adopt (third-person singular simple presentadopts,present participleadopting,simple past and past participleadopted)(transitive)
Totake (a child, heir, friend, citizen, etc.) by choice into arelationship.
To take voluntarily (a child of other parents) to be in the place of, or as, one's own child.
A friend of mine recentlyadopted a Chinese baby girl found on the streets of Beijing.
To obtain (a pet) from a shelter or the wild.
We're going toadopt a Dalmatian.
Tocontribute towards theupkeep of (a child or animal), in exchange for occasional stories, pictures, etc.
Weadopted an elephant at the local zoo.
To take by choice into the scope of one's responsibility.
This supermarket chainadopts several families every Yuletide, providing them with money and groceries for the holidays.
2020 December 30, Paul Stephen, “Chirk station is truly blooming”, inRail, page49:
Sixteen years ago, the station entered into a new chapter when it wasadopted by the Friends of Chirk Station (FoCS) volunteer group, under the Arriva Trains Wales Station Adopters programme.
To take or receive as one's own what is not so naturally.
Headopted a new look in order to fit in with his new workmates.
2014 November 14,Blake Bailey, “'Tennessee Williams,' by John Lahr [print version: Theatrical victory of art over life,International New York Times, 18 November 2014, p. 13]”, inThe New York Times[1]:
[S]he [Edwina, mother ofTennessee Williams] was indeed Amanda [Wingfield, character in Williams' playThe Glass Menagerie] in the flesh: a doughty chatterbox from Ohio whoadopted the manner of a Southern belle and eschewed both drink and sex to the greatest extent possible.
The match was not even close; the IM made amateurish blunders and ended up gettingadopted.
2018 June 19, Peter Doggers, “(title)”, inChess.com[3], archived fromthe original on2022-05-21:
Nakamura 'Adopts' Komodo On Fathers Day: 20.5-2.5
2020 May 27, “Adopt-A-Danny Returns Wednesday With Ian Nepomniachtchi”, inChess.com[4], archived fromthe original on2020-05-27:
Wednesday's event will offer the Russian grandmaster three opportunities toadopt Rensch, though just like in the Speed Chess Championship, Nepomniachtchi will have to race against the clock.
2022 April 12, Jacob Sweet, “The Most Popular Chess Streamer on Twitch”, inThe New Yorker[5], archived fromthe original on2022-08-26:
"That's it, that's it!" the Grandmaster Eric Hansen bellowed after following nine straight losses with a win. "You are notadopting me! Not today, not today!"
2022 December 7, Colin McGourty, “Carlsen plays "horribly", beats Gukesh 23:7”, inchess24[6], archived fromthe original on2022-12-09:
There was wasn't much for Gukesh fans to cheer, but at least he avoided the fate of Maghsoodloo, who was "adopted", i.e. beaten 10 games in a row. Gukesh struck in the 2nd 3+1 game, when he was dangerously close to that mark.
In the sense of taking a child into one's family, Modern English makes a distinction betweenfostering (which is implied to be temporary) andadopting (which is permanent and makes the child legally recognized as part of the family). In older usage, the two terms were more interchangeable.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
