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adapter

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Etymology and origin of the English word adapter

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1753 Chambers's Cyclopædia, Supplement
Ultimate origin
Latin aptus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English adapt
English adapter
From the same root
English adaptive ← adapt

Pronunciation

  • UK: /əˈdæptə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /əˈdæptəɹ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English adapt + -er.[2][3][4][5] The verb adapt is from Middle French adapter (“to apply or adjust”) and Latin adaptō (“to make fit, modify”),[2][3] from ad- (“to”) and aptō (“to fit, join”), from aptus (“fitted”), the source of apt.[3][2] The spelling adaptor is recorded slightly later, from 1764.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A device for connecting pieces of equipment that would otherwise not fit together, in early use especially a short tube joining two pieces of glassware: 1753, in the Supplement to Chambers's Cyclopædia.[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to 1801, for a person who adapts something, and the mechanical sense to 1808, in chemistry apparatus.[3]

Semantic evolution

The sense of a person who adapts something, especially a writer who alters a text for the stage, broadcasting or film, is recorded from 1771.[2] Dictionary.com dates the word to 1795–1805.[5] An electrical fitting that lets more than one plug, or a plug of another type, be used with a socket is recorded from 1886 in the OED[2] and by 1907 in Etymonline.[3] From 1900 the word was also used of a person or thing that adapts to new conditions,[2] and in biochemistry from 1962 of the adapter molecule that carries an amino acid to the messenger RNA.[2]

Timeline

  • 1753 – a device for connecting incompatible pieces of apparatus.[2][6]
  • 1764 – the spelling adaptor.[2]
  • 1771 – a person who adapts a text.[2]
  • 1886 – an electrical fitting connecting plugs to a socket.[2]
  • 1900 – a person or thing that adapts to new conditions.[2]
  • 1962 – in biochemistry, an adapter molecule.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A device for connecting two pieces of equipment, or parts of different sizes, that would not otherwise fit together.[7][6][8][2]
  2. An electrical fitting that lets a plug of another type, or more than one plug, be used with a socket: She packed a travel adapter for the trip to Italy.[2][8]
  3. An attachment that fits a piece of apparatus, such as a camera, for a use it was not designed for.[6][8]
  4. A person who adapts something, especially a writer who reworks a novel or play for film, radio or television, or an arranger of music.[6][2]
  5. (computing) An expansion card.[7]
  6. A person or thing that adapts to new conditions.[2][8]

Usage notes

Adaptor is a less common spelling of the same word in American dictionaries.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
Cite this entry

“Adapter.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/adapter. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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