What does "adoption" mean?

1. (of a child) the legal process of taking a child into your family and becoming their legal parent. 2. (of an idea or technology) the act of starting to use a new system, idea, or product. 3. (religious grace) the belief that people are accepted as children of God. 4. (gaming/competition) winning ten times in a row against the same opponent.

adoption

US //əˈdɑpʃən// UK //ɐdˈɒpʃən// adop·tion

1 of a child (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate Law

the legal process of taking a child into your family and becoming their legal parent.

the legal act or process by which a person or couple takes a child of other parents as their own.

Example

After years of waiting, the couple finally completed the adoption of their daughter.

Example

The legal complexities of international adoption require careful navigation of the statutes in both the child's country of origin and the parents' home state.
- fostering
2 of an idea or technology (n.)
B2 Upper Intermediate

the act of starting to use a new system, idea, or product.

the acceptance and implementation of a new method, technology, or belief system.

Example

The rapid adoption of smartphones changed how we communicate every day.

Example

Widespread adoption of renewable energy technologies depends as much on government subsidies as it does on engineering breakthroughs.
- rejection
- abandonment

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3 religious grace (n.)
C2 Proficiency Formal Religion

the belief that people are accepted as children of God.

the act of divine grace by which the redeemed are admitted to the privileges of the children of God.

Example

The sermon focused on the spiritual adoption of believers into the faith.

Example

Theologians have long debated the precise nature of adoption as a distinct stage in the process of justification and sanctification.
4 gaming/competition (n.)
C1 Advanced Slang Informal

winning ten times in a row against the same opponent.

a slang term used in competitive gaming or sports to describe ten consecutive victories over a single opponent.

Example

He claimed an adoption after beating his rival ten times in the tournament.

Example

The community uses the term adoption to signify total dominance, specifically when a player manages ten straight wins against a challenger.
- streak

Origin

Borrowed from French adoption, from Latin adoptio, allied to adoptare (“to adopt”). Equivalent to adopt + -ion.