adaptation
/ˌæd.æpˈteɪ.ʃən/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.01 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The process of adapting something or becoming adapted to a situation; adjustment, modification.
Uncountable
noun
The process of replacing a given morpheme of a source lexeme with an equivalent morpheme of the target lexeme, especially where the two morphemes are cognates.
Uncountable
noun
The process of change that an organism undergoes to be better suited to its environment.
Uncountable
noun
An instance of an organism undergoing change, or the structure or behavior that is changed.
Countable
noun
The means by which social groups adapt to different social and physical environments.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "To sum up, the Furka-Oberalp Railway is a good example of the adaptation of the rack-and-pinion system to a main line over mountainous terrain."
- "Lifestyle adaptation arises because people inevitably encounter a gap between the style of life they desire and the actual resources they control."
- "It's staggering because these adaptations to your schedule can dramatically change your life forever."
- "ACCLIMATIZATION, the process of adaptation by which animals and plants are gradually rendered capable of surviving and flourishing in countries remote from their original habitats, or under meteorological conditions different from those which they have usually to endure, and at first injurious to them."
- "This is the very method adopted, in the structure of the eye, to produce a perfect picture on the retina; it is an adaptation to the laws of light, and the property of color, in natural objects."
- "Plays are rich and suitable sources for adaptation to film."
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd Proto-Italic *ad Proto-Italic *ad- Latin ad- Proto-Indo-European *h₂ep- Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *h₂ptós Proto-Italic *aptos Latin aptus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Proto-Indo-European [Term?]der. Proto-Italic *apjō Latin apiō Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Italic *-tos Latin -tus ▲ Latin -ō Latin -tō Latin aptō Latin adaptō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Medieval Latin adaptātiōbor. French adaptationbor. English adaptation From French adaptation, from Medieval Latin adaptātiō, from Latin adaptō (“to fit, adjust, modify; to adapt, fit or adjust to”); see adapt. Equivalent to adapt + -ation.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌæd.æpˈteɪ.ʃən/
- British English: /ˌæd.əpˈteɪ.ʃən/