What Is the Meaning of Adopt?
Merriam-Webster provides several different definitions for the word "adopt," and all of them involve accepting a person, thing or idea as your own. Adopt also has special meanings within the legal and academic fields.
Other People Are Reading
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Relationships
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To adopt most commonly means to voluntarily bring a person into a new type of relationship with yourself. You can legally adopt a child from other parents as your own, you can adopt a less-experienced person as your protégé, or you can adopt an important cultural figure as your personal hero.
Habits
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To adopt also can mean to choose a new belief or pattern of behavior. For example, you can adopt a new religion or a more friendly attitude.
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Laws and Policies
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Adopt can refer to an institution taking up new rules, as when a company adopts an anti-discrimination policy or a state adopts a new legal statute.
Scholarly Texts
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When a professor chooses a new textbook or course material, she is said to adopt it.
Responsibility for Care
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The familiar Adopt-a-Highway programs are an example--this means individuals and groups "adopt" a particular highway by accepting the responsibility for its upkeep. This also can be done with other public spaces, such as public parks.
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References
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