adaptation
noun
Simple meaning
A change that is made or undergone to suit a condition or environment.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
aduhptayshuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ædəpˈteɪʃən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions)
uncountable
The process of adapting something or becoming adapted to a situation; adjustment, modification.
countable
A change that is made or undergone to suit a condition or environment.
uncountableevolutionary theory
The process of change that an organism undergoes to be better suited to its environment.
uncountable
The process of adapting an artistic work from a different medium.
A written work (as a novel) that has been recast in a new form
“The play is an adaptation of a short novel.”
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions)
This 'adaptation' refers to the process of organisms changing over time to survive in their environment. It’s a core concept in biology, describing how living things evolve to fit their surroundings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where you'll really hear it
Biology class
“Camouflage is a crucial adaptation for many desert animals.”
Nature documentaries
“The polar bear's thick fur is an adaptation to cold climates.”
Scientific journals
“Researchers study the genetic adaptation of species to pollution.”
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use adaptation
- “The play is an adaptation of a short novel.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Responsive
Other combinations
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
A musician who adapts a composition for particular voices or instruments or for another style of performance.
Device that enables something to be used in a way different from that for which it was intended or makes different pieces of apparatus compatible.
Having a capacity for adaptation.
Capable of adapting (of becoming or being made suitable) to a particular situation or use.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The process of adjusting the eyes to low levels of illumination.
The process of adjusting the eyes to relatively high levels of illumination.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.