adoption

American  

[uh-dop-shuhn] / əˈdɒp ʃən /

noun

adoptions plural

1. the act or process of establishing a legal relationship between a child and a parent other than the child’s biological parent, thereby entrusting the designated adult with responsibility for raising the child.

   Have you considered growing your family through adoption?

2. the act or process of acquiring a pet, especially a stray or abandoned animal from an animal rescue organization.

   The shelter sees a rush of dog adoptions every June, when school lets out for summer.

3. the act of accepting, embracing, or starting to use something, as an idea, behavior, characteristic, or principle: Her friends and family were surprised by her adoption of European mannerisms and expressions after only one year abroad.

   The adoption of a new amendment was delayed by partisan bickering.

   Her friends and family were surprised by her adoption of European mannerisms and expressions after only one year abroad.

4. the state of being adopted.

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Usage

What does adoption mean? Adoption is the process of adopting another parent’s child—taking them 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 adoption 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 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. The adoption of a tradition or religion involves making it one’s own. The adoption of a plan involves approving it and acting according to its steps. Similarly, the adoption of a law involves the formal vote to approve it and the steps taken to follow and enforce it. Example: We’ve found an agency that will help us through the process of adoption.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonadoption
  noun
• preadoption
  noun
• readoption
  noun
• adoptional
  adjective
• proadoption
  adjective
• unadoptional
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• adoptions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of adoption

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adopcioun, from Latin adoptiōn-, stem of adoptiō; see ad-, option

Explanation

Adoption is the act of taking something on as your own. Adoption usually refers to the legal process of becoming a non-biological parent, but it also refers to the act of embracing ideas, habits, or free kittens. Adoption comes from the Old French word adoptare, meaning "to chose for oneself.” Feel like adding an option? Try adoption. Adoption is the noun form of adopt, so it not only refers to legally taking another person into your family, it can be any time you take something on as your own. If you start dressing like a friend, that's an adoption of your friend's style. If that friend wears micro-miniskirts, your parents might put you up for adoption.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

adoption adoptions

Amazon, an early adopter, was hiring a principal AI executive to drive AI-tool adoption across production, plus roles in operations automation and LLM content classification, the listings revealed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

“It’s been really a challenging thing to adopt both socially, ethically and legally, but we are seeing more adoption of it than we’ve ever seen before,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026

It had been sent by his adopted parents to his birth mother days after his adoption.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

The report also says that skilled, blue-collar workers are using AI, which stands in contrast to some other research showing adoption is concentrated in white-collar work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Just as Burnham had feared, union leaders began using the future fair as a vehicle for asserting such goals as the adoption of a minimum wage and an eight-hour day.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Hidayat joined a Facebook group for adoptions, and was approached by a woman claiming she could not have children.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

Cat adoptions are climbing: More than 2.2 million cats were adopted from U.S. shelters in 2025, up 16% from a decade ago, according to Shelter Animals Count.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Australia's government issued a landmark apology in 2013 for forced adoptions and Ireland's did so in 2021.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

Last month, the Church of England last month said sorry for its role in the forced adoptions.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

She told me she had called a few adoption agencies that arranged international adoptions.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Related Words

• acceptance
• approval
• enactment
• endorsement
• maintenance
• ratification