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definitions

adapt

[uh-dapt]
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verb (used with object)

to make suitable to requirements or conditions; adjust or modify fittingly: They adapted themselves to the change quickly. He adapted the novel for movies.

verb (used without object)

to adjust oneself to different conditions, environment, etc.: to adapt easily to all circumstances.

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RELATED WORDS

fitting, becoming

Nearby words

  1. adams-stokes syndrome,
  2. adamsite,
  3. adana,
  4. adansonian classification,
  5. adapazari,
  6. adaptability,
  7. adaptable,
  8. adaptation,
  9. adapted,
  10. adapter

Origin of adapt

1605–15; < Latin adaptāre to fit, adjust, perhaps via French adapter. See ad-, apt
Related forms
Can be confusedadapt adept adopt

Synonym study

1. See adjust.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for adapted

British Dictionary definitions for adapted

adapt

verb

(often foll by to) to adjust (someone or something, esp oneself) to different conditions, a new environment, etc
(tr) to fit, change, or modify to suit a new or different purposeto adapt a play for use in schools
Derived Formsadaptable, adjectiveadaptability or adaptableness, nounadaptive, adjective

Word Origin for adapt

C17: from Latin adaptāre, from ad- to + aptāre to fit, from aptus apt
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for adapted

adapt

v.

early 15c. (implied in adapted) "to fit (something, for some purpose)," from Middle French adapter (14c.), from Latin adaptare "adjust," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + aptare "join," from aptus "fitted" (see apt). Meaning "to undergo modification so as to fit new circumstances" (intransitive) is from 1956. Related: Adapting.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper