adopt
Americanverb (used with object)
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to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or assent.
to adopt a nickname.
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to take responsibility for raising (someone else’s biological child) as one's own, specifically by a formal legal act.
After more than 300 days in foster care, the twins were adopted by a family that was able to keep the siblings together.
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to acquire (a pet, especially one from an animal rescue organization).
Local animal rescue groups use social media to persuade people to adopt dogs and cats from them instead of purchasing puppies and kittens from pet shops or breeders.
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to take or receive into any kind of new relationship.
to adopt a person as a protégé.
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to select as a basic or required textbook or series of textbooks in a course.
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to vote to accept.
The House adopted the report.
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to accept or act in accordance with (a plan, principle, etc.).
verb (used without object)
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to take a nonbiological child into one’s home and raise as one’s own.
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to acquire a pet, especially one from an animal rescue organization.
“Adopt! Don’t shop!” is the popular slogan promoted by one nonprofit animal advocacy group.
verb phrase
verb
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law to bring (a person) into a specific relationship, esp to take (another's child) as one's own child
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to choose and follow (a plan, technique, etc)
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to take over (an idea, etc) as if it were one's own
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to take on; assume
to adopt a title
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to accept (a report, etc)
Usage
What does adopt mean? To adopt is to take another parent’s child into one’s custody, typically in a formal legal way, in order to permanently act as their parent or guardian.This most commonly involves an adult couple or a single adult adopting and raising a child who is no longer in the custody of either of their birth parents (biological parents), such as in cases where they have died or are otherwise unable to care for the child. This sense of adopt can also be used in reference to adopting an animal as a pet, such as from an animal shelter. The word is especially used this way when the animal had a previous caretaker.Adopt and the noun form adoption have many other more general meanings. Most generally, adopt means to choose or take as one's own. It can also mean to accept something or vote to approve it. In all cases, adoption is the act or process of adopting, or the state of having adopted.To adopt a tradition or religion is to make it one’s own. To adopt a plan is to approve it and act according to its steps. Similarly, to adopt a law is to formally vote to approve it and take steps to follow and enforce it.Example: We’ve found an agency that will help us to adopt.
Other Word Forms
- adoptee noun
- adopter noun
- adoption noun
- nonadopter noun
- preadopt verb (used with object)
- quasi-adopt verb (used with object)
- quasi-adopted adjective
- readopt verb (used with object)
- unadopted adjective
- well-adopted adjective
Etymology
Origin of adopt
First recorded 1490–1500; late Middle English adopten, partly from Middle French adopter, partly from Latin adoptāre, equivalent to ad- verb prefix + optāre “to desire, pray for”; ad-, opt
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This can give you a window into the lifestyle you’d be adopting.
From MarketWatch
The school takes advantage of all the free resources it can get, and adopted a rocking chair for a reading corner.
From BBC
So in my training period I adopted the same biases.
From Barron's
“In particular, the pace of AI-related listings is poised to accelerate as the technology matures and is adopted more widely across various industries.”
Every January, millions of us make bold predictions without data, adopt strategies without feedback, and sign up for gym memberships that quietly autodraft until we notice the charge sometime around the Fourth of July.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
