adopted

British  

/ əˈdɒptɪd /

adjective

1. having been adopted Compare adoptive

   an adopted child

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Explanation

Something that's adopted has been deliberately chosen. Your adopted country is the place where you choose to live, not necessarily the one in which you're born. If you describe yourself as adopted, it means that you were taken in and raised by parents who didn't give birth to you. Just as your adoptive parents chose you to be their child, other adopted things are also chosen: an adopted language is one you learn and then choose to speak, and an adopted state is the place you freely decide to live in. The Latin root is adoptare, "choose for oneself."

Example Sentences

The fears may be elevated in areas where technology is more easily adopted to replicate information technology work, reshaping that workforce.

From BBC • May 18, 2026

The last important amendment adopted, the 26th, which lowered the voting age to 18, was ratified 55 years ago.

From Salon • May 18, 2026

Consumers, though, have adopted a gloomier attitude, even as analysts note that they continue to spend despite the biggest price shocks seen since the pandemic.

From MarketWatch • May 17, 2026

It reasoned that because early voters had already cast ballots before the constitutional amendment was first adopted, the proposal was not approved before the election.

From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026

It had all begun when Clare was a very new Usher, so new, in fact, that he’d not yet adopted his beloved cloak-and-monocle disguise.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Related Words

• accessible
• familiar
• prevalent
• public
• rampant
• ubiquitous
• universal