adapt

[ uh-dapt ]

/ əˈdæpt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adapt ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

Origin of adapt

1605–15; < Latin adaptāre to fit, adjust, perhaps via French adapter. See ad-, apt

SYNONYMS FOR adapt

1. fit, accommodate, suit, reconcile, conform; modify, rework, convert.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adapt ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

a·dapt·ed·ness, nounmis·a·dapt, verbnon·a·dapt·ing, adjectivere·a·dapt, verb (used with object)

un·a·dapt·ed, adjectivewell-a·dapt·ed, adjective

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 adapting

Some of this is just a natural part of adapting to the natural climate change that is happening in the Arctic.
Russia Preps Its North Pole Invasion|Dave Majumdar|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Southerland has lots of company among Republicans when it comes to adapting past positions in order to appeal to women voters.
The Republican War on Women Continues, Just More Quietly|Eleanor Clift|October 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Paul Thomas Anderson, director of Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, has taken on the task of adapting Vice for the screen.
Viral Video of the Day: The ‘Inherent Vice’ Trailer Is Loopy Fun|Alex Chancey|September 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
There were, by his guess, “several other people circling Roger” with the idea of adapting his memoir into a documentary film.
‘Life Itself’: A Fitting, Heartrending Tribute to Cinema’s Great Appreciator Roger Ebert|Marlow Stern|July 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Both are tremendously talented, smart leaders who have built careers failing, adapting, and then succeeding.
The GOP’s Long, Hard Road in California|Stuart Stevens|May 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I should in that way avoid all the trouble of cutting and adapting.
An Autobiography|Igor Stravinsky
But early Deism lacked an indispensable element of strength,—the power of adapting itself to the people.
History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology|John F. Hurst
Emphasis is placed upon the devising, adapting, constructing faculties.
A Preface to Politics|Walter Lippmann
The word teleology means the view of things as adapting means towards purposive ends.
A Critical History of Greek Philosophy|W. T. Stace
He possessed the happy faculty of reading characters, and adapting his conversation to the minds of his listeners.
File No. 113|Emile Gaboriau

British Dictionary definitions for adapting

adapt

/ (əˈdæpt) /

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 adapting

adapt

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.