adopted
Britishadjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Her goal is for the programme to one day become a blueprint that can be adopted by rural and remote communities across Canada, creating teams that can be relied on across the country.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
There is one final bit of irony: Cornell’s longtime unofficial mascot is Touchdown the Big Red Bear, a tradition dating to 1915, when the football team once adopted a live black bear.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
He adopted the name "Rangzen" which means "independence" -- echoing his desire for an independent Tibet.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Southern California air regulators Thursday adopted a slate of new requirements aimed at neutralizing the rancid odors from the fire-damaged Lineage warehouse that still contains millions of pounds of rotting food.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Most of the kids were adopted in other places, like me,” Chip said.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
