adjust

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈd͡ʒʌst/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English ajusten, borrowed from Old French ajoster (“to add, assemble, calibrate”), ajuster,^[2][3] from Vulgar Latin *adjuxtāre, to bring near,^[2][3] from Latin ad-, to, and juxtā, near, close by (from the PIE root of yoke).^[3][2][4] In the 16th century French refashioned it as adjuster, as if from juste, right (see just),^[2][3][5] and English reborrowed the word in that form before 1611;^[2] modern French has ajouter, to add.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To correct, remedy: about 1380, in Chaucer's translation of Boethius.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the reborrowed form, the OED's first sense, to arrange, settle or harmonize things that differ, is from 1611.^[6] To arrange something suitably in relation to something else is from 1664,^[6] and to settle a claim in insurance from 1755.^[6] To adapt oneself or get used to something is from 1924,^[6] and it also means to achieve psychological balance.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – to correct.^[2]
• 1611 – to arrange, settle.^[6]
• 1664 – to fit to something else.^[6]
• 1755 – to settle an insurance claim.^[6]
• 1924 – to adapt oneself.^[6]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To change slightly, especially to make accurate or fit; to regulate.
2. To adapt or conform, as to new conditions.
3. To bring into proper relationship or order.
4. (insurance) To decide how much is to be paid on a claim.

Word family

• adjustable
• adjustably
• adjustability
• adjustive
• adjustor
• preadjust
• adjuster
• adjustment

Related words

• juxtapose
• joust

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin