adoption
Americannoun
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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?
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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.
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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.
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the state of being adopted.
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
- adoptional adjective
- nonadoption noun
- preadoption noun
- proadoption adjective
- readoption noun
- unadoptional adjective
Etymology
Origin of adoption
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English adopcioun, from Latin adoptiōn-, stem of adoptiō; ad-, option
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.
It is leaning into its area expertise to drive adoption, and hoping that will provide a moat to protect it from the AI onslaught.
From Barron's
On the demand side, the speed and magnitude of new threats is unprecedented, and customers increasingly view greater security as a prerequisite for AI adoption.
From Barron's
“What ultimately breaks us out of this range is less the next macro data point and more continued institutional and real‑economy adoption, especially as bitcoin continues to be an emerging store-of-value asset,” she said.
From MarketWatch
This is making small businesses the main growth engine for retirement-plan adoption.
"We recognize the importance of security in AI systems, industry-led voluntary measures, and the adoption of technical solutions, and appropriate policy frameworks that enable innovation."
From Barron's
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.
