adaptive

[uh-dap-tiv]

adjective

serving or able to adapt; showing or contributing to adaptation: the adaptive coloring of a chameleon.

Origin of adaptive

First recorded in 1815–25; adapt + -ive

Related formsa·dap·tive·ly, adverba·dap·tive·ness, nounad·ap·tiv·i·ty

[ad-ap-tiv-i-tee] /ˌæd æpˈtɪv ɪ ti/, nounnon·a·dap·tive, adjectivere·a·dap·tive, adjectivere·a·dap·tive·ly, adverbre·a·dap·tive·ness, nounun·a·dap·tive, adjectiveun·a·dap·tive·ly, adverbun·a·dap·tive·ness, noun

Can be confusedadaptive adoptive

Examples from the Web for adaptively

Historical Examples of adaptively

Surely at least the unclear conception of an adaptively transformative influence of food must be discarded.
On Germinal Selection as a Source of Definite Variation
August Weismann