Skip to content

adopter

to adopt

verb ah-dop-TEH Less Common

Origin: Latin adoptare

Also means

to pass, to take on (attitude, law)

Usage Note

Adopter applies to children (adopter un enfant), animals, laws (adopter une loi), and attitudes (adopter une posture). The related noun adoption is feminine, and adoptif/adoptive is the adjective (un enfant adoptif). An adoptant is the adopting parent in legal terminology.

Examples

"Ils ont décidé d'adopter un enfant."

Natural Translation

They decided to adopt a child.

Free starter pack

Building your French vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common French words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore French by topic