adapter

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /əˈdæptər/ UK /əˈdaptə/ See IPA manual

noun

Meanings

1

noun
a device or person that adapts one thing to fit another

She used a travel adapter to charge her phone abroad.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a device or person that... connectorconverteradaptormodifier

Word family

Related forms adapt adaptationadaptor

Etymology

From adapt + -er, from French adapter or directly from Latin adaptare ('to fit to'), from ad- ('to') + aptare ('to fit'), from aptus ('fitted').

adaptare Latin aptus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

# adapter

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** əˈdæptər
**IPA (UK):** əˈdaptə

## Meanings
1. a device or person that adapts one thing to fit another

## Examples
- She used a travel adapter to charge her phone abroad.

## Synonyms
- connector
- converter
- adaptor
- modifier

## Related Forms
- adapt
- adaptation
- adaptor

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: adaptare
- Root: aptus

## Etymology
From adapt + -er, from French adapter or directly from Latin adaptare ('to fit to'), from ad- ('to') + aptare ('to fit'), from aptus ('fitted').

## AI Etymology
adapter comes from adapt + -er, from French adapter or directly from Latin adaptare ('to fit to'), from ad- ('to') + aptare ('to fit'), from aptus ('fitted'). Morphologically, the word is transparent: -er is attached to the older base named in the history, so the modern form packages an inherited or borrowed stem inside a later English derivative. In modern use, the noun sense is "a device or person that adapts one thing to fit another", which keeps the etymology connected to the word's present dictionary value rather than treating it as a merely historical label. The wider word family includes related English forms such as adapt, adaptation, adaptor, showing how the same base continues to support neighboring English vocabulary. The principal historical forms in the chain include Latin adaptare, Latin aptus, which anchor the explanation in named linguistic material.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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