adoption

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈdɒp.ʃən/ (UK); /əˈdɑp.ʃən/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English adopcioun, borrowed from Old French adopcion or directly borrowed from Latin adoptio (“a taking as one's child”),^[2][3][4] a shorter form of adoptatio, from adoptāre, to choose for oneself (see adopt),^[3][2] from ad (“to”) and optāre (“to choose, wish”) (see option).^[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The taking of a child as one's own: 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt,^[2] the mid-14th century in Etymonline;^[3] the condition of being adopted, 1382 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Taking into any relationship, actively, is from 1387.^[6] Taking up something and treating it as one's own, acceptance, as of an idea or practice, is from 1598.^[6] The adoption of a road by a local authority is from 1890.^[6]

Timeline

• 1340 – adopting a child.^[2]
• 1382 – the state of being adopted.^[6]
• 1598 – acceptance of an idea.^[6]
• 1890 – of a road.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The legal act of taking another's child into one's family as one's own.
2. The act of taking up and using an idea, method or plan.
3. The formal approval or acceptance of something, as a motion.

Word family

• adoptional
• nonadoption
• preadoption
• readoption
• adoptionism
• proadoption
• open adoption

Related words

• adopt
• adoptive
• option
• opt

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press