adopt

American  

[uh-dopt] / əˈdɒpt /

verb (used with object)

• adopts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• adopted,
  past participle,  past
• adopting
  present participle

1. to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or assent.

   to adopt a nickname.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. to take or receive into any kind of new relationship.

   to adopt a person as a protégé.

5. to select as a basic or required textbook or series of textbooks in a course.

6. to vote to accept.

   The House adopted the report.

7. to accept or act in accordance with (a plan, principle, etc.).

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verb (used without object)

• adopts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• adopted,
  past participle,  past
• adopting
  present participle

1. to take a nonbiological child into one’s home and raise as one’s own.

2. 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

1. adopt out to place in a home by means of adoption.

   The shelter provides basic medical care and vaccinations to the animals they will be adopting out.

adopt British  

/ əˈdɒpt /

verb

1. law to bring (a person) into a specific relationship, esp to take (another's child) as one's own child

2. to choose and follow (a plan, technique, etc)

3. to take over (an idea, etc) as if it were one's own

4. to take on; assume

   to adopt a title

5. to accept (a report, etc)

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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

Derived Forms

• adoptee
  noun
• adopter
  noun
• adoption
  noun
• nonadopter
  noun
• preadopt
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-adopt
  verb (used with object)
• readopt
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-adopted
  adjective
• unadopted
  adjective
• well-adopted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• adopting
  present
• adopted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• adopt
  simple
• adopts
  simple
• have adopted
  perfect
• has adopted
  perfect
• am adopting
  progressive
• are adopting
  progressive
• is adopting
  progressive
• have been adopting
  perfect progressive
• has been adopting
  perfect progressive

Past

• adopted
  simple
• had adopted
  perfect
• was adopting
  progressive
• were adopting
  progressive
• had been adopting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will adopt
  simple
• will have adopted
  perfect
• will be adopting
  progressive
• will have been adopting
  perfect progressive

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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”; see ad-, opt

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Explanation

You can adopt an air of nonchalance, a fake British accent, or even a stray dog. When you adopt something, you consciously select it and accept it as your own. The word adopt has many different shades of meaning, but most relate to the notion of taking something on and treating it as if it’s your own. You’re probably familiar with what happens if you adopt a child: you take on parental responsibilities and accept the child as if it’s your own. You can adopt other things — such as a plan, a method, or a point of view — in a similar way. For example, when you adopt a particular attitude — such as a respectful attitude — you select that as a way to present yourself and behave as if it is natural.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adopt adopts adopted adopting

Greece recently became the seventh European country to adopt the KC-390, while the model has also been ordered by South Korea, Uzbekistan and Colombia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 11, 2026

How that attendance figure is judged depends on the narrative people choose to adopt.

From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026

The report anticipates that tighter credit and liquidity next year will force decelerating AI capex, more credit events and the Federal Reserve being forced to adopt a more dovish approach.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026

But the board voted 4-1 to adopt the plan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

Most white people believed African Americans lacked the proper motivation to work, prompting the provisional Southern legislatures to adopt the notorious black codes.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

If Congress adopts permanent daylight saving time year-round, Los Angeles would see its latest sunrise of the year at 8 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026

Moody’s left the rating unchanged on the assumption that France successfully adopts a deficit-reducing budget for 2027.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Cong has bewildered opponents at weigh-ins while wearing the face paint, and says she even adopts the Joker alias when using social media messaging back home in China.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

It adopts a helpful no-punishment philosophy: If you don’t meet your goals or you step away from the app for an extended amount of time, it only sends encouragement.

From Slate ● Sep. 6, 2026

Naturally, I don’t subscribe to the obvious fallacy that every society promptly adopts every innovation that would be useful for it.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

That name felt like the perfect branding, and the Leights adopted it for their company.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2026

The company also adopted a shareholder-rights plan, often referred to as a “poison pill,” intended to fend off a hostile takeover.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 12, 2026

Much of that progress can be traced to the Montreal Protocol, a global agreement adopted in 1987 to phase out substances responsible for damaging the ozone layer.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 11, 2026

Dunkley took the nine-month-old to social services and he was later adopted.

From BBC ● Nov. 7, 2026

He was an immigrant—he’d adopted France and loved it unabashedly, but he was now cast as a foreigner.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Thinla from Laos has abandoned the short, sequinned dress she wore in the first video of her infectious reggaeton song Bae and is adopting Lao hill-tribe costume for her and her backing dancers.

From BBC ● Nov. 13, 2026

While venture capitalists are still bullish on AI startups, many are adopting a more cautious approach as they wait for OpenAI and Anthropic to go public.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026

Whether they tweak conventional wisdom or devise an entirely new way to pick stocks, the key is adopting a screening method that works — and then sticking with it.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2026

The case prompted fresh calls for transparency, with parliament adopting a law in 2003, which allowed individuals who had been monitored to learn who had reported on them.

From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026

To alleviate this, the Ptolemies legitimized their power by adopting the trappings of old-time pharaonic rule.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

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Related Words

• accept
• approve
• embrace
• endorse
• follow
• maintain
• ratify
• select
• support
• take up
• use

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