adopter

Forms

adopter^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin adoptō (“to choose, to adopt”), a word of Roman law, borrowed in the 13th century.^[2][3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from ad- (“to”) and optō (“to choose”), the source of opter.^[3][6][7] It had the legal sense from Plautus on, and the sense “to take up (an opinion)” in imperial Latin, in Seneca.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is an Old French translation of the Digest, probably from the second half of the 13th century, where it means to give someone the rank and rights of a son or daughter.^[2] Because adoption was unknown in old French law until the Revolution, the word long referred only to Roman or foreign law; the Civil Code introduced the practice in year XII of the Republican calendar.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In the first half of the 14th century Philippe de Vitry used it for accepting a fact or a point of view.^[2] From the 16th century it meant to make an opinion or a decision one's own, and in 1798 to choose something for oneself lastingly, such as a style of dress.^[3] An extended sense, to treat someone as one's own child, is recorded from Corneille in 1631.^[3][8]

In 19th-century constitutional law it came to mean to approve or pass by vote (1845), as of a law or a motion.^[3] In sub-Saharan African French it is used for taking a child into the family without any legal formality.^[3]

Timeline

• Second half of the 13th century – First found, in the legal sense, in a translation of the Digest.^[2]
• First half of the 14th century – Philippe de Vitry uses it for accepting a view.^[2][9]
• 1631 – Corneille uses it for treating someone as one's child.^[3]
• 1728 – The noun adoptant is recorded.^[3]
• 1798 – It is used for taking up a way of dressing or a manner.^[3]
• 1845 – It is used for approving a law by vote.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (law) To adopt (a child): to take legally as one's son or daughter.^[8][2][10]
2. By extension, to treat someone as one's own child, or to accept someone fully into a group.^[8][9]
3. To make one's own (an opinion, an attitude, a way of life), to embrace or follow it.^[8][6]
4. To approve or pass by vote (a law, a bill, a motion).^[3][6][1]

Word family

• adoptable
• adoptant

Related words

• adoption
• adoptif
• opter
• Latin adoptō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 24, 176b
6. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)