Etymologically
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adjust

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /əˈd͡ʒʌst/[1]

Etymology

It is 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

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