acclimate

/ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt/

//ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"acclimate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“acclimate” is uncommon English (frequency #64,159 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,159
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To habituate to a climate not native; to acclimatize.

Corpus desk

Index EN-acclimate · acclimate · English

acclimate · rank #64,159 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,159
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Acadian

Nearest frequency peer: Acadian (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “acclimate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “acclimate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for acclimate
PropertyValue
Headwordacclimate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt/
Letters9
Frequency rank#64,159
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “acclimate” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).acclimatefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Acadian” (#64,158), “academical” (#64,157), “acquirer” (#64,163). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “acclimate” is #64,159. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

acclimate is uncommon English at frequency #64,159 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

acclimate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: 1792, from French acclimater. The correct English form is acclimate, spelled A-C-C-L-I-M-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To habituate to a climate not native; to acclimatize.
  2. 2
    To adjust to a new environment; not necessarily a wild, natural, earthy one.
  3. 3
    To become accustomed to a new climate or environment.

Etymology

1792, from French acclimater.

Synonyms

acclimatiseacclimatizeaccommodateaccultureaccustomclimatizeconformget used tohabituatehardenseasontoughenadjust

This word in other languages

aclimatar(Español)acclimater(Français)akklimatisieren(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "acclimate"?
"acclimate" is spelled A-C-C-L-I-M-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt/.
What does "acclimate" mean?
As a verb, "acclimate" means: To habituate to a climate not native; to acclimatize.
How do you pronounce "acclimate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "acclimate" is /ˈæk.lɪ.meɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "acclimate"?
1792, from French acclimater. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "acclimate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

arthropod#64,181audiology#64,187backbench#64,194badgering#64,196

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list