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adoption

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Financial, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
a·dopt  (-dpt)
tr.v. a·dopt·ed, a·dopt·ing, a·dopts
1. To take into one's family through legal means and raise as one's own child.
2.
a. To take and follow (a course of action, for example) by choice or assent: adopt a new technique.
b. To take up and make one's own: adopt a new idea.
3. To take on or assume: adopted an air of importance.
4. To vote to accept: adopt a resolution.
5. To choose as standard or required in a course: adopt a new line of English textbooks.

[Middle English adopten, from Old French adopter, from Latin adoptre : ad-, ad- + optre, to choose.]

a·dopta·bili·ty n.
a·dopta·ble adj.
a·dopter n.
a·doption n.
Usage Note: Children are adopted by parents, and one normally refers to an adopted child but to adoptive parents, families, and homes. When describing places, one can use either adopted or adoptive: She enjoys living in her adopted country. Detroit is their adoptive city.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.adoptionadoption - the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception; "its adoption by society"; "the proposal found wide acceptance"
embrace, bosom - a close affectionate and protective acceptance; "his willing embrace of new ideas"; "in the bosom of the family"
approval, approving, blessing - the formal act of approving; "he gave the project his blessing"; "his decision merited the approval of any sensible person"
2.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)
legal proceeding, proceeding, proceedings - (law) the institution of a sequence of steps by which legal judgments are invoked
law, jurisprudence - the collection of rules imposed by authority; "civilization presupposes respect for the law"; "the great problem for jurisprudence to allow freedom while enforcing order"
3.adoption - the appropriation (of ideas or words etc) from another source; "the borrowing of ancient motifs was very apparent"
appropriation - a deliberate act of acquisition of something, often without the permission of the owner; "the necessary funds were obtained by the government's appropriation of the company's operating unit"; "a person's appropriation of property belonging to another is dishonest"
naturalisation, naturalization - changing the pronunciation of a borrowed word to agree with the borrowers' phonology; "the naturalization in English of many Italian words"
misappropriation - wrongful borrowing; "his explanation was a misappropriation of sociological theory"
crossover - the appropriation of a new style (especially in popular music) by combining elements of different genres in order to appeal to a wider audience; "a jazz-classical crossover album"

adoption
noun 1. fostering, adopting, taking in, fosterage
Translations
Spanish adoption [əˈdɔpʃən] nadopción f
French adoption [əˈdɔpʃən] adopt nadoption f
German adoption [əˈdɔpʃən] adopt n (see vb) → Adoption f; Aufstellung f; Annahme f
Italian adoption [əˈdɔpʃən] nadozione f

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To any meditative Magian rover, this serene Pacific, once beheld, must ever after be the sea of his adoption.
As Philolaus gave them laws concerning many other things, so did he upon adoption, which they call adoptive laws; and this he in particular did to preserve the number of families.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
 
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