adopter
/əˈdɒptə/uh-DAHP-tur
/əˈdɑptɚ/uh-DAHP-tur
Meaningone that chooses for oneself
Common meaning: a person or thing that adopts
- adto, towards
- optto choose, wishLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 1273 · scan
- eragent ending: one who
‘to, towards’ + ‘to choose, wish’ → adopter
Journey through time
- Proto-Indo-European*ap-‘seize, attain, bind’source
- Latinoptō‘to choose, wish’
- Englishadopt‘to choose and take up, e.g. a child or a plan’
- Englishformed in English from adoptadopter‘a person or thing that adopts’ · 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: one that chooses for oneself. It can be inferred from any of: adopt.
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 adopt + -er (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- optō Latin “to choose, wish”
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