adopt

adopt — verb

1. to become the legal parent of a child whose birth parents are not yours, so that

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to become the legal parent of a child whose birth parents are not yours, so that you can raise the child as your own.

Example

Una and Priya adopted a baby girl from Vietnam after waiting nearly three years.

adopt + object (child) for legal-family meaning

The Chen family decided to adopt a four-year-old boy who had grown up in foster care.

Common collocations
  • legally adopt
  • adopt a child
  • adopt a baby
  • be adopted at birth
Synonyms
  • take in

    more informal; can also mean shelter temporarily without legal process

  • foster

    care for a child without becoming the legal parent

Antonyms
  • give up

    give up a child for adoption — the opposite action

  • abandon

    leave a child with no care, the opposite of taking responsibility

Grammar Patterns

adopt + somebody

Usage Note

Subject is usually the new parent or family; object is the child. Often paired with the adverb 'legally' to stress the formal process. Distinguish from sense 2 (adopting an animal) — this sense applies only to children.

Common Mistakes

They adopted with a baby last year.
They adopted a baby last year.
'adopt' takes a direct object; do not insert 'with' or 'for'.
My aunt adopted me to her family.
My aunt adopted me into her family.
when adding the destination, use 'into', not 'to'.

2. to take home an animal, usually one from a shelter or the street, and care for i

2.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to take home an animal, usually one from a shelter or the street, and care for it as your own pet.

Example

We adopted a black cat from the local shelter on Saturday morning.

adopt + animal + from [shelter]

Farouk wanted to adopt a rescue dog instead of buying a puppy from a pet shop.

collocation: adopt a rescue dog

Common collocations
  • adopt a pet
  • adopt a stray
  • adopt from a shelter
  • adopt a rescue dog
Synonyms
  • take in

    very close meaning; slightly more general and not limited to shelters

  • rescue

    stresses saving the animal from danger, not the act of taking it home

Antonyms
  • abandon

    leave a pet behind, the opposite action

Grammar Patterns

adopt + animal

Usage Note

Object is an animal, very often paired with 'from a shelter' or 'from the street'. Distinguish from sense 1 — no legal procedure is involved here, so this sense is closer to ordinary 'take in' than to formal adoption.

Common Mistakes

I want to adopt for a dog.
I want to adopt a dog.
'adopt' is followed directly by the animal, with no preposition.

3. to begin to use a new way of doing something — for example, a method, a technolo

3.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to begin to use a new way of doing something — for example, a method, a technology, or an approach — and make it part of how you work.

Example

Many small farms in Yilan have adopted organic methods over the past decade.

adopt + method/approach

Our marketing team adopted Notion for weekly planning, and our Monday meetings are now half as long.

Common collocations
  • widely adopted
  • adopt a strategy
  • adopt new technology
  • gradually adopt
Synonyms
  • embrace

    stresses positive, enthusiastic acceptance

  • take up

    more informal; often used for habits and hobbies as well

  • implement

    more formal; emphasizes the work of putting something into action

Antonyms
  • abandon

    stop using a method that was previously in place

  • reject

    refuse to start using

Grammar Patterns

adopt + method/approach/technology

Usage Note

Object is usually a method, approach, technology, system, or set of practices — not a person. Often appears with adverbs like 'widely', 'quickly', or 'gradually'. Distinguish from sense 4 (formally accepting a policy or proposal by vote): this sense is about putting something into daily practice, not voting it through.

Common Mistakes

The factory adopted to use solar panels.
The factory adopted solar panels.
'adopt' is not followed by 'to + verb'; put the noun directly after it.
We adopted on a new system.
We adopted a new system.
no preposition before the object.

4. if a group such as a parliament, council, or board adopts a proposal, law, or po

4.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

if a group such as a parliament, council, or board adopts a proposal, law, or policy, the members vote in favour of it so that it becomes official.

Example

The city council adopted the new noise rules after a long public hearing.

adopt + rule/law/policy in a formal vote

The United Nations adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

collocation: adopt a resolution

Common collocations
  • adopt a resolution
  • adopt a policy
  • adopt a bill
  • unanimously adopt
Synonyms
  • approve

    wider scope; does not always require a formal vote

  • pass

    specific to laws and bills moving through a legislature

  • ratify

    more formal; usually for treaties or constitutional changes

Antonyms
  • reject

    vote against and refuse to put into effect

  • veto

    block a measure even when others have approved it

Grammar Patterns

adopt + a resolution/policy/law

Usage Note

Subject is normally an institutional body — a council, parliament, board, committee, or assembly. Frequently appears in the passive ('was adopted by [number] votes'). Distinguish from sense 3: sense 3 is about putting something into practice, while this sense is specifically about a formal vote that turns a proposal into official policy.

