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adapto

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word adapto

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 75–c. 150 AD, Suetonius
Ultimate origin
Latin aptus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin apto
Latin adapto
From the same root
Latin adaptatio ← adapto

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [aˈdap.toː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [aˈdap.to][1]

Forms

adaptō (present infinitive adaptāre, perfect active adaptāvī, supine adaptātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ad- + aptō (“to fit, adjust”).[2][3][1] The simple verb is formed from aptus (“fitted, suited”).[4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears in Suetonius, who in his life of Otho writes of a small wig capitī adaptātō et adnexō, “fitted and fastened to the head”.[5][3][6]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Latin it is rare, and Lewis and Short find it with a dative only in the passive participle.[5] Suetonius uses it again in the life of Claudius.[5] In Christian Latin it is used of joining things closely together: the Latin translation of Irenaeus has it of pieces carefully fitted into one,[3] and the Vulgate of Exodus 26:5 of loops made so that one possit adaptārī “can be fitted” to the other.[3] Ecclesiastical Latin uses it for “adapt, adjust, fit”.[7]

English took it over as adapt in the early 15th century, through Old French adapter.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it of a wig fitted to the head.[5][3][6]
  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it of loops fitted to one another.[3][6]
  • early 15th century – Borrowed into English as adapt, through Old French.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fit or adjust (to something), with a dative.[2][5][3]
  2. To adapt, modify.[2][1][7]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Adapto.” Etymologically, 23 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/adapto. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·