from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
transitive verb To familiarize, as by constant practice, use, or habit.
from The Century Dictionary.
To familiarize by custom or use; habituate or inure: as, to accustom one's self to a spare diet; time may accustom one to almost anything; to be accustomed to hard work.
Synonyms To habituate, familiarize, inure, harden, train.
To be wont or habituated to do anything.
To consort or cohabit.
noun Custom: as, “individual accustom of life,”
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
intransitive verb obsolete To be wont.
intransitive verb obsolete To cohabit.
transitive verb To make familiar by use; to habituate, familiarize, or inure; -- with to.
noun obsolete Custom.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
verb transitive To make familiar by use; to cause to accept; to habituate, familiarize, or inure; -- with to.
verb intransitive, obsolete To be wont.
verb intransitive, obsolete To cohabit.
noun obsoleteCustom.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
verb make psychologically or physically used (to something)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English accustomen, from Old French acostumer : a-, to (from Latin ad-; see ad–) + costume, custom; see custom.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Old French acoustumer, acustumer (Modern French accoutumer) corresponding to a ("to, toward") + custom. More at custom, costume.
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Examples
Hereafter, at its restoration, it shall confess the sore discipline was all needed to "accustom" it to God's "easy yoke" (Mt 11: 29, 30). turn thou me -- by Thy converting Spirit (La 5: 21).
For the mind and memory are more sharply exercised in comprehending another man's things than our own; and such as accustom themselves and are familiar with the best authors shall ever and anon find somewhat of them in themselves, and in the expression of their minds, even when they feel it not, be able to utter something like theirs, which hath an authority above their own.
Only when you have written your letter, read it over and make the rests, or stops, which the sentences seem to require, and then see if you have made them with your pen, if not put them in, and this will accustom you to write inteligably to any one.
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