English Dictionary
Definition of “adopt”
adopt (əˈdɒpt
)
Definitions
verb (tr)
- law to bring (a person) into a specific relationship, esp to take (another's child) as one's own child
- to choose and follow (a plan, technique, etc)
- to take over (an idea, etc) as if it were one's own
- to take on; assume ⇒
to adopt a title
- to accept (a report, etc)
Alternative Forms
ˌadopˈtee noun aˈdopter noun aˈdoption noun Word Origin
C16: from Latin adoptāre to choose for oneself, from optāre to choose
Synonyms
View thesaurus entry
=
take on,
follow,
support,
choose,
accept,
maintain,
assume,
select,
take over,
approve,
appropriate,
take up,
embrace,
engage in,
endorse,
ratify,
become involved in
espouse,
Translations
- British English:
adopt
If you adopt someone else's child, you take it into your own family and make it legally your own.There are hundreds of people who want to adopt a child.əˈdɒpt VERB There are hundreds of people who want to adopt a child.
- Spanish:
adoptar
v
- French:
adopter
v
- German:
adoptieren
v
- Chinese: 收养 v
- Arabic: يَتَبَنَّى v
- Portuguese: adoptar v
- Russian: усыновлять v
- Croatian: usvojiti v
- Czech: adoptovat v
- Danish: tillægge (sig) v
- Dutch: adopteren v
- Finnish: adoptoida v
- Greek: υιοθετώ v
- Italian: adottare v
- Japanese: 養子にする v
- Korean: 입양하다 v
- Norwegian: adoptere v
- Polish: zaadoptować v adoptować
- Brazilian Portuguese: adotar v
- European Spanish:
adoptar
v
- Swedish: adoptera v
- Thai: รับเอามา v
- Turkish: evlat edinmek v
- Vietnamese: nhận làm con nuôi v
Usage examples
Her back ached from lying in the unnatural position she had been forced to adopt.
Martin, Joy, The Image of Laura (1993)If you adopt the right management principles you should be able to run the NIH.
New Scientist (2004)I wanted to tell the story as honestly and as impartially as possible, trying to adopt a professional journalistic stance towards myself".
Irish Times (2002)Provided you don't adopt an aggressive investment policy you can't go too far wrong.
Glasgow Herald (2001)It means that we should adopt a philosophy that does not place humans at the peak of a pinnacle.
Michael Boulter, EXTINCTION: Evolution and the End of Man (2002)
