Adapted

How to spell adapted

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce adapted

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does adapted mean?

1. verbChanged or adjusted something so that it suited a new purpose, condition, or environment.
2. adjectiveModified or well suited to a particular use, situation, or environment.

Adapted in a sentence

• verb

  The chef adapted the recipe to feed a much larger crowd.

• adjective

  The film was based on an adapted version of the original novel.

• verb

  Over the years the animals adapted to the colder climate.

• adjective

  The office uses specially adapted software for visually impaired staff.

Where does adapted come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past form of the verb 'adapt', which English borrowed in the early 1600s from the French 'adapter', itself taken directly from the Latin 'adaptare'. That Latin verb was built from 'ad', meaning 'to' or 'toward', and 'aptare', meaning 'to fit' or 'to make ready', which in turn comes from 'aptus', 'fitted' or 'suited'. So at its heart the word literally means 'to fit something to' a new purpose or setting. The same 'aptus' root surfaces in everyday relatives such as 'apt', 'aptitude', and 'inept', all carrying the underlying idea of suitability. The single 'd' and single 'p' in the spelling trip many writers, who reach for a doubled letter that the Latin never had.

How the word is built

• ad- (to, toward)
• apt (fitted, suitable)
• -ed (past tense/participle suffix)