Common Mistakes

The mayor adopted the new law alone.
The mayor signed the new law alone.
'adopt' implies a vote by a group; a single person does not 'adopt' a law.

5. to choose a name, custom, country, or identity that did not originally belong to

5.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to choose a name, custom, country, or identity that did not originally belong to you, and start treating it as your own.

Example

When she moved to Tokyo, Sara adopted the Japanese name Sakura for her work emails.

adopt + a new name

His grandfather adopted Canadian citizenship in 1972 and never looked back.

collocation: adopt citizenship

Common collocations
  • adopt a name
  • adopt a custom
  • adopt citizenship
  • adopt a style
Synonyms
  • take on

    broader; can also mean accept a duty or burden

  • assume

    more formal; often used with names, titles, identities

Antonyms
  • reject

    refuse to take on a name, custom, or identity

  • drop

    stop using a name or style after using it before

Grammar Patterns

adopt + name/custom/identity

Usage Note

Object is typically a name, identity, custom, citizenship, or visible style. The thing adopted clearly originates elsewhere, which is what separates this sense from sense 3 (a method or technology, where origin is less central).

Common Mistakes

He adopted to the local custom slowly.
He adopted the local custom slowly.
'adopt' takes a direct noun; 'adapt to' (different verb) takes 'to'.

6. to start showing a particular attitude, tone, or manner, especially because you

6.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to start showing a particular attitude, tone, or manner, especially because you have decided to.

Example

Throughout the press conference, the minister adopted a calm and patient tone.

adopt + tone/attitude

Yael adopted a more serious manner the moment his boss walked in.

Common collocations
  • adopt a tone
  • adopt an attitude
  • adopt a stance
  • adopt a position
Synonyms
  • assume

    more formal; often suggests the manner is partly a performance

  • take on

    less formal; can describe both temporary and lasting behaviour

Antonyms
  • drop

    stop using a particular tone or manner

Grammar Patterns

adopt + attitude/tone/manner

Usage Note

Object describes how the subject behaves or speaks: 'tone', 'attitude', 'manner', 'stance', 'position'. Implies a deliberate choice — this is what separates it from simply 'be' or 'feel'. Often signals that the behaviour is for a particular audience or moment.

Common Mistakes

He adopted angry when she arrived.
He adopted an angry tone when she arrived.
'adopt' needs a noun (a tone, a manner, an attitude), not a bare adjective.

7. to give regular money or help to a thing such as a road, a zoo animal, or a scho

7.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to give regular money or help to a thing such as a road, a zoo animal, or a school class, in return for being named as its sponsor.

Example

A local bakery adopted the small park near our office and pays for new flowers each spring.

adopt + place/section as a sponsor

Visitors can adopt a giraffe at Taipei Zoo for a yearly fee that supports its food and care.

collocation: adopt an animal at a zoo

Common collocations
  • adopt a highway
  • adopt an animal
  • adopt a section of road
Synonyms
  • sponsor

    very close meaning; the most common everyday alternative

Grammar Patterns

adopt + a road/animal/area

Usage Note

Common in fundraising contexts ('Adopt-a-Highway', 'adopt an animal'). The subject keeps the thing where it is and only sponsors it — nothing is taken into the home, which separates this sense from senses 1, 2, and 5.

Common Mistakes

The company adopted the bridge home.
The company adopted the bridge as part of its sponsorship programme.
sense 7 does not involve taking the object anywhere.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/3

All four verbs describe starting to use something new, but they differ in tone and focus. 'Adopt' is the neutral, widely usable choice — it suggests a deliberate decision to make a method or technology part of how you work, often after some thought. 'Embrace' is warmer; it implies enthusiasm and welcome, so a company that 'embraces remote work' clearly feels positive about it, while one that 'adopts remote work' may simply find it practical. 'Implement' shifts the focus to the work of putting a plan into action — you implement a system once it has already been chosen. 'Take up' is the most informal, common with hobbies and personal habits ('take up running'). For example: a school may 'adopt a new curriculum' (decide to use it), 'implement it' (roll it out classroom by classroom), and teachers may 'embrace it' (welcome it warmly).

adopt ↗embrace ↗implement ↗take up ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

  • widely adopted
  • officially adopted
  • formally adopted
  • gradually adopted
  • unanimously adopted

Phrases

  • adopt, don't shop
  • adopt a new approach
  • adopt a wait-and-see attitude

Prepositions

  • adopted from
  • adopted by
  • adopted as
  • adopted into

Etymology

LatinMiddle FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

English 'adopt' came in through French in the late fifteenth century, taking its meaning from Latin 'adoptare', built from 'ad-' (to, toward) and 'optare' (to choose or wish for). The earliest sense in English already covered both the legal taking of a child into a family and the broader idea of choosing something to make your own. From there, modern uses for methods, policies, names, and attitudes grew naturally — all of them sharing the core image of a deliberate choice.