adoption
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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
- The legal act of taking another's child into one's family as one's own.
- The act of taking up and using an idea, method or plan.
- The formal approval or acceptance of something, as a motion.
Word family
- adoptional
- nonadoption
- preadoption
- readoption
- adoptionism
- proadoption
- open adoption
Related words
References
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ 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