Origin: Latin suffix -tion
Adoption has 4 different meanings across 1 category:
the act of accepting with approval; favorable reception
"its adoption by society"
"the proposal found wide acceptance"
a legal proceeding that creates a parent-child relation between persons not related by blood; the adopted child is entitled to all privileges belonging to a natural child of the adoptive parents (including the right to inherit)
"After years of waiting, Sarah and Mark finally received their adoption papers, legally making them her parents with full inheritance rights."
The act of adopting.
"After years of trying, they finally welcomed their first child through adoption."
In plain English: Adoption is when someone legally takes responsibility for raising a child who was not born to them.
"The family's adoption of the orphan was celebrated by the entire community."
Usage: As a noun, adoption refers to the legal process where an individual or couple assumes the parental rights and responsibilities for a child who is not biologically theirs. You can also use it to describe the act of accepting or taking up a new idea, method, or technology.
The word comes from the French adoption, which was borrowed from the Latin adoptio. It entered English through the combination of the verb "adopt" and the suffix "-ion."