inure v : cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate; "He was inured to the cold" [syn: harden, indurate]

English

Etymology

etyl enm, , customary; from "in ure": "in", "in"; see "in" 1 + "ure", use (from Old French "euvre", "uevre", work); from Latin "opera", activity associated with work (See op- in Indo-European Roots).

Pronunciation

• : Rhymes: -ə(r)

Verb

1. To become accustomed to something unpleasant by prolonged exposure.
2. To take effect, or to benefit someone. In property law, the term means "to vest". For example, Jim buys a beach house that includes the right to travel across the neighbor's property to get to the water. That right of way is said, cryptically, "to inure to the benefit of Jim".

Quotations

• "Today there are even commercials in which real scientists, some of considerable distinction, shill for corporations. They teach that scientists too will lie for money. As Tom Paine warned, inuring us to lies lays the groundwork for many other evils".

- Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World, 1996

• "They had inured themselves to defeat".

- Orhan Pamuk, Snow, 2006

Translations

acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate, accustom, adapt, adjust, break, break in, brutalize, callous, case harden, condition, confirm, discipline, domesticate, domesticize, establish, familiarize, fix, gentle, habituate, harden, housebreak, indurate, naturalize, orient, orientate, ossify, season, steel, tame, train, use, wont