What does adopt mean?
To adopt is to take something up as one's own — most significantly, to become the legal parent of a child who was born to others, but also, in everyday language, to choose and begin using an idea, method, custom, or attitude. A government may adopt a new policy, a company may adopt a technology, and a speaker may adopt a particular tone or stance. The verb derives from Latin roots meaning 'to choose', which explains its close association with deliberate selection rather than passive reception. In family law, adoption involves a formal transfer of parental rights and responsibilities, making the word weighty and consequential in that context. Elsewhere it is neutral and versatile, appearing frequently in business, politics, and academic writing. Its derivatives include 'adoption', 'adoptive', and 'adoptee'. Because it overlaps visually with 'adapt' and sounds like 'adept', writers should take care to distinguish these near-neighbours in both spelling and meaning.
verbTo legally take another person's child into one's own family and raise them as one's own; more broadly, to choose to take up or start using an idea, method, practice, or course of action.
- To legally take another person's child into one's family and raise it as one's own.
- To choose to take up, follow, or start using an idea, method, custom, name, or course of action.
- To assume or take on a particular attitude, position, or manner (e.g. adopt a stance).
"The couple decided to adopt a child from overseas after years of trying."
"They decided to adopt a baby girl from Vietnam last spring."
"The committee voted unanimously to adopt the new safety regulations."
The word 'adopt' comes from the Latin 'optare', meaning 'to choose' — so every time you adopt an idea, you're literally choosing it.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of adopt
The English verb 'adopt' was borrowed in the late Middle Ages or early modern period from French 'adopter', which itself came from Latin 'adoptare', a frequentative form of 'optare', meaning 'to choose' or 'to wish for'. This Latin root also gives us the words 'option' and 'opt', all sharing the sense of selection or choice. The word entered English with both its legal sense of taking a child as one's own and its broader figurative sense of taking up ideas or practices, and both senses have remained in continuous use since.
Related word forms
How adopt is actually used
In legal and formal contexts, 'adopt' carries precise procedural meaning regarding the transfer of parental rights. In everyday usage, it often appears with abstract objects such as policies, methods, or attitudes. The word is neutral in tone but can carry warm connotations when used of children and families.
Easily confused with adopt
'Adapt' means to modify something to suit new conditions, while 'adopt' means to take up or choose something in the first place.
'Adept' is an adjective meaning highly skilled, whereas 'adopt' is a verb meaning to take up a child, idea, or practice.