ADOPT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does adopt mean? 

• ADOPT (verb)
  The verb ADOPT has 7 senses:

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

2. take up and practice as one's own

3. take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities

4. take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

5. take into one's family

6. put into dramatic form

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

  Familiarity information: ADOPT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ADOPT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they adopt    ... he / she / it adopts   
Past simple: adopted   
Past participle: adopted   
-ing form: adopting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

adopt; espouse; follow

Context example:

The candidate espouses Republican ideals

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

choose; pick out; select; take (pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives)

Verb group:

abide by; comply; follow (act in accordance with someone's rules, commands, or wishes)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "adopt"):

adhere; stick (be a devoted follower or supporter)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

adoption (the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take up and practice as one's own

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

adopt; borrow; take over; take up

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

accept; have; take (receive willingly something given or offered)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Derivation:

adoption (the appropriation (of ideas or words etc) from another source)

adoptive (acquired as your own by free choice)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

adopt; assume; take on; take over

Context example:

When will the new President assume office?

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

take office (assume an office, duty, or title)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "adopt"):

resume (assume anew)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Take on a certain form, attribute, or aspect

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

acquire; adopt; assume; take; take on

Context example:

The gods assume human or animal form in these fables

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "adopt"):

re-assume (take on again, as after a time lapse)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Take into one's family

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

adopt; take in

Context example:

They adopted two children from Nicaragua

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

take (take into one's possession)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Derivation:

adoptable (suitable or eligible for adoption)

adoptee (someone (such as a child) who has been adopted)

adopter (a person who adopts a child of other parents as his or her own child)

adoption (a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; the adopted child is entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child of the adoptive parents (including the right to inherit))

adoptive (of parents and children; related by adoption)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Put into dramatic form

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

adopt; dramatise; dramatize

Context example:

adopt a book for a screenplay

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

compose; indite; pen; write (produce a literary work)

Domain category:

authorship; composition; penning; writing (the act of creating written works)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

Did he adopt his major works over a short period of time?

Sense 7

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

adopt; embrace; espouse; sweep up

Context example:

They adopted the Jewish faith

Hypernyms (to "adopt" is one way to...):

accept (consider or hold as true)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "adopt"):

fasten on; hook on; latch on; seize on; take up (adopt)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

adoption (the appropriation (of ideas or words etc) from another source)

 Context examples 

The research group led by Yoichiro Yamamoto and Go Kimura, in collaboration with a number of university hospitals in Japan, adopted an approach called "unsupervised learning."

(Artificial Intelligence Identifies Features Associated with Cancer Recurrence, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Then all who heard this rejoiced, and the lord of the castle said he would adopt him as a son if he accomplished it successfully.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

By taking a journey to a foreign country, you will adopt an exciting new perspective.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

There is currently no EU legislation forcing Member States to adopt measures about them.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)

Env adopts different shapes before and after the virus fuses with a cell.

(The Structure and Dynamics of HIV Surface Spikes, NIH)

This speaks to the impact that the dietary practice might have, even when adopted by younger people in good health.

(Moderate calorie restriction in young and middle-aged adults significantly reduces heart and metabolic risk factors independent of weight loss, National Institutes of Health)

Unlike their well-folded counterparts, IDPs can adopt a plethora of distinct structures.

(Biomaterial Artificial Protein Helps Heal Tissue, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But upon infection, T cells adopted barcodes similar to those of their ILC counterparts.

(Rapid-response immune cells are fully prepared before invasion strikes, NIH)

I am never precipitate in my actions, nor would I adopt so energetic and, indeed, so dangerous a course, if any other were possible.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She is my niece; but when my brother died five years ago and left her alone in the world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my daughter.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)