A-dŏpt', v. t.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. ADOPTED; p. pr. & vb. n. ADOPTING.] [Lat. adoptare, from ad and optare, to choose, desire; Fr. adopter, Sp. adoptar. See OPTION.]

1. To take into one's family, as son and heir; to take and treat as a child, giving a title to the privileges and rights of a child.
2. To take or receive as one's own; to select and take; as, to adopt the opinions of another; to adopt a particular mode of husbandry.

We are seldom at ease from the solicitations of our natural or adopted desires. Locke.