Adjacent Words

Adaptation definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

ADAPTA'TION, n. The act of making suitable, or the state of being suitable, or fit; fitness.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a written work (as a novel) that has been recast in a new form; "the play is an adaptation of a short novel" [syn: adaptation, version]
2: the process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions) [syn: adaptation, adaption, adjustment]
3: (physiology) the responsive adjustment of a sense organ (as the eye) to varying conditions (as of light)

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1610 1. the act or process of adapting ; the state of being adapted 2. adjustment to environmental conditions: as a. adjustment of a sense organ to the intensity or quality of stimulation b. modification of an organism or its parts that makes it more fit for existence under the conditions of its environment 3. something that is adapted; specifically a composition rewritten into a new form • adaptational adjective • adaptationally adverb

Britannica Concise

In biology, the process by which an animal or plant becomes fitted to its environment. It is the result of natural selection acting on inherited variation. Even simple organisms must be adapted in many ways, incl. structure, physiology, and genetics; movement or dispersal; means of defense and attack; and reproduction and development. To be useful, adaptations must often occur simultaneously in different parts of the body.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or process of adapting or being adapted. 2 a thing that has been adapted. 3 Biol. the process by which an organism or species becomes suited to its environment. Etymology: F f. LL adaptatio -onis (as ADAPT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Adaptation Ad`ap*ta"tion, n. [Cf. F. adaptation, LL. adaptatio.] 1. The act or process of adapting, or fitting; or the state of being adapted or fitted; fitness. ``Adaptation of the means to the end.'' --Erskine. 2. The result of adapting; an adapted form.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(adaptations) 1. An adaptation of a book or play is a film or a television programme that is based on it. ...Branagh's screen adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry the Fifth. N-COUNT 2. Adaptation is the act of changing something or changing your behaviour to make it suitable for a new purpose or situation. Most living creatures are capable of adaptation when compelled to do so.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Fitness, suitableness, appropriateness, aptness, adaptability, conformableness, conformability, accommodation, harmony. 2. Fitting, process or act of fitting, adjustment, accommodation, suiting, etc. See adapt.

Moby Thesaurus

Nachtmusik, about-face, absolute music, accommodation, accord, accordance, acquiescence, adaption, adjusting, adjustment, agreement, air varie, aleatory, aleatory music, alignment, alteration, amelioration, apostasy, arrangement, assimilation, attunement, bearings, betterment, biological evolution, break, chamber music, chamber orchestra, change, change of heart, changeableness, coaptation, compliance, composition, conditioning, conformance, conformation other-direction, conformity, congruity, consistency, constructive change, continuity, conventionality, conversion, coordination, correspondence, defection, degeneration, degenerative change, descant, deterioration, deviation, difference, discontinuity, disorientation, divergence, diversification, diversion, diversity, electronic music, enablement, equipment, etude, exercise, fit, fitting, flexibility, flip-flop, furnishing, genesis, gradual change, harmonization, harmony, horotely, improvement, incidental music, instrumental music, instrumentation, integration, intonation, invention, keeping, line, malleability, melioration, mitigation, modification, modifying, modulation, natural selection, nocturne, obedience, observance, ontogenesis, ontogeny, opus, orchestration, orientation, orthodoxy, overthrow, phrasing, phylogenesis, phylogeny, physiogenesis, physiogeny, piece, pliancy, preparation, production, program music, qualification, radical change, re-creation, realignment, reconcilement, reconciliation, redesign, reform, reformation, regulation, remaking, renewal, reshaping, resolution, restructuring, reversal, revival, revivification, revolution, ricercar, score, setting, shift, solution, sonata, sonatina, squaring, strictness, string orchestra, string quartet, study, sudden change, suiting, suspension, switch, synchronization, tachytely, theme and variations, timing, tone painting, total change, traditionalism, transcription, transition, trio, tuning, turn, turnabout, uniformity, upheaval, variation, variety, violent change, work, worsening