former customer the Roosevelt Bartell, ended up at the Rite Aid in Wedgwood, where she said she’s had to accustom herself to long waits.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2023

Several mahouts went to Sri Lanka in advance to accustom the animal to being caged so he wouldn’t panic during the trip to Thailand.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 2, 2023

As the rare woman in the upper echelons of Chinese politics, it is a role to which she has become accustom, driving the Communist Party’s will and bearing the country’s criticism.

From New York Times ● Oct. 19, 2022

Much the same is true for the pandemic, which lingers in ways we find we can endure precisely because our martial metaphors accustom us to thinking we will definitively defeat it.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 9, 2022

The world looked blurred through the window and I waited for my eyes to accustom themselves to sunlight.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin

Chief among these techniques is "systematic desensitization," the process a mother uses when she accustoms a baby to the ocean by dipping in one foot first, then a leg, then the infant's whole body.

From Time Magazine Archive

Though it is repetitious and - I am afraid to say - increasingly annoying to listen to, this technique soon accustoms our ears to expect equal weight in a tune’s two halves.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

And yet, whoever accustoms himself to read with care these things which I am now writing on the subject of philosophy, will come to the conclusion that no works are better worth reading than these.

From The Academic Questions, Treatise De Finibus, and Tusculan Disputations, of M.T. Cicero, With a Sketch of the Greek Philosophers Mentioned by Cicero by Yonge, Charles Duke

Manufacture, by its constantly changing processes, accustoms those who engage in it to the idea of continual adaptation and improvement.

From A Short History of English Liberalism by Blease, Walter Lyon

The line now assumes in his eyes a very definite meaning; and he accustoms himself to recognize, to interpret and to judge of forms contained by a simple outline.

From Dr. Montessori's Own Handbook by Montessori, Maria

Already accustomed to extreme environments, they are quick to adapt to the wind farm's conditions.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

He adds that long-term and experimental research will be essential for determining whether animals are simply becoming accustomed to human activity or experiencing deeper evolutionary changes.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Still, winning over city slickers accustomed to premium brands remains an uphill battle.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Buyers also had grown accustomed to buying Iranian oil at a discount when sanctions were in effect.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Calluses formed on my fingertips, my eye grew skilled at selecting friendlier fabrics to piece into the same block, and my neck is now accustomed to hunching over my work.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson

Bacon said he and the fellow star had no qualms accustoming to their new routine while quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic.

From Fox News ● Jan. 10, 2022

“These reviews also had a good effect in accustoming the troops to see me, although they saw so much of me in their camps and on the picket-lines that this was of minor importance.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2017

The old falconers called the process of accustoming a hawk to a human “watching.”

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2015

With the speedy Wall leading the way, the Wizards plan to use more of a running, uptempo style than Porter was accustoming to playing the past two seasons at Georgetown.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2013

He felt that his parents, while accustoming him to his new life, would weaken him by excess of care and tenderness or chill him by severity and coldness.

From Iermola by Kraszewski, Jo?zef Ignacy

Related Words

• acquaint
• adapt