adaptive

/əˈdæptɪv/uh-DAP-tiv

Meaningtending to fit to

Common meaning: tending to adapt

adto, towards
aptfitted, fastened; suitedLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 137 · scan
iveadjective ending: tending to

‘to, towards’ + ‘fitted, fastened’ → adaptive

Journey through time

Proto-Indo-European*ap-‘seize, attain, bind’source
Latinaptus, -a, -um‘fitted, fastened’
Englishadapt‘to change so as to suit a fresh situation’
Englishformed in English from adaptadaptive‘tending to adapt’ · today

Sources & notes

Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: tending to fit to. It can be inferred from any of: adapt.

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Formed in English from adapt + -ive (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).

Roots

aptus, -a, -um Latin “fitted, fastened; suited”

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