What does Adopt mean?

Definitions for Adopt
əˈdɒptadopt

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Adopt.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. adopt, follow, espouseverb

    choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans

    "She followed the feminist movement"; "The candidate espouses Republican ideals"

  2. adopt, borrow, take over, take upverb

    take up and practice as one's own

  3. assume, adopt, take on, take oververb

    take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities

    "When will the new President assume office?"

  4. assume, acquire, adopt, take on, takeverb

    take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

    "His voice took on a sad tone"; "The story took a new turn"; "he adopted an air of superiority"; "She assumed strange manners"; "The gods assume human or animal form in these fables"

  5. adopt, take inverb

    take into one's family

    "They adopted two children from Nicaragua"

  6. dramatize, dramatise, adoptverb

    put into dramatic form

    "adopt a book for a screenplay"

  7. espouse, embrace, adopt, sweep upverb

    take up the cause, ideology, practice, method, of someone and use it as one's own

    "She embraced Catholicism"; "They adopted the Jewish faith"

Wiktionary

  1. adoptverb

    To take by choice into relationship, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.

  2. adoptverb

    To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.

    A friend of mine recently adopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.

  3. adoptverb

    To obtain (a pet) from a shelter or the wild.

    We're going to adopt a Dalmatian.

  4. adoptverb

    To take by choice into the scope of one's responsibility.

    This supermarket chain adopts several families every Yuletide, providing them with money and groceries for the holidays.

  5. adoptverb

    To take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally.

  6. adoptverb

    To select and take or approve.

  7. Etymology: From adopter, from Latin adoptare; ad + optare.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. To ADOPTverb

    Etymology: adopto, Lat.

    Were none of all my father’s sisters left;
    Nay, were I of my mother’s kin bereft;
    None by an uncle’s or a grandame’s side,
    Yet I cou’d some adopted heir provide. John Dryden, Pers. Sat. vi.

    Whether, adopted to some neighb’ring star,
    Thou roll’st above us, in thy wand’ring race,
    Or, in procession fix’d and regular,
    Mov’d with the heav’ns majestic pace;
    Or call’d to more celestial bliss,
    Thou tread’st, with seraphims, the vast abyss. Dryd.

    We are seldom at ease from the solicitation of our natural or adopted desires; but a constant succession of uneasinesses, out of that stock, which natural wants, or acquired habits, have heaped up, take the will in their turns. John Locke.

Wikipedia

  1. adopt

    Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from the biological parents to the adoptive parents. Unlike guardianship or other systems designed for the care of the young, adoption is intended to effect a permanent change in status and as such requires societal recognition, either through legal or religious sanction. Historically, some societies have enacted specific laws governing adoption, while others used less formal means (notably contracts that specified inheritance rights and parental responsibilities without an accompanying transfer of filiation). Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations.

ChatGPT

  1. adopt

    Adopt refers to the legal act of voluntarily taking and raising another person's child as one's own, in which the adoptive parent agrees to assume all parental responsibilities and rights. In a broader sense, adopt can also mean to choose, accept, or approve of something such as an idea, method, or policy and incorporate it into one's life, habits, or use.

  2. adopt

    To adopt means to legally take and bring up another's child as one's own or to choose and start to use or follow a particular method, plan, principle, etc. It can also mean to accept and start using a new technology, process, idea or habit.

  3. adopt

    To adopt means to legally take another's child and bring it up as one's own. It can also refer to accepting or starting to use something new such as an idea, method, or policy. Furthermore, it can mean to choose, select or take on a particular attitude, stance, or behavior.

  4. adopt

    Adopt is a verb that generally refers to the act of legally taking another's child and bringing it up as one's own. It can also mean to choose or take up something such as an idea, method, or principle and use it as one's own. Furthermore, it could refer to formally accepting or approving a proposal or plan.

  5. adopt

    Adopt generally refers to the act of legally taking another's child and bringing it up as one's own, or the act of choosing to take up, follow, or use something such as an idea, method, or policy.

  6. adopt

    To adopt means to choose or take on something such as an idea, method, or habit and make it one's own. It can also refer to the legal process where an adult becomes the legal and permanent parent of a child who is not biologically their own.

  7. adopt

    To adopt means to legally take and bring up another's child as one's own or to choose or accept something such as a law, principle, strategy, plan or idea and use it as one's own. It can also mean starting to use or apply a particular method or technique.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Adoptverb

    to take by choice into relationship, as, child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.; esp. to take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child

  2. Adoptverb

    to take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally; to select and take or approve; as, to adopt the view or policy of another; these resolutions were adopted

  3. Etymology: [L. adoptare; ad + optare to choose, desire: cf. F. adopter. See Option.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Adopt

    ad-opt′, v.t. to choose: to take up or embrace: to take into any relationship: to take as one's own what is another's, as a child, &c.—ns. Adop′tianism, an 8th-century heresy akin to Nestorianism, that Christ, in respect of his divine nature, was doubtless the Son of God; but that, as to his human nature, he was only declared and adopted to be the first-born Son of God; Adop′tion, the act of adopting: the state of being adopted: assumption: the taking into one language of words from another: formal acceptance: choice: (theol.) an act of divine grace by which the redeemed in Christ are admitted to the privileges of the sons of God.—adjs. Adop′tious (Shak.), adopted; Adopt′ive, that adopts or is adopted. [L. adoptāread, to, and, optāre, to choose.]

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Adopt' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3840

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Adopt' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4611

  3. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Adopt' in Verbs Frequency: #255

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce Adopt?

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Adopt in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Adopt in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of Adopt in a Sentence

  1. Ovid, Metamorphoses:

    Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. The phrase "being born" is used for beginning to be something different from what one was before, while "dying" means ceasing to be the same. Though this thing may pass into that, and that into this, yet the sums of things remains unchanged.

  2. Edmund Shing:

    Before becoming positive on the sector, I would like to see them making efforts to improve productivity, adopt technologies like softwares to optimize logistics networks, cut labor costs and have a sustainable dividend policy, it's a very competitive market, growth prospects are limited and the barrier to entry is not very high. The danger for the market is that Amazon might replicate its experiment across Europe and other online companies such as eBay also launch their own delivery services to cut costs.

  3. Kevin Russell:

    They are designed to see how far your principle forces the court to go, and if it leads to a ridiculous result, then maybe that's a reason why the court shouldn't adopt that principle, i think that is part of his nature, making sure the law is accessible to everybody – and he doesn't see himself as a super-genius, the only person that can figure out what the law means.

  4. Steve Vladeck:

    Potential legal challenges will depend upon how the new regulations are actually worded, but based on what we have heard so far, challengers to the new rules will face an uphill battle because it sounds like the primary thing the President is doing is interpreting an ambiguous federal statute, the President is allowed to adopt reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes.

  5. Marie Parmer of Tampa:

    While I respect everyone’s right to a religion and their beliefs, it’s important that school children are not forced to adopt religion, and that is part of the reason for going to public schools, i think this bill is ill-advised. The state of Florida has a lot of very serious issues that the state is facing that the legislature should be spending their time on.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Adopt#1#5639#10000

Translations for Adopt

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"Adopt." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 22 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Adopt>.

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